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Viewing cable 03ANKARA2344, TURKEY MAKES GOOD PROGRESS WITH LIMITED RESOURCES

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
03ANKARA2344 2003-04-11 06:07 2011-08-24 01:00 UNCLASSIFIED Embassy Ankara
This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 002344 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
STATE FOR OES/ETC, OES/PCI, EUR/SE 
PLEASE PASS EPA/OIA (HHUYNH) 
POSTS FOR ESTOFFICERS 
 
 
E.O.12958: N/A 
TAGS: SENV GG TU
SUBJECT:  TURKEY MAKES GOOD PROGRESS WITH LIMITED RESOURCES 
ON WETLANDS 
 
 
1.  Summary. With 71 wetlands of "international importance," 
175 lowland wetlands and 1,000 alpine wetlands, Turkey hosts 
one of the most significant collections of wetlands in 
Europe and the Middle East.  The development of its first 
five-year national plan and the implementation of its first 
wetlands regulation represent recent impressive progress in 
Turkey's wetlands management.  GOT also established a 
national commission and blocked several projects that would 
have negatively affected its wetlands. But the missing 
elements are huge -- private sector involvement and 
sufficient funding to implement plans. End summary. 
 
 
Four Milestones in Wetlands Management 
-------------------------------------- 
2.  Turkey become a party to the "Convention on Wetlands of 
International Importance especially as Waterfowl Habitat" in 
1994 and has made impressive progress in the past 15 months, 
achieving four important milestones. 
 
 
-- (1) Turkey has completed its first National Wetlands 
Strategy Plan, covering 2003-08.  Developed in cooperation 
with four ministries (Environment, Forestry, Culture, 
Agriculture), the State Water Works (DSI), and NGOs 
(WWF/Turkey, Bird Researches Association), the strategy won 
praise from the Ramsar Secretariat for its emphasis on 
interagency cooperation and for being one of the first 
national strategic policy documents focused strictly on 
wetlands.  Actively engaged in plan development, WWF/Turkey 
finds the plan quite fair in assigning responsibilities 
among stakeholders and in setting realistic and supportable 
objectives.  (Comment. The plan's principle drawback is that 
it continues the practice of precluding the private sector 
from participating in developing wetlands management plans. 
End comment.) 
 
 
-- (2) Effective January 2002, Turkey enacted Wetlands 
Protection Regulation that set out guidelines for wetlands 
protection and use.  What is most remarkable is that Turkey 
has stopped several projects proposed by powerful ministries 
(DSI, Agriculture) that would have harmed protected 
wetlands. Among the blocked projects are the drainage of 
12,000 hectares (ha) in Kizilirmak River basin near Samsun, 
the irrigation of 48,000 ha in Beysehir Lake (Konya and 
Isparta), and the construction of an international harbor in 
Izmir's Gediz Delta.  Other projects have been sent back to 
the drawing board, including a DSI project that would have 
negatively affected the ecological integrity of Lake Seyfe 
near Kirsehir, water flow plans for the Sultan Marshes in 
Kayseri, and water plans for Lake Kus near Balikesir. 
 
 
-- (3) Turkey established a 12-member National Wetlands 
Commission, as required in its wetlands regulations.  MOE 
heads the Commission whose members include the general 
directors of government ministries, important NGOs and 
academics. MOE believes that such a high level commission 
will resolve conflicting interests among concerned 
organizations. 
 
 
-- (4) Turkey has designated 71 of its wetlands as 
"internationally important" following Ramsar criteria for 
fish and waterfowl.  These designations bolster recognition 
of Turkey as host to one of the most significant collections 
of wetlands in Europe and the Middle East.  In addition, 
Turkey has nine designated Ramsar sites ("Ramsar 
designations" are awarded to those sites with 
internationally significant ecology, botany, zoology, 
limnology or hydrology.) Fulfilling the requirements of its 
wetlands regulations, GOT has identified protection areas 
and buffer zones for many of the country's 250 lowland and 
more than 1,000 alpine wetlands, many of which are barely 
even mapped. 
 
 
Ramsar to Open Regional Center in Turkey 
---------------------------------------- 
3.  WWF told us that the Ramsar Secretariat described 
Turkey's regulations and its strategic plan as "models" for 
other countries because they add management techniques 
unique to Turkey to Ramsar's recommended global management 
system.  Turkey will host the important international 
Mediterranean Wetlands Initiative meeting in Izmir in June. 
Following the meeting, MOE and Ramsar Secretariat will open 
a Regional Ramsar Center to serve Turkey, the Caucasus and 
Central Asian Countries. 
 
 
Turkey's Wetlands Players 
------------------------- 
4.  In addition to the National Wetlands Commission, three 
institutions are actively engaged in Turkey's wetlands 
issues. 
-- (1) MOE.  Through its Directorate General for 
Environmental Protection, the MOE is Turkey's designated 
Ramsar authority. 
 
 
-- (2) NGOs.  NGOs, such as WWF, have taken the lead in 
encouraging local communities to use wetlands wisely, a 
particularly welcomed educational function that complements 
a GOT-produced wetlands documentary. (Comment. Turkey's 
engaging NGOs in wetlands activities is not surprising. It 
follows Turkey's recognition for its "Worldwide Best 
Practice" for effectively engaging civil society 
institutions in the development of its WSSD report. End 
Comment.) 
 
 
-- (3) DSI.  As the agency responsible for water supply and 
distribution, DSI is clearly the most influential water 
agency in Turkey.  DSI pressed to be the deciding voice in 
wetlands planning during the early stages of the 
regulation's implementation, despite MOE's official Ramsar 
designation and GOT's own requirement that wetlands 
regulations be prepared in coordination among ministries, 
local authorities and others. However, the National Wetlands 
Commission succeeded in deflecting the potential imbalance 
of power. 
 
 
Wetlands: Their Threats and Resources 
------------------------------------- 
5.  The primary threat to wetlands in general is potential 
destruction of delicate hydrologic balance.  The greatest 
potential offenders are water suppliers and users.  In 
Turkey, these are potentially DSI, the Ministry of Rural 
Affairs, municipalities, local water users associations 
(irrigation), and water companies.  Pollution (domestic, 
industrial, agricultural) and habitat destruction are other 
destructive influences.  Anthropogenic activity, another 
threat, has all but destroyed the alpine wetlands in parts 
of eastern Anatolia. 
 
 
6.  Even with hundreds of wetlands in its territory, the GOT 
has only three wetlands management plans (Goksu Delta, 
Manyas Lake, Uluabat Lake) in effect.  The MOE aims to 
develop and implement two to three additional wetlands plans 
per year.  However, as a non-implementing agency, the MOE 
has no funding for this purpose and instead relies entirely 
on outside sources to fund the $65 - 75,000 it typically 
costs to develop wetlands plans over the course of two 
years. France and the Netherlands are currently partially 
funding two new wetlands plans (Gediz Delta, Burdur Lake). 
Implementation can be hugely costly as well, addressing 
biology, sociology, biodiversity and other wetlands 
elements. Turkey has identified future priorities -- 
Kizilirmak Delta, Seyfe Lake, Sultan Marshes, Hazar Lake and 
the Meric Delta -- but has not earmarked funding to address 
their needs.  In addition to an absence of funding, 
expertise within the MOE is limited. 
 
 
Transboundary Projects on the Horizon 
------------------------------------- 
7.  Turkey has several potential opportunities for cross- 
border cooperation: with Georgia (at Aktas Lake), Armenia (a 
mountain wetlands), and Greece (the Meric Delta, a Ramsar 
site on the Greek side of the border).  WWF/Georgia is 
working on an eco-regional, transboundary conservation 
project involving Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Russia and 
Iran.  Although a transboundary Ramsar designation could be 
achieved within five years, it is unclear if Turkey has 
implemented the legal requirements to support transboundary 
protection.  However, the plan proposes adding a 
transboundary Ramsar site and a cooperative transboundary 
management program to wetlands programming.  It is projected 
that the transboundary site to be selected will be one 
shared with Georgia. 
 
 
Comment 
------- 
8. Effective wetlands management requires a high level, long- 
term commitment. The on-again, off-again merger of 
ministries of Environment and Forestry has reduced momentum 
somewhat on wetlands development but not deterred the MOE 
team from pushing forward.  Although its first transboundary 
wetlands management proposal is in the pipeline, Turkey 
still lacks sufficient funding and technical resources to 
implement its domestic programs.  The opening of a Regional 
Ramsar Center later this year and Turkey's hosting a 
regional wetlands conference may bring much needed exposure, 
expertise and resources to Turkey's rich wetlands. 
 
 
PEARSON