Bio-diversity

The large number of government incentives issued to the tourism sector in the 1980s resulted in massive and rapid expansion of tourist facilities throughout the Mediterranean coast of Turkey having adverse impacts on landscape and nature. The economy of the Mediterranean coasts of Turkey, now very dependent on tourism, faces the risks faced by the industry while foreign visitation in the 1990s has not matched the expected demand as reflected in the massive construction projects of the 1980s. Additionally, frequent sector-oriented changes in land use plans, the absence of coordination among the numerous laws and central sectoral agencies, inadequate implementation of legislation, and under-resourced authorities have caused severe and continuous negative impacts. irali, a small village surrounded by mass tourism centres and greenhouse agriculture areas has been hosting numerous natural, historical and socio-cultural values for ages. irali has been chosen as a pilot area to maintain soft tourism (eco-tourism) and organic agriculture for sustainable use of resources, economic activities and tourism. Tourism became the most important economic activity in the Ulupinar village after the late 80 s, even though agriculture was still the traditional economic activity. Especially young people are interested in tourism as the best way to earn money in the short term. As a part of the UNDP SGP funded project, `Creating a sustainable development model in Cirali Protected Area`, local people were provided practical training courses directed by experts on eco-tourism and organic agriculture, in order to diversify the economic activities towards sustainable development in irali. irali, as a small-scale tourism village, has still its own strong social values. Even though the local community is not so conservative, there is still respect to traditions. Tourism is considered only a way to make money, and especially young people want to work in this business. Nevertheless, agriculture is not completely neglected, and its transformation in organic cultivation, joined with understanding of the natural and cultural heritage of the area, is a guarantee of cultural sustainability. The successful protection and monitoring of the beach is contributing to the survival of the local nesting population of marine turtles. irali also has a drinking water supply problem, pollution due to chemical pesticides from conventional agriculture. With the former SGP project, some villagers reverted to organic farming with considerable success, and several of the products now have organic certification. However, the villagers still have some problems, especially regarding the marketing of their oranic production. The project aims to solve this problem, and also focus on nature conservation issues, such as continuation of the monitoring of marine turtle breeding sites, other conservation initiatives such as establishing barriers to prevent cars from entering the beach so as to protect the old trees and vulnerable plant species.

Turkey