Green assets to preserve
Turkey has undeniable natural riches. Every time you drive two hours, you find yourself in a different region with impressive changes in landscape, temperature, altitude, humidity, vegetation and weather conditions. This landscape combines the characteristics of three old continents, Europe, Africa and Asia, and the diversity of ecological environments surpasses that of any other place along the 40° north latitude. Turkey is an increasingly popular destination for hikers who enjoy its snow-capped mountains, the highest of which is Ağrı Dağı (Mount Ararat), with its peak rising to 5,165 meters. The highest point of the Ararat volcano marks the last gasp of the Himalayas. It is also a country of rivers (both the Tigris and the Euphrates are born in Turkey), but also of huge lakes: the Salt Lake (Tuz Gölü) and those of Van, Burdur, Eğirdir, Beyşehir, Iznik, in particular. Extensive forests cover eastern Anatolia, the Black Sea coasts, as well as the Mediterranean coastline. It is one of the richest botanical regions in the world, with more than 10,000 species of plants, including 3,000 endemic to Turkey. In fact, there are more plant species in the Istanbul area than in the whole of Great Britain.
An anti-ecological development
Turkey's energy needs have doubled since 2000. In order to reduce its dependence on imports from Russia and Iran, with whom relations are unstable, it relies mainly on coal, despite the concerns of environmentalists. Nearly a third of the electricity produced in the country comes from coal-fired power plants, the most polluting of the fossil fuels. The country did sign the Paris climate agreement in 2015, but Parliament has yet to ratify it. Projects to develop wind and solar power are not non-existent, but still underdeveloped. The government is also banking on hydroelectric power, but again to the dismay of environmentalists. In the southeast of the country, the artificial lake of the Ilisu dam, whose filling began in July 2019, engulfed in February 2020 the ancient sites of Hasankeyf. Some remains have been moved by the government into an open-air museum.
Economic development is accompanied by large contested projects. President Erdoğan has (for the time being) given up his plan to build the Istanbul Canal between the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara, which is supposed to relieve congestion in the Bosphorus Strait, and which would greatly destabilize ecosystems. But the same cannot be said for the construction of a new airport north of Istanbul. The latter opened in late 2018. It was built in an area that was once a forest, requiring the felling of 13 million trees. Eventually, it is supposed to accommodate 200 million travelers each year by 2028.
Asphyxiated aquatic spaces
The industrial development of the country has already had serious consequences on the ecosystems. We can speak of large-scale pollution in the Sea of Marmara: the oxygen level has been reduced by half, the levels of metals, mercury and lead, found in fish are worrying, and even more in mussels which have the property of absorbing everything. This almost closed sea accumulates harmful discharges: those of the refineries of the bay of Izmit and the industrial basin of Dilovasi, those of agriculture, but also those of the houses, whose wastewater is still too little treated. To this, we must add the incessant traffic in the Bosphorus Strait, declared an international passage since the Montreux Declaration in 1936: more than 120 ships per day. In addition, a natural danger appeared in 1982: the ctenophore Mnemiopsis Leidyi, a kind of small jellyfish that strongly disturbs the aquatic balance. The lake of Küçükçekmece (Istanbul) experienced a tragedy in 2005, as its entire aquatic population was decimated. The lake region is also impacted by various threats, starting with Salda Lake, which, although declared a protected area, is threatened by construction projects. Other lakes have already dried up or are in danger of doing so, including Burdur and Akşehir lakes. Between Izmir and Bodrum, Lake Bafa has become the natural outlet for sewage pipes. The longest river in Istanbul, Riva (65 km), once known for its beauty, is purely asphyxiated. The Sultan Marshes (Bursa), famous for its reeds, are drying up (drainage), if not already done. The same is true for Seyfe Lake (Kırşehir), which has seen its 100,000 birds fly away forever. Uluabat Lake (Bursa), one of the 9 sites protected for their aquatic environment (pygmy cormorant, hairy crab, white spoonbill, etc.), is under the threat of an industrial zone and this despite an international convention. In this context, associations such as WWF Turkey or Greenpeace Mediterranean are trying to mobilize opinion to save the ecosystems. Greenpeace Mediterranean has recently alerted on the impact of waste with a study revealing that 44% of fish tested in Turkey contained micro-plastics.
Green struggles across the country
Rising commodity prices in financial markets have whetted appetites for Turkey's subsoils, and not just for hydrocarbons. Turkey approved 36,122 mining, energy and other projects between 2012 and 2017 on a total of 246,257 hectares of forest, according to the Foresters Foundation of Turkey. Activity at the Kişladağ mine in the Uşak district has put Turkey at the top of the list of gold producers in Europe and the Middle East. But these activities face local opposition. The murder of a couple of environmental activists in 2017 in Finike in the Antalya district, coveted for its marble mines, caused a great stir in civil society.
More recently, a large protest movement has arisen in the Mount Ida region (Kazdaglari in Turkish), against a gold mine project carried out by Dogu Biga, the Turkish subsidiary of the Canadian company Alamos Gold. Demonstrations brought together several thousand people. Major development projects in Istanbul, which has seen its population grow from 1 million in 1950 to 15 million today, are also being contested. The 2013 protest movement, known as Taksim Square, was initiated by environmentalists who were opposed to the concreting of Gezi Park, one of the only green spaces in the neighborhood of the same name. If the mobilization then spread to other more general anti-government demands, it testifies to the population's interest in these issues. The project to build a shopping mall at this location is now on hold. As in other Western capitals, interest in the environment has grown among a section of the population. The bohemian district of Cihangir reflects this new cosmopolitan generation that is sensitive to environmental alternatives. Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu was elected in 2019 with a more progressive and ecological program than his predecessor. An opportunity for a change of direction?
The most popular nature getaways
Turkey has set up a system of protected natural areas, including some 40 national parks, 30 conservation areas and more than 80 reserves. The protected areas cover about 7% of its territory. As explained above, they are insufficient and this is not enough to contain the various pressures that are exerted. The national parks often owe their interest to the historical sites they contain. However, some are worth a visit for their natural interest. The Dilek-Büyük Menderes Valley Delta National Park on the Dilek Peninsula is home to an abundance of wildlife. One can see the very rare Anatolian cheetahs, wild horses, sea lions and sea turtles. In the Gulf of Edremit, Mount Kaz National Park is one of the most beautiful in Turkey. The peak of Mount Kaz reaches 1,174 meters. The natural beauties surrounding this national park are mainly water springs and towering trees. For outdoor activities, Uludag (former Olympus of Mysia) 35 km from Bursa, at an altitude of 2,543 m, is an ideal destination. It is a place for walking, picnicking in summer (June to September) and a popular winter sports resort from December to April. If you don't feel up to walking to the top (3 hours each way from the hotel area) or skiing (in winter only), you can take the cable car and enjoy the view and the fresh air from above. The cable car terminus in Sarıalan has a handful of small food stalls, a campsite located in the national park area and hiking trails. Those who love birds will not miss visiting the Kuscenneti (Bird Paradise) Nature Bird Reserve. This reserve is home to about 255 species of birds and has 2 to 3 million winged visitors. The months of April to June and September to November, the times of the annual migrations, are the best times for bird watching.
