Five-year project to restore Turkey's Gediz Delta gets underway
The wetland near Izmir hosts breeding grounds for 10% of the world's flamingos, and the plan includes eco-friendly weirs, a restored flamingo island and buried power lines.
A five-year restoration project for the Gediz Delta, a coastal wetland near Izmir that provides breeding grounds for 10% of the world's flamingo population, was launched Tuesday and will run until 2031.
The project is led by Turkey's General Directorate of Nature Conservation and National Parks and the nonprofit Doğa Derneği, working with BirdLife Europe and Central Asia and the France-based Tour du Valat research institute. It is funded by the Endangered Landscapes and Seascapes Programme.
The delta, one of the Mediterranean basin's most important wetlands, hosts about 20,000 pairs of flamingos each year and one of the region's largest colonies of Dalmatian pelicans. It is protected under the international Ramsar Convention on wetlands and also supports small-scale fishing, traditional livestock farming and about half a million metric tons of salt production a year.
Planned work includes solar-powered water management, turning river barriers into weirs that fish can pass, restoring the delta's flamingo island and building artificial breeding platforms for waterbirds. Sections of power lines that kill or injure many birds each year will be moved underground.
The project will also support ecotourism and rural livelihoods and renovate the delta's visitor center for students and visitors.
This brief is based on reporting by İklim Haber's news desk, published Oct. 7, 2026. Read the original: https://www.iklimhaber.org/gediz-deltasinin-ekolojik-butunlugu-icin-bes-yillik-restorasyon-calismasi-basliyor/
This article was produced with the assistance of AI tools and reviewed by an editor before publication.
