Turkey

Ege Vira

“Ege Vira”, who was born in October 2001 and is the latest Monachus offspring in Izmir bay, continues to survive despite a spate of lethal entanglement episodes in recent years [see Pupping season opens, TMG 4(2): November 2001, & Snared and Drowned, TMG 4(1): May 2001].

Observations made by AFAG researchers around the breeding cave near Mordogan on the Karaburun Peninsula have confirmed that both pup and mother are healthy, and have encountered no serious threats so far.

The survival of Ege Vira has exceptional significance because three monk seal pups born in Izmir bay within the last 4 years have drowned due to entanglement in fishing nets, making it the single greatest threat to monk seal pups in the area. Ege Vira is now 6 months old and AFAG’s field experience indicates that the pup’s survival chance is higher as it increases its size and strength. AFAG, in close cooperation with local artisanal fishermen and the Ministry of Agriculture, is now studying the feasibility of fisheries management measures for Karaburun that would substantially reduce the risk of entanglement to monk seal pups. – Ozan Veryeri and Nuray Veryeri, SAD-AFAG Aegean Program.

A Land Rover with distinction

	The mission continues: Bahtiye Mursaloglu’s 1969-model Land Rover

The Land Rover of Turkey’s pioneering monk seal researcher and conservationist, the late Prof. Bahtiye Mursaloglu, has been donated to AFAG by her only daughter, Prof. Dr. Burcin Erol [see Bahtiye Mursaloglu 1918-1999, TMG 2(1): May 1999].

The legendary 1969-model Land Rover served Mursaloglu’s research needs for years, transporting her, her students, colleagues from abroad and equipment the length and breadth of Turkey, up mountains in search of land mammals, along the coast in search of monk seals.

Its history an inspiration, the Land Rover will, we are sure, continue its faithful service to monk seal conservation through AFAG’s own efforts. – Cem Orkun Kiraç, SAD-AFAG.

Coastal zone management project commences

An EU-funded initiative – “Conservation and Management of Biodiversity Hotspots: Developing a Mediterranean Network” [see Funding injection, TMG 3(1): May 2000] – was launched in March 2002 under the Short and Medium Term Environmental Action Programme (SMAP). Coordinated by WWF MedPO based in Rome, the initiative involves four Mediterranean coastal countries – Turkey, Morocco, Algeria and Lebanon – where each designated project site is represented by an endangered species and its characteristic habitat.

In Turkey, the species is represented by the Mediterranean monk seal and its coastal habitats by the following study and conservation areas: Foça (extending up to Yeni Foça); the adjacent Karaburun Peninsula near Izmir; and Aydincik (near Bozyazi, where AFAG’s Mediterranean Office is based).

In principle, the project aims to improve the conservation status of key biodiversity hotspots in the Mediterranean region. On a practical level, it seeks to implement effective management plans in selected coastal areas as pilot schemes and demonstrative examples of how integrated nature conservation and socio-economic development can be achieved through innovative partnerships with relevant stakeholders.

Anticipated results in Turkey include:

• Management plans for the conservation of the Foça, Karaburun and Aydincik hotspot sites, to be prepared according to guidelines that call for a participatory approach among stakeholders.
• Tangible socio-economic benefits for local populations living in and around the hotspots generated by pilot economic activities – such as line fishing by amateurs and excursions for tourists using the boats of local fishermen. These are designed to operate as incentives to encourage sustainable management of the areas concerned.
• Innovative mechanisms to encourage partnerships between local stakeholders, non-governmental organisations and the authorities.
• Heightened local ecological awareness, including an increased level of acceptance of conservation objectives for the hotspots.

The project is due to last 22 months, and actively involves 10 AFAG staff members. – Cem Orkun Kiraç, SAD-AFAG.

Dead pup found on Datça

On 23 March 2002, Sezer Çete of AFAG’s Datça liaison office reported that a monk seal pup had been found dead at Kizlan, on the northern coasts of the Datça Peninsula, a remote area characterised by steep, rugged cliffs. A joint onsite investigation by the Datça Gendarmerie Command and SAD-AFAG discovered the heavily decomposed body of a pup, almost 1m long, on Kizlan beach.

The Gendarmerie subsequently issued a site observation report on the death, and the corpse was buried in order to obtain the skeleton for examination at a later date. Initial observations were unable to determine the cause of death. – Cem Orkun Kiraç and Harun Güçlüsoy, SAD-AFAG.

AFAG attends MPA workshop in Dalaman

AFAG participated in a workshop on marine protected areas in Dalaman on 22-24 January 2002, organised by the Turkish Society for the Protection of Nature (DHKD) and WWF Turkey.

The workshop’s central theme was the Legislative and Managerial Dimension of the Marine Protected Area Concept in Turkey, a crucial issue for AFAG as it strives to create a network of protected areas for the monk seal and establish sound management plans in existing reserves.

Sponsored by WWF MedPO and the Agriculture, Fisheries and Nature Management Attaché of the Netherlands Embassy in Ankara, the Workshop attracted both NGO and governmental participation. Attending NGOs included the Turkish Society for the Conservation of Nature (DHKD), WWF Turkey, SAD-AFAG, and the Turkish Marine Research Foundation (TUDAV). Government interests were represented by the Undersecretariat for Maritime Affairs, Ministry of Agriculture, Coast Guard Command, Ministry of Tourism, Ministry of Culture and Ministry of Forests (General Directorate of National Parks). Turkey’s main universities and institutes of higher learning were also represented, including Istanbul University (Institute of Marine Sciences and Business), Akdeniz University, and Middle East Technical University (Institute of Marine Sciences).

The lack of MPA status in Turkey was a key discussion point. At present, different government ministries and agencies are responsible for different types of legislative marine or coastal protection, such as National Parks (Ministry of Forests), Specially Protected Areas (Authority for the Specially Protected Areas), SIT areas (Ministry of Culture) etc. The end result – confusion of responsibility and fragmentation of effort – demonstrates the need for a pooling of legislative responsibility within the management authorities established for each Marine Protected Area [see Endgame, this issue].

In closing, the Workshop called for further analysis of the proposal’s legal implications, including consultation with legal advisors of relevant government agencies. A follow-up meeting was also recommended, to be held under the auspices of the Ministry of Environment. – Harun Güçlüsoy, SAD-AFAG Aegean Program.

Reports contradict Black Sea extinction claims

	Black Sea monk seal expedition 2001

Reports from the eastern reaches of the Turkish Black Sea appear to have contradicted recent claims that Monachus monachus has become extinct in the region.

Last year, following expeditions to the area, SAD-AFAG researchers concluded that there was compelling evidence to suggest that the species had finally been eradicated from the Black Sea. Those findings were presented in a detailed article by Yalçin Savas published in National Geographic Turkey in September 2001, and were also carried in the November issue of TMG [Witnessing the monk seal’s extinction in the Black Sea, TMG 4(2): November 2001]. Following publication a reader from Ordu, on the eastern Turkish Black Sea coast, wrote to National Geographic, refuting SAD-AFAG’s claims and insisting that monk seals – based on personal observation – continued to survive in the area.

Although false sightings information is reported from time to time, the description of the animal and other details provided by the Ordu school teacher appeared convincing enough at first glance to warrant further investigation.

A SAD-AFAG research team, comprising Yalçin Savas, Ayhan Tonguç and Rosa Llop, a Spanish marine biologist and AFAG volunteer, subsequently travelled to Ordu to make further enquiries, relying on partial financial support from National Geographic Turkey.

Thorough interviews conducted among locals and fishermen, and a 3-day field investigation by boat along Ordu’s coastline were, however, unable to establish a monk seal presence in the area.

Based on previous experience, SAD-AFAG believes that sightings reports may, in fact, be confusing monk seals and otters, whose population appears to be increasing along Turkey’s Black Sea coasts. Despite many “monk seal sighting” claims, only one local observation record dating back to 1998 appears credible. – Yalçin Savas and Cem Orkun Kiraç, SAD-AFAG.

AFAG seminar for dive guides

As part of its continuing effort to limit potential disturbance to endangered monk seals by water sports and tourism, AFAG provided an audiovisual presentation for divers during a “dive guide training seminar and selection program” in Fethiye, SW Turkey, in April 2002. Of the approximately 70 divers in the audience, 50 were dive guide candidates from Turkey’s various coasts. The presentation, entitled “the story of the monk seal”, was held in collaboration with the Turkish Underwater Sports Federation.

N. Ozan Veryeri, an experienced diver and also AFAG’s Karaburun Project Executant, was on hand to provide additional information on monk seal biology, population and distribution, threats, legislation and protection, thus furnishing dive guide candidates with the minimum degree of knowledge that should, by rights, be an integral requirement of their vocational training. Water sports and tourism, including diving, can pose serious risks of disturbance and harassment to monk seals [see Liberated scuba divers may endanger monk seals, TMG 4(1): May 2001, & Mass tourism and the Mediterranean monk seal, TMG 2(2): November 1999]. Divers in Turkey are thought to encounter monk seals in and around caves or elsewhere underwater fairly frequently, making the educational effort that much more important.

The divers’ response to the presentation and seminar was unexpectedly encouraging. Dive guide candidates asked thought-provoking questions, and also engaged in heated debate about monk seals and their protection, including the controversial “no diving zones” issue [Liberated scuba divers may endanger monk seals, TMG 4(1): May 2001]. Some divers also provided information on seals encountered during their dives – sightings records that were subsequently added to SAD-AFAG’s “fokdata” monk seal data base.

In recognition of the seminar’s results and diving’s significance for monk seal conservation, SAD-AFAG expects to continue its collaboration with the Underwater Sports Federation. – Cem Orkun Kiraç, SAD-AFAG.

Datça’s pristine bays face construction threat

As a result of routine field research on the Datça Peninsula in January 2002, SAD-AFAG volunteer staff member Sezer Çete discovered that a 4-5 acre plot of land at the remote Baglarozu bay near cape Knidos had been fenced off, suggesting imminent construction work.

Sezer’s report, which was submitted to AFAG’s Ankara Coordination office, states that a cooperative formed by a group of employees at the Ministry of Forests is intending to build a recreational facility on this pristine bay. The construction, AFAG believes, would spell disaster for these uninhabited reaches of the Datça Peninsula, opening the floodgates to additional road, tourism and recreational development. In view of the potential gravity of the situation, AFAG has addressed an appeal to relevant government agencies – including the Ministry of Environment, Ministry of Culture, Datça Town Governor, Mugla Provincial Governor and the Authority for Specially Protected Areas – asking that action be taken to clamp down on both legal and illegal developments on the Peninsula.

Baglarozu bay lies within the borders of the Datça Specially Protected Area and is also protected by 1st Degree Natural and 3rd Degree Archaeological SIT status (Ministry of Culture). – Cem Orkun Kiraç and Çagri Öner, SAD-AFAG.

Fishermen’s Festivals for Foça and Bozyazi

	Foça 2001: Artisanal fishermen take part in a net-mending competition

Following its success last summer, the “Fishermen and Sea Documentaries Festival” [see Premiere in Foça, TMG 4(2): November 2001] will be held again this August, supported by Foça Municipality and the Foça Fishery Cooperative.

Down on Turkey’s southern coast, the “First Bozyazi Nature Festival” will be held on 29 June - 1 July, its AFAG Mediterranean Program organisers drawing inspiration from many of the popular events and activities that marked the Foça festival last summer, and did so much to raise public awareness of marine ecological issues.

All AFAG members and monk seal enthusiasts are welcome at both festivals. Please contact AFAG for further details. – Yesim Öztürk, SAD-AFAG.