The Sarangani Bay Area Outdoor Club Inc. (SBAOC) of the Philippine Speleological Society and the Mindanao Cave Research Project of the National Speleological Society of the United States of America successfully conducted the 7th PHILIPPINE-AMERICAN EXPEDITION in the Province of Sultan Kudarat. This is in partnership with the Provincial Government of Sultan Kudarat, DOT XII, and in coordination with LGU Lebak, LGU Esperanza, the IP Community and Officials of Barangay Salansang, Lebak and Barangay Legodon, Esperanza.

This project aims to continue what SBAOC started in 2014, which would focus in completing detailed cave maps of identified caves from the previous expeditions and the initiation of scientific research on caves and karst in SOX region.

While caves can be important to different stakeholders, mapping them has been challenging, particularly large, complex caves that can stretch for many kilometers underground.

Additionally, our caves play key roles in groundwater movement, serve as habitat for threatened and endangered animal species. They provide outstanding opportunities for studying and gaining a better understanding of our history through artifacts left by our ancestors as well as the geology of our place, and the relationships between the environment we see at the surface and the one that is hidden underground.