Author: Volkan

In addition to its national parks, Turkey has 35 areas that have been specifically preserved in order to protect endangered species of flora and fauna, and some are used for scientific research and educational studies. All the nature reserves in Turkey have been designated according to various biological characteristics. Yumurtalik (Yumurtalık) Nature Reserve – Adana Yumurtalik Nature Reserve is 35km northeast of the centre of Karatas, 30km southwest of Yumurtalik and southeast of Adana. The reserve can be reached from the Karatas-Adana Road, then turning off onto the Yumurtalik-Adana Road. By public transport, it is accessible from Adana and Osmaniye, both of which are well connected by bus to the rest of the country. Yumurtalik Nature Reserve covers an area of 16,430 hectares and is within the Seyhan-Ceyhan delta, which its lakes, lagoons and wide collection of plant and animal species. The area is an important location for many species of migrating birds, with the highest number during the winter when the lakes are a shelter at a time when other lakes further north freeze over. In addition to the wide variety of birds, Akyatan and Agyatan lakes are also important breeding areas for the caretta caretta and cheloria mydas sea turtles, both of which are endangered. It is one of 17 sea turtle nesting areas in the Turkish Mediterranean Dandindere Nature Reserve – Afyon Dandindere (Dandin River) Nature Reserve is 30km from Emirdag, northeast of Afyon, in the Aegean Region. Afyon is easily accessible by bus from all over the country, and the nature reserve is off the main highway to Elmadag. The park, covering an area of 260 hectares, is known for its groves of the rare Taurus Cedar tree (Cetrus libani) which normally grows in southern Turkey. The Dandin River, which forms the northern boundary of the cedars, has been made a nature

The Special Environmental Protected Area (SEPA) of Köyceğiz and Dalyan is well known for the Liquidambar forests where a 286 hectares zone is set aside as a nature reserve and arboretum for the preservation of the species. A large area also surrounds the town of Marmaris. Another large area covering nearly 100 hectares is also found in an inland region within Aydin. Yet another sweet-gum forest  is situated in Burdur. The trees are also found locally in Denizli. The total area of pure sweetgum forests in Turkey covers 1,348 hectares, all in the southwestern regions of the country. Liquidambar orientalis, commonly known as Oriental sweet gum or Turkish sweet gum, is a slow-growing, deciduous tree that is native to flood plains, valleys and stream-banks in south western Turkey. The Turkish name of the species is Günlük ağacı or Sığla ağacı. Günlük ağacı means “frankincense / myrrh tree”. “Sığla” refers to a marsh or boggy area. This gives away the fact that the Turkish Sweetgum tree has a preference for marshy ground. It is not frost hardy and needs a lot of rainfall or a high water table. In the Köyceğiz-Dalyan SEPA it is usually found close to rivers, wetlands and small drainage canals, (ariks). The Turkish Sweetgum tree has been exploited for its resin for thousands of years and was used for embalming in ancient Egypt. The trees only secrete resin when its trunk is injured, similar to Pine trees and Maple trees. The resin stops fungal and bacterial infections from entering the injured tree. The extraction of the resin and the production of the sweetgum oil (sığla yağı), as well as exports of these products, used to play an important role in the local economy. In English, this oil is known under several names, shortly as Storax, to include all sweetgum oils, or as Styrax Levant, Asiatic

Where in the world can you still witness mile-wide crocus carpets, mountains smothered with snowdrops, and entire woodlands underlain by cyclamen? Right here in Turkey. Not surprisingly, this country’s richness of species, including 13 snowdrop species (two endemic) and ten cyclamen species (six endemic), has led to commercial harvesting of bulbs from the wild and an international trade in bulbs. Fortunately, Turkey has one of the best systems for balancing bulb collection from the wild with the conservation of the species in their natural habitats. In this sustainable-use programme, international trade in snowdrops and cyclamen is regulated by CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species) because, without these controls international trade could threaten their survival. The aim is to replace the unsustainable trade in wild collected flower bulbs with one based on artificial production and production at the village level, whilst eliminating unsustainable collection of threatened wild flower bulbs; This will develop a long-term economic alternative for villagers formerly involved in the collection, based on village-scale production and supply high quality flower bulbs to the international bulb market. For over one hundred years, Turkey has been a source of flower bulbs to the international market.  During the 1970s and 1980s the scale of trade - based on wild collection by villagers from hill and mountain districts - escalated.  By 1986 over 70 million bulbs were traded annually, and many millions were simply thrown away as damaged or undersized.  Conservationists deemed this level of collection to be unsustainable for certain species, a view supported by anecdotal evidence from some of the collecting villages.  Holland represents the world centre of the trade in flower bulbs, with major markets in Western Europe, N. America and Japan. The Turkish government introduced a programme to establish village-based propagation in 1992.  In spite of such initiatives, several snowdrops and cyclamen species are