ISSN 2184-8793 ISSNe 2975-9056 elements or sets of nature and landscape. However, the procedure for the issuance of the Presidential Decree for the characterization is particularly long and complex because of the necessity of drafting a specific environmental study and because of the involvement of many institutions. Law 3997/2011 also prohibits, in accordance with the more specific protecting provisions of the characterization decision, actions or activities that may cause destruction, damage or deterioration of protected natural formations, as well as protected landscapes or their individual components. In administrative practice, the Ministry of Environment, though competent for environmental protection doesn’t act towards the protection of caves, by assuming for example the characterization of protected natural formations or by adopting studies for tourist development. It appears that, despite the explicitly set by Law 3028/2002 jurisdiction of the Ministry of Culture and Sports for the protection only of caves related to human existence, in practice, the Ministry intervenes and protects all caves. The competence of the Ministry refers mainly to the approval of studies of tourist development of caves and their operation regulations. Also, Ephorates of PaleoanthropologySpeleology grant visiting permissions to scientists and cave-explorers. The fact that departments of the Ministry of Culture and Sports assume competencies without the necessary legal delegation, poses obvious legal risks, but also demonstrates the effort of the departments towards the protection of natural heritage (Παπαθανάσογλου & Παινέση, 2006). With decision no. 67659/09.12.2013 of the Coordination Committee of Government policy on Spatial Planning and Sustainable Development concerning the approval of the amendment of the Special Framework for Spatial Planning and Sustainable Development for Tourism and its Strategic Environmental Assessment. "(Gov. Gazette B’3155), issues are regulated on caves, as an alternative and special subcategory of geotourism. Specifically, it categorizes national territory, depending on the intensity and type of tourism development, on geomorphological characteristics and the sensitivity of resources (Article 4). It even foresees the use of local resources potentially capable to develop specific - alternative forms of tourism, where speleotourism (as a subcategory of geotourism) is included. Specifically, the decision foresees a) activities such as the promotion of visiting the country’s geotopes (volcanoes, caves, canyons, fossil sites, large repositories, ancient or inactive mines and quarries, landforms and landscapes created by nature, during geological centuries) and activities for their inclusion in tourist routes (thematic or not) depending on the particular (general or specific) features they present, b) ensuring accessibility and management of visitor flows with respect to each ecosystem and c) their inclusion in tourist routes (thematic or not) depending on the particular (general or specific) features they present. Finally, in 2018, Law 4582/2018 included caves in geotourism resources. According to the law, geotourism is characterized as “the form of sustainable rural tourism,
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