Ovine breeding needed in Turkey to fight climate change

BURDUR

Ovine breeding, rather than bovine breeding, should be carried out in Turkey to save water and fight against climate change, as one of the deepest lakes in the country, Lake Burdur, has dried up by half in over half a century, experts have said.

According to daily Milliyet, which spoke to climate experts, the depth of the lake, which was once 60 meters, is around 18 meters today.

In 50 years, the salty lake’s surface area has dried up in half. The dust caused by the drought is now a threat to the cultivated areas nearby, the report said on Oct. 6.

“Two decades ago, we used to swim in the lake. Now even the dust in the lake has changed the climate of the region,” Öztürk Sarıca, from the local nature organization Lisinia Nature, told the daily.

“The water problem today is all human-driven,” said Sarıca, blaming stock farming and advising sheep and goat breeding in Turkey to save the water.

“Cattle need too much water to feed and grow. Besides they eat trefoils and corns, which are ‘water monsters.’ They consume too much water while growing, too,” said the expert.

“We need an Anatolian way of animal breeding. I mean ovine breeding. We are water free country. We use our underground and overground waters loutishly,” he added.

İskender Gülle is another professor who has devoted his life to save Lake Burdur.

He told Milliyet there were three reasons behind the dry-up.

“The decline of the precipitation, the overuse of the sources that feed the lake and drawing the underground water for agricultural irrigation caused the latest situation in the lake,” he noted.