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FOLLOW UP REPORT TO THE 17th MEETING OF THE STANDING COMMITTEE OF THE CONVENTION ON THE CONSERVATION OF EUROPEAN WILDLIFE AND NATURAL HABITATS (BERN CONVENTION, Dec. 1-5/1997) CONCERNING MARINE TURTLE CONSERVATION IN PATARA, TURKEY.
Report to MEDASSET by:Pamir Yilmaz, University of Akdeniz. October 1997
At the beginning of July 1997, a ten year old German girl was killed in the sea at Patara, by a jet ski. The manager of the daily use facility on the beach which has been built by the Authority for the Protection of Special Areas (APSA), who is a local village leader, had been warned by students of the University of Izmir, who were studying sea turtles on the beach for Prof. I. Baran, about the dangers the jet ski posed, but they had been ignored. Anyway, as a result of the girls death the jet ski use has stopped, but for how long? Although conservation rules and regulations are in place for Patara, they are just written on paper or shown on signs, no serious attempts are made to enforce them, even when contraventions are brought to the attention of the authorities. At a meeting in Patara on the 28th August 1997, between the Governor of Anatalya and the Turkish Ministry of Culture, the Governor accepted responsibility for the protection of Patara and asked for the demolition of three illegal buildings built during his period of office and therefor his responsibility. This would be a good start. It is interesting that if the Governor only accepts responsibility for illegal buildings built during his tenure of the office, what official is to be held responsible for illegal buildings built earlier? Attempts seem to be made to legalise the illegal buildings by including them in construction plans prepared by APSA and the Ministry of Culture, which give permission for more and more development. So is APSA, funded by international money, upholding conservation interests or just an operation to try to circumvent environmental laws and regulations? On that part of the beach where the daily facility area is located, there have been no turtle nests this year, and there has been a general decline in the number of nests, continuing the trend of the past two years. This cannot of course, be directly attributed to the pressure from tourism, due to the cyclical nature of turtle nesting, but has to be taken into consideration, and makes continued study of the utmost importance. There is no sign that any of the World Bank funds paid to APSA for use in conservation, have been spent in Patara.
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There is horse riding on the beach, in the dunes and at the archaeological site, for the tourists; 4 wheel drive vehicles use the beach; Nine canoes, six single and three double, remain on the beach at night; Sunbeds have increased in numbers to around 100, and are stored at night approx. 20 metres from the water, in three rows 60 metres long forming an impenetrable barrier to turtles; There were insufficient blocks provided for the sun umbrellas, so many were stuck in the sand, thus endangering nests and eggs. Since last years visit by Prof. Lescure carrying out the “on the spot” appraisal for the Council of Europe, a large yellow sign at the beach entrance informs of the need for the protection of turtles, but scant information is available about the necessary tourist behaviour on the beach. Another illegal house has been built in the woods, near the controversial Beighan Hotel, thus illustrating the ease with which conservation laws and regulations are ignored. The rubbish tip has seen some improvement, four people being employed for two months and rubbish being bagged up and taken away, I hesitate to wonder where it is now, but at least it is a move in the right direction as far as Patara beach is concerned. Anyway, all is not bad news from Patara as there do seem to be some small signs that things are moving in the right direction. Restrictions on the use of the beach at night are starting to be enforced, jet skis and speedboats are not operating, the rubbish problem has been improved although some of the old rubbish still remains, and a leaflet distributed by the Turkish Government in the Patara area indicates that more attention is being focussed there. There is still a need for:- Tourist information to be disseminated. - Local public awareness of environmental matters to be raised. - Environmentally trained Guards, to enforce the regulations both for the beach area and the archaeological site. - Enforcement of the local hunting laws. Everything gets shot, Birds, Turtles, Dogs, Cats, even the “no hunting” signs. The attached article from the Turkish Daily News, 29th July 1997, was headed Patara, ancient site and home of sea turtles: Threatened by populism and ‘wild’ tourism. It went on: “It is no wonder that this place, with its archaeological remains and its ecological beauty, attracts hordes of tourists: a ‘fatal attraction’ that environmentalists say causes ‘irreversible damage both to the beach and to the Archaeological site’.” The environmental message is slowly getting around.
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