The Alpine Garden of Adjara
The Alpine Botanical Garden in Adjara collects native sub- and alpine plants of the Caucasus ecoregion to preserve, research and promote them.
Environmental education
Quo vadis, Turkey’s nature?
Turkey´s nature is diverse, valuable, beautiful and in many places intact. However, it is also under acute threat. What threatens it and where is it heading?
The Yumurtalik lagoons between land and sea, biodiversity and humans
In the Yumurtalik Lagoons National Park, land meets sea and extraordinary biodiversity meets human threats.
The intricate web of nature protection in Hatay
As we approached the province of Hatay, we had no idea yet how intricate and strong the nature protection community really is here. But soon enough, we found out that like the underground network of trees in a forest, the protectors of Hatay developed a unique and diverse network, consisting of academicians, conservationists, media personnel and nature enthusiasts, working as coordinated as we have not seen before.
And what are they protecting? Taking up only 0.7% of Turkey, Hatay hosts 60% of all of the country’s mammal species. Moreover, it is a major bottleneck for migratory birds and hosts some of Turkey’s most important wetlands belonging to the Asi river basin.
One world, one water and one chance to safeguard it
The Black Sea is one of the world’s most isolated seas, and the largest anoxic body of water on the planet (87% of its volume is anoxic). It has also been called Europe’s most polluted sea. In Trabzon along the Turkish Black Sea coast, we sat down with researchers Dr. Muzaffer Feyzioğlu and Dr. Coşkun Erüz from the Karadeniz Technical University to discuss the state of marine conservation, microplastics and people’s attitudes towards marine litter.
The Nature Conservation Centre, the hub of innovative conservation solutions
The Turkish NGO Nature Conservation Centre (Doğa Koruma Merkezi) is a great example of how NGOs can use scientific expertise, practical experience and education activities to bridge gaps between authorities and people. Their projects include a creative spin on tackling the climate crisis, nature education, sustainable agriculture and biodiversity protection.
Spinning a CEEweb for biodiversity
CEEweb is a NGO that spins a web for biodiversity across Central and Eastern Europe. We met them in Budapest to discuss their activities and challenges. In the end, we got a special gift that will follow us for the rest of our journey.
The importance of local environmental education, and a good practice example
If you haven´t been to the Danube floodplains in their naturalness yet, if you haven’t experienced taking a boat and paddling into some mystical sidearms of the Danube, you must put it on your bucket list. Seriously. From its spring in Germany until it flows into the Black sea, the Danube created vast riparian habitats, …
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