Marine ecosystem workshop starts in Muğla

MUĞLA

A workshop under the direction of the Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change Ministry to discuss the protection of marine ecosystems has started in the southwestern province of Muğla.

The ministry organized the workshop to ensure the control and sustainability of the bay ecosystems and to determine the necessary measures to be taken, stated Abdullah Uçan, the head of the General Directorate of Protection of Natural Assets.

The participants aim to discuss the results of studies regarding these areas, which were conducted in a scientific-based environment, and share them with the public, Uçan noted while summarizing the scope of the workshop.

Six panels were held in the first two days of the workshop, while fieldwork is under the plan for the third day, Uçan stated, adding that about 250 people attended the program.

A total of 28 academics and researchers from 10 different universities and 15 non-governmental organizations from various countries, such as Spain, Italy and France, participated in the workshop.

Providing information about the content of the workshop, Uçan said that soil and wetlands sensitive to pollution and deterioration were determined as special environmental protection zones by the ministry.

The balance between protection and use of natural, cultural, historical, educational and aesthetic values is determined sensitively in these areas, Uçan pointed out.

On the instructions of Environment Minister Murat Kurum, various scientific research, examinations and conservation studies are being carried out on the land, coastal and marine protected areas, Uçan said.

Pointing out that 12 of these protected areas host many bays, which have natural harbor characteristics, Uçan stated that these regions are also vulnerable to human-caused activity and, therefore, destruction.

Especially seagrass meadows, one of the most important undersea oxygen sources in the Mediterranean, suffer from considerable damage due to the uncontrolled anchoring of boats and yachts in the bays, Uçan noted.