84 TRAVELLING VOICES
On a very rocky soil, like the one found in the Kozak Plateau, it’s difficult to do any agriculture. Luckily the bluish granite and quartz rocks together with the Mediterranean climate make the plateau a perfect habitat for stone pines. These tall trees with their large canopy cover the whole plateau like giant flowers to make the area look like a dark green paradise from afar. Their remarkable image gives Kozak a fairy-tale atmosphere. But these trees are not just beautiful - harvesting the pines also gave an exceptionally good income for the locals. However it’s not an easy living. First you have to wait 10 years until a tree starts producing cones and about 3 years for a cone to be fully ripe. Because of the steeply sloped land and the rocks, the harvest cannot be mechanized - you have to climb the trees, carefully select only the ripe cones, and knock them down with a long, wooden pole (with a hook at the end) called “keye”. It is not just hard, but sometimes a dangerous occupation, because of the breaking or simply unstable branches high above. Women collect the fallen cones and then set them out to dry and open in the sun. Each tree only yields a few kilograms of pine nuts, and it takes more than 10 kilograms of cones to produce 1 kilo of nuts. A decade ago the Kozak Plateau was considered one of the world’s most important pine nut exporters with its impressive 10% share of the global market. Unfortunately, this is no longer
3
the case. In the past few years production of pine nuts dramatically dropped, by more than 90 percent allowing the locals to harvest only 150 tons instead of the thousands of tons they had previously. Experts claim that an invasive species, the western conifer seed bug and the drought caused by global warming are responsible for the poor crop while the locals blame the extensive rock mining and the chemicals the other mines use. Despite this calamity, the people of the Kozak Plateau are just as tough as their precious stone pine trees. They are constantly looking for new income sources. Some villages see promising alternatives in agro and hunting tourism, or just in a different kind of tourism, opening up their homes to guests and inviting them in for local meals. Others are producing and selling handicrafts like unique rugs and carpets or goods like honey, cheese, mushroom or the “blood of the tree”, the pine resin. There is also a plan to establish the Kozak Plateau Wildlife Park with caravan parks, tent camps and bungalows built from local wood and stone materials. But experts are also working hard collecting soil, leaves, cones and rainwater samples from the region. They are hoping to find a cure, so that one day the stone pines can offer a good harvest again for the villagers.
85
Pinus pinea, the stone pine found in the Kozak Plateau.
Rocks and nuts
TURKEY / Gediz - Bakircay Basins
the people of the Kozak Plateau are just as tough as their precious stone pine trees
