(Click photo to download a larger PDF of the poster)
As part of the community consultation process and mapping exercise of the COMDEKS socio-ecological production landscape, COMDEKS Turkey has produced a poster of the Datça-Bozburun Peninsula, a key biodiversity area in the Muğla province of Southwest Turkey and the target landscape for the COMDEKS Programme in Turkey. The poster will be featured in a poster session to be held at the upcoming IPSI-4 meeting in Fukui, Japan, as an example of the quality of local knowledge captured during the community consultative process and the on the ground community-based activities funded by COMDEKS at the landscape level.
The poster, titled “Challenges and solutions to enhance the resilience of the Datça – Bozburun Peninsula’s socio-ecological production landscape and seascape”, is used in key points of the Peninsula as an educational tool for enhancing capacity of the local communities living in the area, and building awareness among tourists visiting the area.
The left hand side of the poster simulates the interactive mapping exercise wherein community members were asked to mark important assets, including key biodiversity and local products, as well as threats and challenges in the area by sticking notes and photos on a map of the proposed landscape. The composed map not only provides valuable information on the key characteristics of the area, such as local products and important assets, but also underlines the sensitive areas of interest, problems, opportunities and threats including sea pollution, overfishing, ghost nets, etc.
Below the annotated map, eight messages developed by the landscape stakeholders welcome visitors to the area in both Turkish and English and present ways to respect the landscape’s natural features such avoiding disturbing animal habitats, supporting sustainable fishing, and empowering local cooperatives to ensure conservation of the Datça Almond and other local products.
The right hand side of the poster outlines nine community-based projects currently supported by COMDEKS, which focus on both land and seascapes of the Datça-Bozburun peninsula. Three projects focused in the waters surrounding the peninsula aim to support sustainable, responsible fishing to reverse the effects of overfishing, raise awareness and reduce the number of ghost nets, and promote the presence and significance of fisherwomen in fisheries. Inland, two village driven projects intend to prevent erosion while encouraging afforestation and biodiverse plant wealth, as well as promote conservation and production of the local Datça almond. These projects intend to improve the competitiveness of local goods (including, almond, native medicinal herbs and aromatic plants) and initiate ecotourism. Two projects address the peninsula’s plant and animal species by implementing “species conservation action plans” to protect mammalian species, and determining priority sites for application of conservation measures to protect Mediterranean forest ecosystems. The final two projects focus on information dissemination. The first brings together local stakeholders to discuss the community’s impact on the land and sea. Another project will produce a documentary depicting the experiences of NGOs working in the peninsula.
Please click here to view the poster description or here to read more about the COMDEKS target landscape in Turkey.
COMDEKS 