homepage Newsletter April 2003

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The Friends of Gökova-Akyaka

August, 2003

Hello friend of Akyaka,

what did the society do recently?

In connection with our "Biyo-Gökova" project:

bullet The willfuly destroyed reference sign of our project, that stands at the long nature beach, was repaired and was set up again.
bullet We had different meetings with the local mayors and muhtars. A direct consequence was to make the antique rock graves of Kozlukoyu-akyaka accessible to a wider public. The exact situation of the graves was assessed, photographs have been taken and the planned footpath was marked on a map. A corresponding proposition was delivered the authorities.
bullet The investigations in respect of a change in the utilisation of the wetlands were continued. Especially the effects of the Eukalyptus plants on the soil's microbiology were of interest. It is to be considered whether the existing Eukalyptus can or should be replaced by the Güllük tree, which is characteristic for the region.
bullet Our work is monitored by the special protection authority with great interest. The results will contribute to the master plan, that will be generated soon for our wetlands.
bullet It was concluded that the communities around Akyaka that are involved in the project could and should participate more in tourism. As a first step the preparation of corresponding web pages has been started.

Other association activities:

bullet The special protected areas authority arranged a two-day education seminar for the institutions involved in environmental protection. The society was invited, too. Chairwoman Heike Thol-Schmitz had a presentation concerning the problems and possibilities of our region.
bullet During the seminar lively dialogues developed between the environment protection authorities, the security forces as well as the civil organisations.
bullet Our art exhibitions season began in May with the nationally well known painter Hasan Mutlu. The exhibitions will go on until November. Different artists presented their works with good success in the progress of the exhibitions. By improved public relations, the number of visitors is higher this year than in the last year. You can find the programme at our newsboards in Akyaka as well as on our Website, of course.
bullet The openings of the various exhibitions take place every two weeks Friday, at 18 p.m, and have meanwhile developed into little street parties, with free drinks and snacks for everybody. One sees and is seen.... From each opening celebration, some photos are to be seen on the website.
bullet The project "Otter Database of Turkey" goes on, although the contributions of the academics involved are disappointing, if not none. So far a more or less complete collection of Turkish publications has been converted into digital format, and is available to a wider public now. A datamap has been fed with over 90 sightings, slowly we get an image of the distribution of otters in Turkey.
bullet We could welcome 7 new members in the last 3 months.
bullet The weekly "patrols" in the wetlands were continued. Several offences against nature were assessed and forwarded to the authorities.
bullet We are in close contact to the Gendarme and the special protection authority.
bullet At present we started again collecting the annual fees for the association. Sometimes this can be quite tiring. Fortunately some of the members use increasingly the banks for the transfer of fees and donations. Very soon we will be able to offer the possibility of transferring fees per credit card on our Website. This will save time and costs for all of us.

With friendly greetings from Akyaka

Thomas Schmitz

Webmaster www. akyaka. org

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