First plants sprout in forestlands burnt by wildfires

ANTALYA

The very first plants that have pullulated at the 50,000 hectares of forestland burnt in the wildfires in the southern province of Antalya’s Manavgat district belong to the “agnus castus” plant species, a bird watcher wandering the region has said.

“I monitored some blue and purple plants in the Beydiğin area,” Gökçe Coşkun told the Demirören News Agency on Aug. 19.

According to the bird watcher, the pullulation of “agnus castus” is a “hope from the land” after the wildfires.

“I also witnessed an insect invasion in the region. I saw mostly grasshoppers, flies and dragonflies,” he added.

Another sign of mother nature returning to the region comes from the sky. “I saw many birds flying over the burnt lands. Notts, ravens and falcons...”

He gave one more good news about the wildlife, saying, “The number of wild animals affected directly by the fires is less than I feared.”

However, he made a warning about the streams in the district. Unfortunately, the small running waters have all been polluted by the wildfires, he said.