Issue: 68
GEF supported project is implemented by UNDP Turkey in partnership with Ministry of Forestry and Water Affairs, and WW-Turkey.
Fifth episode of “9 Hotspots Documentary Series”, which is broadcated in July, introduced Küre Mountains National Park and its buffer zone.
“Green Küre” documentary is hosted by actor Hakan Gerçek and introduced natural, geomorphological, cultural and architectural values of Küre Mountains National Park and its buffer zone.
Documentary also focused on the importance of the national park for Bartın and Kastamonu provinces and high support of various stakeholders.
Programme showed successes of Küre Mountains National Park in nature conservation, sustainable natural resources management, ecotourim applications and participation of non-governmental organizations and local people in whole process.
Documentary showed the exemplary applications as a model for other eight forest hotspots in Turkey.
“Green Küre” documentary, which is aired five times in July, will continue to be broadcasted in next months.
By the end of July, five documentaries in “9 Hotspots Documentary Series”, each for 40 minutes, have been aired for 113 times in İZ TV and have reached at least 1 million 600 thousand people.
Results of the contest have been made public according to which the Foundation was voted by thousands of enthusiastic supporters to receive funding for its project ensuring the guaranteed protection of 10,000 hectares of wilderness in Küre Mountains National Park.
Küre Mountains National Park project submitted by the PAN Parks Foundation was among the shortlisted projects showcased in three Dutch magazines and online encouraging members of the public to get involved by choosing which projects should be supported by EOCA.
Küre Mountains Project won the funding contests with thousands of votes from its supporters so became one of the 10 winning projects from the 66 nominated ones.
Through the winning project, PAN Parks together with WWF Turkey plans to safeguard 10,000 hectares of wilderness in Kure Mountains National Park in Turkey, protecting its untouched nature, extensive old-growth forests, geomorphological features and variety of endemic and iconic wildlife, whilst developing sustainable tourism.
Küre Mountains National Parks will be ready for PAN Parks verification at the end of 2011 as a result of GEF supported “Enhancing Forest Protected Areas Management System in Turkey Project” which is implemented by UNDP Turkey in partnership with Ministry of Forestry and Water Affairs, and WW-Turkey.
Minister of EU along with local authorities of Ümraniye, representatives from civil society organizations, and officials from UNDP Turkey, Youth for Habitat International Network and Microsoft Turkey attended to the ceremony held in the first days of July.
In the ceremony, Minister Egemen Bağış gave a speech and said, “ümraniye mentioned with negative events in the past, but in recent years it comes to the fore with trade centers and social projects”.
After the remarks, Minister Bağış and other authorities gave certificates to graduates of Habitat IT Academy.
IT Academy Project, in particular, targeted women, youth, disabled and limited income groups who are disadvantaged in society.
IT Academies along with more than a thousand volunteer teacher gave face to face education to hundred and 135,000 people until now.
With “Kars Fam Tour”, beside Kars city centre Sarıkamış, Ani Antique City, including various cultural and natural richess of Kuyucuk and Çıldır Lakes were visited.
Turkish Fam Tour was organized under the scope of Alliances for Culture Tourism in Eastern Anatolia United Nations Joint Programme which aims at mobilization of the tourism sector in Kars by utilizing the cultural and natural potential of the region.
The tour which aimed at promoting Kars’ tourism products to famous tour operators from Germany, United Kingdom and Iran had 27 participants.
Kars Tourism Strategy and Action Plan announced
Kars Tourism Strategy and Action Plan which were prepared under the scope of United Nations Joint Programme and approved by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism was announced in the meeting together with the Fam Tour participants as well as the public and private sector representatives, local stakeholders and press. 4 new brochures on Kars’ potential tourism products as winter, nature, culture tourism were also shared in that meeting.
The first destination of the Fam Tour, Ani Antique City, 42 kms far away from the city centre, accompanied by the professional tour guides was visited. Following that, Kars City Centre, Kars Castle, Museum and Minstrel Culture House which was inaugurated under the scope of UN Joint Programme was visited.
In the second day, the first destination was Boğatepe village. In the village, which is home to many milk and dairy production and endemic medical plants, the participants tasted a traditional breakfast and visited dairy farms for the production of kashar and gruyere cheese.
Following Boğatepe village, Kuyucuk Lake which is home to 213 bird species, was visited. Participants were informed by the Kuzey Doğa Foundation and had the bird watching activity accompanied by experts , the next stop of participants was Çıldır Lake.
Under the hard winter conditions of the region, in winter times Kuyucuk Lake freezes. During the bird watching even the guests struggled with hot weather, the Lake gave an opportunity to its guests to take a breath with its cool weather
The share of Kars on tourism will increase
In the last day of Fam Tour, Sarıkamış was visited. Following a visit to the developed ski facilities and accommodation opportunities as well as the Sarıkamış Cemetery and Sarıkamış Culture House, a round table organized with the participation of all guests in Kars and local stakeholders.
In this meeting, working groups discussed recent situation and potential of Kars as a Tourism destination, under winter, nature and culture tourism headings.
While the Fam Tour finalized with a dinner enriched by a Caucasian Folk Dance performance, it was a common idea that Kars is a tourism treasure that is expected to be discovered.
The tour operators from Germany, United Kingdom and Iran mentioned that increasing momentum of culture tourism in the tourism market will also create big differences for Kars’ tourism, and Kars will have a greater share in the Eastern Anatolia tours.
With the idea of ‘Art-ist has no barrier’, Social Inclusion Band went on the Coca-Cola Zero Stage on 16-17th of July 2011 within the context of Rock’n Coke Festival.
The band has appeared on different festivals one being Akbank Jazz Festival, increased its popularity with the concerts held in Babylon throughout the whole winter season.
Social Inclusion Band has shown that music has no boundaries while playing on the stage for Rock’n Coke Festival. It was an unforgettable experience for each audience.
Social Inclusion Band in IKSV Jazz Festival
Social Inclusion Band also came together with the music fans during IKSV Tunnel Festival, which was held on Saturday July 2, 2011.
Tunnel Festival, is an event that is held near the Tunnel area within the context of IKSV Jazz Festival.
Social Inclusion Band, which has formed so as to socialize socially disadvantaged and disabled people, has differentiated itself with its different kind of music at the festival.
Because of the intense interest of the audience, the concert lasts more than expected.
Social Inclusion Band excitement in One Love Festival
Social Inclusion Band also gave a concert on July 3rd 2011 at Santral Istanbul within the scope of Efes Pilsen One Love Festival.
Social Inclusion Band went on the stage regarding the opening of Dolu Dolu Music Stage, with the participation of thousands of music fans.
It was an exiting performance held by the Social Inclusion Band during the festival that every participant enjoyed every second.
The intense interest to the members of the Social Inclusion Band and the information stand lasted through out the whole day.
Social Inclusion Band is one of the most important projects of Dreams Academy, which is kind of its voice to the national level.
Dreams Academy and Social Inclusion Band will continue its pioneering role with the innovative projects in the coming periods.
About Dreams Academy
Dreams Academy is a project, which was implemented by Alternative Life Association (AYDER), UNDP and State Planning Organization by the financial support of Vodafone Foundation Turkey, that aims to support the participation of the socially disadvantaged and the disables into society and taking up a profession.
Workshop locations have been chosen according to the suitable accessibility standards of the disabled. Locations Beşiktaş Municipality has allocated to the project are Disabled Friendly.
DA is a leading and a model project providing equal participation opportunity with the " Art for all " approach. Dreams Academy contains Vocal-Rythm-Dance- Film-Photograpghy-DJ-Instrument-Painting-Design Workshops.
Being the top performers of their branch and having high sensitivity, workshop educators and corporate partners are the most powerful milestones in Dreams Academy Project in the means of reaching project targets, program quality and sustainability.
The Project has won 2009 Golden Compass Award, 2011 “This is Social Innovation” award, and listed as the best practice in UNDP Human Development Report.
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Six new cities are joining the Women Friendly Cities Project which aims to strengthen gender equality at the local level in Turkey..
The new candidate cities of the project; Antalya, Bursa, Gaziantep, Malatya, Mardin and Samsun have all signed the “Women Friendly City Commitment” on the 6th of July to become the new women friendly cities of Turkey.
The commitments were signed by the governorship and municipality representatives of the candidate cities.
Within the second phase, activities will be carried out to promote gender equality at the neighborhood level in İzmir, Kars, Nevşehir, Şanlıurfa, Trabzon and Van which have been part of the first phase (2006-2010) of the Women Friendly Cities Project.
Furthermore, capacities of local authorities and women NGOs will be strengthened through establishing local equality mechanisms, and development of local equality action plans in Antalya, Bursa, Gaziantep, Malatya, Mardin and Samsun which have joined the project recently.
The project is being implemented by the Ministry of Interior General Directorate of Local Authorities with the technical support of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the financial contribution of the Swedish International Development and Cooperation Agency (SIDA).
Adriana DINU, Regional Practice Leader, Environment and Energy - UNDP, Europe and the CIS Bratislava Regional Centre, participated in the meeting made in the context of “Strengthening Protected Area Network of Turkey: Catalyzing Sustainability of Marine and Coastal Protected Areas Project” on July, 6th.
DINU called for launching the preparations to present Turkey’s Special Environmental Protection Areas (SEPAs) as role model in the 2012 IUCN World Conservation Parks Congress within the frame of sustainable development concept and as a “new status.
EPASA President Ahmet Özaynık said that they welcome this approach with pleasure and mentioned that this case shows Turkey’s leadership in this area as well as Turkey’s attached importance for this subject.
Vision and strategic objectives identified
Following the meeting held in Ankara, the Strategy and Action Plan meeting was continued in Gebze on 11-12 July.
Nearly 60 vocational professionals including the academicians, NGO representatives and experts as well as the project stakeholders from state agencies and institutions were participated in the meeting.
The vision of “Turkey, leader in Marine and Coastal Protection areas, which maintained the sustainability of marine and coastal values in order to leave a livable marine environment for future generations” was accepted upon joint effort by the participants.
At the end of the meeting, the strategic objectives for MCPA management were determined and accepted as follows:
- Strengthening the corporate structure and the capacity with the information and training activities for public, local and area visitors,
- Providing income generating ant cost effective management,
- Increasing inter-institutional coordination, including the international ones,
- Developing an applicable legislation, in which the conflicts and overlapping are resolved and the job descriptions of the institutions are described openly and clearly,
- Providing the integration of the management plans in MCPAs with the spatial plans,
- Providing the qualitative and quantitative development of MCPAs which represent Turkey’s marine and coastal values.
The concept of social entrepreneurship, which is examined within the ‘Growing Inclusive Market’ studies by UNDP as a progressive model in the area of development, has not yet received due recognition in Turkey.
Therefore, in order to draw attention to this concept and to popularize it, introducing the existing examples of social entrepreneurship in Turkey, analyzing their business models, and identifying their common problems and solution strategies are crucial.
For this purpose, five social enterprises (Foundation for the Support of Women's Work, Genctur, Alternative Life Foundation, Bugday, Cop(m)adam) were chosen by the academics of Bilgi University and UNDP specialists to be analyzed in an academic fashion.
The method of analysis called “Case Writeshop” was developed by the same team, and the team concluded the research on five social enterprises in three months. The case studies which served as examples of social entrepreneurship were shared with wider public in a conference that was held on the 17th of June, 2011, at Bilgi University.
The social entrepreneurs, combining the results of careful examination of their business models, shared their own experiences in the conference.
In addition to the entrepreneurs, namely the founding partners of Cop(m)adam Tara Hopkins and Melih Ozsoz, founder of AYDER (Alternative Life Foundation) Ercan Tutal, founding member of Genctur Hulya Denizalp, founding member of KEDV (Foundation for the Support of Women's Work), and communications manager of Bugday Foundation Gizem Altin Nancse, many other actors ranging from the business world to academia and non-governmental organizations representatives participated in the conference.
Apart from the chosen case studies, presentations on the general situation of social entrepreneurship in Turkey and the problems faced took place. Before concluding, a one-hour panel discussion and a Q&A session was held.
The case studies will be published as a report in Turkish, as well as in English. The forthcoming report will be the first thematic GIM report of the Turkey. The report will also feature a section about the “Case write-shop” methodology.
After a successful Meis-Kas performance, Dreams Academy Volunteer Swimmers and their Team leader Kamil Resa Alsaran swam tough intercontinental 6,5 kilometer track this time.
In this special racing Alsaran and his team with each strike out contributed to another student’s social life and also offered them a free holiday and training opportunities.
These voluntary projects that give support to the development of the Alternative Camp and the Dreams Academy are aiming to increase the social awareness.
Every year from different parts of the world hundreds of professional and amateur swimmers that attended this race, started on July 17, 2011 at 10.00 from Kanlica and cease to exist at Kuruçeşme Cemil Topuzlu Park.
Bogazici races that has been organized for the 23rd times by the Turkey’s National Olympics Committee also draw attention as being the world’s first and only swimming organization between the two continents.
About Dreams Academy
Dreams Academy is a project ,which was implemented by Alternative Life Association (AYDER), UNDP and State Planning Organization by the financial support of Vodafone Foundation Turkey, that aims to support the participation of the socially disadvantaged and the disables into society and taking up a profession.
Workshop locations have been chosen according to the suitable accessibility standards of the disabled. Locations Beşiktaş Municipality has allocated to the project are Disabled Friendly.
DA is a leading and a model project providing equal participation opportunity with the " Art for all " approach. Dreams Academy contains Vocal-Rythm-Dance- Film-Photograpghy-DJ-Instrument-Painting-Design Workshops.
Being the top performers of their branch and having high sensitivity, workshop educators and corporate partners are the most powerful milestones in Dreams Academy Project in the means of reaching project targets, program quality and sustainability.
The Project has won 2009 Golden Compass Award, 2011 “This is Social Innovation” award, and listed as the best practice in UNDP Human Development.
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Turkish participants from nine different local authorities have met in a number of sessions on various possible co-operations with hosts from eight different EU local authorities.
Municipalities took a number of giant steps further in developing the commercial and economic relations between their countries by determining their priorities of possible collaborations.
The participants from UNDP Turkey Office and UMT (Union of Municipalities of Turkey) took place in technical working visits, organized within the scope of the Support to Further Implementation of Local Administration Reform in Turkey Project.
Various topics discussed
The topics discussed during the visits that were further detailed out by best practices and experiences were; environment, environmental protection and energy efficiency; tourism and culture, municipal services (ie. social services including gender, elderly care and children; urban transportation, urban planning and some others like emergency-fire, etc.); local economic development and citizen participation.
The second round of technical working visits is going to start in September – October 2011. All the projects and ideas discussed and focused during the first visits are foreseen to be realized after these meetings to be carried out by EU Municipalities with their Turkish counterparts.
All related shareholders and businessmen are also planned to accompany visits in addition to local aouthority representatives. During the meeting at Italy Trieste Governorship, it was focused on developing the relations and co-operations between local authorities from Turkey and Italy.
Objectives of the project
The cooperation between Uşak and Charleroi is planned to be developed more by Turkish businessmen in Belgium. Thus, these collaborations are assumed to result in measurable and long lasting results far beyond technical visits.
Support to Further Implementation of Local Administration Reform in Turkey Project is being implemented by the Ministry of Interior with the technical assistance of the United Nations Development Programme and funded by the European Union in the scope of the EU-Turkey Pre-Accession Financial Co-Operation Programme.
The specific objective of the project is to develop and strengthen the administrative capacity and co-operation of the Ministry of Interior (particularly General Directorate of Local Authorities, governorates and district governorates), unions of local authorities and local authorities themselves in the task of ensuring effective implementation of new policy and legislation on local administration.
Minor actions remained for Parks verification by independent international verifiers in 2012 spring.
Project Manager Mustafa Yılmaz and Deputy Project Manager Yıldıray Lise visited Lithuania to experience PAN Parks verification process by independent international experts, which is the final step of a protected area to be certified as PAN Parks.
During PAN Parks verification process of 70.000 ha protected area complex (Dzukija National Park and Cepkeliai Strict Nature Reserve) by independent international verifiers, Turkish team experienced wilderness values of the protected area, nature management, visitor management, sustainable tourism strategy applications and integration of local business partners in tourism sector.
Principles
PAN Parks quality standards have five main principles:
Principle 1 - Rich Natural Heritage: PAN Parks are large protected areas that ae representative of Europe’s natural heritage and the international importance for wildlife and ecosystems, having at least 10.000 ha wilderness area.
Principle 2 - Nature Management: Design and management of the PAN Parks aims to maintain and, if necessary, restore the area’s natural ecological process anf its biodiversity with the action listed in a management plan.
Principle 3 - Visitor Management: Visitor management safeguards the natural values of the PAN Parks and aims to provide visitors with a high-quality experience under a visitor management plan.
Principle 4 - Sustainable Tourism Strategy: The protected area authority ans its relavant partners in the PAN Parks region aim at achieving and synergy between nature conservation and Sustainable Tourism by developing and jointly implementing a Sustainable Tourism Development Strategy.
Principle 5 – Partnerships: The local business partners aim at offering high-quality tourism packages based on the appreciation of nature.
What is PAN Parks?
Protected Areas Network (PAN) Parks is a network of Protected Areas to protect Europe’s wilderness, the continent’s most undisturbed areas of nature. PAN Parks applies a truly integrated approach: to mobilise sustainable tourism development for strengthening wilderness conservation.
At the end of the trainings, following the written and applied tests 27 participants achieved their “Certificate of Achievement” from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.
Since 2007, Tourism Development in Eastern Anatolia Project (TDEAP-DATUR)* has created capacities in the field of bed and breakfast and daily tourism businesses.
Coruh Valley has doubled its number of accomodation facilities.
The number reached to 50 where Uzundere became a new destination.
In Uzundere there were none facility in 2007, now there are six B&Bs (home pansions) and two small-sized hotels reaching a total of 85 bed capacity.
After achievement of their certificates, the owners of the pansions and daily tourism businesses concentrated on the trainings of local cusine.
The receipees unique to the region were collected and experimented by the local women and one of the gurmes of Turkey, under the scope of TDEAP.
After completion of the trainings which will be held on August and September 2011 everyone will have the chance to enjoy the special taste of local food in all home pansions and daily tourism businesses.
TDEAP jointly executed by United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Ministry of Culture and Tourism and EFES Company since April 2007, aims to contribute to the living standard of local people by improving tourism activities in the Coruh Valley.
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In this part, our topic is equal opportunities; years of efforts of women’s movements for equal opportunities for men and women has taken another further step forward with the establishment of Woman – Man Equal Opportunities Commission in Turkey. What does the commission do, and what is the link with UNDP on this issue?
UNDP Turkey: Hello, this is the New Horizons Podcast of United Nations Development Programme Turkey. UNDP, which works for a more productive, healthier, more educated and greener future, has stories to tell you. In every part of the podcast, we share selected stories of these works of UNDP. In this part, our topic is equal opportunities; years of efforts of women’s movements for equal opportunities for men and women has taken another further step forward with the establishment of Woman – Man Equal Opportunities Commission in Turkey. What does the commission do, and what is the link with UNDP on this issue? I will ask these questions to our guest speakers. Dr. Leyla Şen, welcome!
Dr. Leyla Şen (L.Ş.): Thank you!
UNDP Turkey: You are Democratic Governance Programme Manager at the UNDP Turkey, and Ms. Aygül Fazlıoğlu, welcome!
Aygül Fazlıoğlu (A.F.): Thank you!
UNDP Turkey: You are a specialist at the Woman – Man Equal Opportunities Commission of Turkish Grand National Assembly and a sociologist; welcome again. First of all, I would like to ask you Dr. Şen; could you tell us a little bit of the background of UN’s and especially UNDP’s interest in women – men equality of opportunities?
L.Ş.: Thank you very much. UN and UNDP have prerequisites for social gender equality, equality of men and women, sustainable and fair development. Although women compose 50 percent of the world population, they have serious problems with gaining access to opportunities in every part of the world. And if I start with the definition of development as given by Amartya Sen, we can shed a light on why we are working towards increasing people’s ability to control their own lives and making it feasible to achieve all that they can achieve.
UNDP Turkey: Let me briefly explain Amartya Sen; he is one of the primary advocates of the concept of human development and emphasized that human development should be measured not only in terms of economic development; but also by social factors. In the meantime, this week is March 8 – International Women’s Day; this is one of the reasons of inviting you to our podcast. This is the 100th anniversary, isn’t it? Exactly this year, 2011; could you briefly talk about this? About International Women’s Day…
L.Ş.: Sure. As you know, the actual name of this very special and meaningful day is International Working Women’s Day and it was initiated by union movements in the 19th century, and was actually shaped by women’s movements in America. There had been criticisms; such as “should just pay attention to the problems of women on only one day”, but is at least one more step towards equality. Whatever happens, even if it is only one day, it is very important; I would like to thank you for giving us the opportunity at least to point out the inequalities in the world.
UNDP Turkey: Happy International Women’s Day. Ms. Fazlıoğlu, you are a specialist at the Woman – Man Equal Opportunities Commission at the Turkish Grand National Assembly and a sociologist. Let us look at these women’s movements. Can we analyze women’s movements in Turkey and how the movement ended up with the establishment of such a commission? Could you tell us about this, please?
A.F.: Thank you. It is indeed a good question. When we analyze the women’s movement in our country, we realize that it started spreading after 1990s, and as you all know, Turkish women were given right to vote and to be elected for the parliament earlier than many other women were in the world. According to the existing situation, especially at the legislative level, there are many adopted laws and legislations in favor of women in either the Turkish Penal Code or the Turkish Civil Code or business world; and an agency was founded in 1990 in order to strengthen the national women’s movement. However, the parliamentary branch was missing. Woman – Man Equal Opportunities Commission was founded at the Turkish Grand National Assembly on March 24, 2009, pioneered especially by women's NGOs in Turkey. Since its establishment, despite being a recently established commission, it has been contributing to works to strengthen and develop especially women’s rights, and it has also been working at the parliament at legislative level. It is involved in one-to-one active works with NGOs. Meanwhile, it works with national and international agencies to promote women’s rights.
UNDP Turkey: Cooperation activities have been partially continuing since 2009. Of course, we are talking about a commission, which was founded after such a long process. There are a variety of women’s problems in Turkey. There are honor killings on one side and murders of women on the other side. The other problem is representation. There are many topics, such as representation of women in the parliament, labor and management. Which of these do you focus on?
A.F.: Now, if we are talking about the point we have reached, women’s participation in decision-making mechanisms is important. Instead of working only for one area, the commission works for women to make their voices heard more in politics, the economy, education, health, access to important sources and management of these resources. We are involved in serious projects.
UNDP Turkey: Women will both have a say on these sources and have an ease of access to them.
A.F.: Absolutely!
L.Ş.: Excuse me. May I interrupt? It is not only about access. I worked in the eastern and southeastern parts of Turkey for such a long time. There, even in villages on the Black Sea coast, women are acting as the safe of a house. Meaning, they can have access to money and to other resources. However, the nuance is if they have the right to control. Yes, they can reach it; but can they control it? I guess, if we address both access and control, we will be touching upon the issue in a detailed way.
UNDP Turkey: Then, we shall add one more point; women will be able to reach, control and manage these resources. These will be the same as what men have. Well, what are the solution suggestions? We know that the criteria, you have just mentioned are not at the level we should have in Turkey.
A.F.: Our basic and important problem is the necessities of labor markets. For instance; regarding labor, if women possess some qualifications and have an education, these will strengthen women. The focal point is strengthening women. With regards to the education dimension, in Turkey, the level of literacy is at 81.6 percent; of course the aim is to make it 100 percent; the same is also valid for health. According to the latest data, there are significant decreases in maternal mortality and baby mortality ratios. Regarding labor, the ratio is 25.6 percent, of course, these ratios can increase. The next term and elections that are going to be held on June 12th, constitute a significant importance for women. Currently, the ratio of representation of women in the parliament is 9.1 percent; of course, we desire this ratio to increase and to reach 30 or 40 percent; NGOs have been working significantly on this as we all know. It is necessary to support these works. By the way, I think the NGO branch of these works and lobbying are so important. There is a significant potential female group in Turkey. We should get them to demand, and make necessary mechanisms, which will promote them further. But this is not possible to initiate on their own. This requires NGOs, the private sector and parliament to work towards this; we should work for making all of these move on this issue. I think we should all show solidarity with women .
UNDP Turkey: We have discussed the commission, working since 2009. What does it do in cooperation with the UNDP? Do you have any policy suggestions, any concrete or other projects, Dr. Şen?
L.Ş.: Let me put it this way; as Ms. Fazlıoğlu has just mentioned, this one is one of 17 special commissions of the Grand Assembly, initiated for social gender equality, woman - man equality of opportunities; and they have 2 main segments; yet there are many segments. One of them is inclusion of social gender equality in law making procedures; and the other one is …
UNDP Turkey: We mean to all types of laws, don’t we? Not only the ones for male-female equality…
A.F.: We would like to add that dimension and awareness raising to every law.
L.Ş.: Yes; but when Turkey is analyzed within the perspective of international actors, there are such criticisms; Turkey has well-developed legislations; yet it has problems with implementing them. In this regard, the role of the commission is to activate these practices. Now, I would like to say something related to your previous question. Yes, our cooperation axis with the commission is related to social gender equality in decision-making processes and active monitoring of practices, besides women’s movements, which are active and well carried out. It would be right to say that our actions condense on these three main points. If I may, I would to announce one thing; we would like to have our colleagues to join a fair society with gender equality. We have an international meeting on social gender equality, on March 24 and 25 at Grand Cevahir Hotel in Istanbul. People and guest speakers, who possess a deep knowledge on these issues, will be joining us. If you can join us too, we would be very pleased.
UNDP Turkey: Everybody can easily participate in this meeting. International Social Gender Equality Meeting on March 24 and 25, in Istanbul… You search on the internet and check the web-site. We have come to the end of the New Horizons Podcast of United Nations Development Programme Turkey. This podcast has been recorded at the studios of Radio İLEF of University of Ankara. You can follow our podcast on Açık Radyo (Open Radio) on FM frequency or on the internet, as well as on YouTube in video format. Our username on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and Flickr is UNDP Türkiye. Hope to see you next week, goodbye!
In this episode, we will all discuss before and after of divulgation of these mountain ranges as national park. Why is this process important to Turkey; what does it mean in the international arena; and why is the United Nations Development Programme involved in it?
UNDP Turkey: Hello, this is the New Horizons Podcast of United Nations Development Programme Turkey. UNDP, which works for a more productive, healthier, more educated and greener future, has stories to tell you. In every part of the podcast, we share selected stories of these works of UNDP. Our thread is Küre Mountains National Park. We will all discuss before and after of divulgation of these mountain ranges as national park. Why is this process important to Turkey; what does it mean in the international arena; and why is the United Nations Development Programme involved in it? General Directorate of Nature Conservation and National Parks, the Department for Monitoring and Assessment of National Parks Branch Manager and Head of Enhancing Forest Protected Areas Management System in Turkey, Mr. Mustafa Yılmaz and Mr. Yıldıray Lise, welcome. Mr. Lise is a qualified biologist and deputy manager in the same Management System. Mr. Lise, I would like to ask you my first question. When were Küre Mountains declared as a national park and why were the Küre Mountains chosen?
Yıldıray Lise (Y.L.): The Küre Mountains were announced as a national park as a result of a joint Project of FAO, UNDP and the Ministry of Forestry of that period in 1998, and then officially in 2000. One of the crucial reasons of its announcement as a national park is that it has natural values, with respect to its importance for both species it contains and the forest it nestles. It also has geological properties. There are many caves, canyons and waterfalls. In addition to these, there are cultural characteristics. While mentioning cultural characteristics, we should touch upon folklore, cuisine and architecture. In this framework, Küre Mountains were divulgated as a national park. However, one of the other crucial reasons was that there were international evaluations done all over Europe. 100 hot points in Europe were determined. 9 out of 100 are in Turkey. More specifically, 1 out of 9 is within the Küre Mountians National Park and these are the reasons of its divulgation as a national park.
UNDP Turkey: You represent the UNDP, UN side of the Project, and you represent the General Directorate of Nature Conservation and National Park, Mr. Yılmaz. I would like to ask you; Küre Mountains were inscribed as a national park; what are the contributions of this to the district and people; and what are your targets for the future?
Mustafa Yılmaz (M.Y.): We aimed for the divulgation of Küre Mountains as a national park, the protection of cultural values and natural resources in the framework of vision of national parks, and introducing usable resources at both local and national levels along with the aim of protection and creation of new income for people. If the locality contains values that have touristic value, then this will contribute to the increase in tourism. In this sense, Küre Mountains both increases our recognition in the international arena and raises the number of people visiting this place.
UNDP Turkey: Hot points were mentioned; what are they?
Y.L.: This was an evaluation done specifically in Europe. Forest protected areas and forests with high natural value, which needed to be urgently protected, were determined. 9 of them are in Turkey. Turkey, following Russia, is an important location regarding forest regions with many hot points. When analyzed, there are 9 hot points in many places from northeastern Turkey to Mediterranean. Protection of these places and implementation of sustainable policies were envisaged. Küre Mountains Range is one of the first protected areas in Turkey.
UNDP Turkey: We use hot point when referring to areas which need to be protected urgently. You have been involved in a process called PAN Park. Before touching upon this process, could you tell us a little bit of what PAN Park means and how Küre Mountains were included in this process?
M.Y.: PAN Park is a network which was created for both protection of natural values and use of these parks with the ideals of sustainable tourism by maintening the values of natural resources in many national parks in Europe. This is a network connecting protected areas and extending assistance in terms of managerial terms and prestige. Turkey was first nominated for this network with Küre Mountains National Park. This is a process starting with signing letters of intent. Within this process, of course there are criteria we need to accomplish and there is target of 2012. In 2012 we would like to accomplish the PAN Park Certificate. What will Küre Mountains gain with a PAN Park Certificate? First of all, we will gain prestige in the international arena to protect values of natural resources, we will also get international recognition and this enables us to easily reach a target audience, and this will support local people in the context of tourism due to the maintenance needs of such a network.
UNDP Turkey: You hope to accomplish this aim by 2012…
M.Y.: Yes, the process has already been going on. In 2010, we determined a road-map with related authorities. We will accomplish the process at national level in September or October in 2011; most probably we will accomplish the process with an international organization in May or September of 2012.
UNDP Turkey: It will be a protected area within P.A.N., PAN Parks, Protected Areas Network. Are there any other parks included in this network?
Y.L.: No, the first is Küre Mountains. Since 2006, the nomination process, we have specifically undertaken our activities for Küre Mountains in the framework of the Enhancing Forest Protected Areas Management System Project we have been carrying out with Ministry of Environment and Forestry, UNDP and World Wildlife Fund Turkey. The ultimate aim of our project is to enable the Küre Mountains National Park to become more recognized at international level with a PAN Park Certificate along with the criteria Mr. Yılmaz has already mentioned.
UNDP Turkey: There are 2 dimensions; the first is the environmental dimension – protection of that mountain range and areas which should be protected; and the other dimension is human. I think contribution to and development in the local economy are the highlighted aspects. The UNDP gets involved at this point. What was the reason of UNDP to get involved in the project?
Y.L.: Actually UNDP has been involved from the beginning of the formation of this project as I have just said. Divulgation of national parks is a project of FAO, UNDP and Ministry of Forestry of that period. Later on, there was a search for a project supported by GEF and it continued approximately 8-9 years; and finally we initiated the project in 2008. This means the executive is Ministry of Environment and Forestry; yet all procedures are done by UNDP. As you have said, maybe the most important factors of UNDP are that we have 80000 hectares of buffer zone surrounding the cornel area. UNDP has an active role in enabling rural activities and especially allowing women and other groups to get into these processes actively.
UNDP Turkey: We have been talking about one part of an extensive project during this programme. We shall analyze the larger scope of this project and clarify it, Mr. Yılmaz. What do you contribute to those areas by your visits in term of environment, people living in that district?
M.Y.: First of all, in order to use this area in an orderly way, there needs to be a plan specifically for that area. In this sense, a management plan, a management plan for visitors, a tourism strategy… If we cannot form the necessary infrastructure before we open up to the international markets, we face failure. We are now working to accomplish these. After accomplishment of these, local mutual cooperation will be initiated at a local level. Currently there are many people who operates guesthouses, who are interested in tourism and handcraft. However, if we do not have a sufficient system for marketing and supply chain, neither people nor natural resources are satisfied, because it will lead to unconscious use of resources. If you don’t have a specific aim, you start to damage resources after a certain period. Our aim is to prevent this and so we will have 4-5 different projects in the region. These are management of relations between values of natural resources and humans, relations between people and agriculture, and the management of wildlife such as the wild bear. We have projects to turn traditional cloths and the nature that they are inspired from into a trademark.
UNDP Turkey: Actually, the region is a region which is close to Istanbul and Ankara, thus it is in such a place that people can easily get to. What will a visitor find there; when they visit the national park, will they find a well-organized park?
Y.L.: Of course. After the start of our project, we founded visitor centers both on the Bartın side and the Kastamonu side of the park, and we have entrance points to the national park here as well. These are guide points for people visiting there. After completion of the management plan, an area guidance system will be implemented in the national parks in Turkey. Local people accompany visitors and tell them about the environment. In this framework, the first practices were conducted in 2002 in Küre Mountains. We had experience there and after approval and officialization of this plan, visitors will be able to hire hosts and have a detailed tour. Currently there is a well-organized structure both for accommodation and transportation.
UNDP Turkey: … and in the meantime, this place has started to attract interest of travel magazines, hasn’t it? It has been touched upon in many magazines and TV documentaries.
Guests: Yes, that's right.
UNDP Turkey: Can it be sustainable? After completion of this project, what do you think the system will be? Could you tell us a little bit more about this?
M.Y.: Sure. We, as the General Directorate of National Parks, aim to enable these projects to be sustainable. Because the biggest problem is that after completion of the project, envisaged targets and activities, according to local people, your accountability decreases. We, as the General Directorate, initiated a huge project for setting up a monitoring system in order to prevent this. We, as the General Directorate, determined the general methodology implemented in internationally protected areas. This year, we included 41 national parks in Turkey to be able to monitor their managerial activities in our business schedule. As a result of this, we clarify human resources in the national parks, what the conditions of monetary and financial sources are, and what contributions the project has to the region and to nature.
UNDP Turkey: So you are doing your best to make it sustainable. My last question, we have limited time. Which of the Millennium Development Goals do these accomplishments fit in to?
Y.L.: Specifically, it fits in to environmental dimension in the environmental sustainability. Yet, when we look closer, we should also address eradicating poverty; villagers living in the forests are in the poorest segment of Turkey. And we try to support them through sustainable resource practices and activities offering alternative income. Besides this, it is also important to look at water in the area. In the context of access to clean water, these accomplishments serve 3 other dimensions as well. I would like to mention one point for our audience and listeners, there is a web-site of Küre Mountains. They can read about every issue we have discussed related to the project and the area.
UNDP Turkey: You can see all the details on kdmp.gov.tr. I would like to thank you Mr. Mustafa Yılmaz, Forestry Engineer (M.A.), General Directorate of Nature Conservation and National Parks, the Department for Monitoring and Assessment of National Parks Branch Manager and Head of Enhancing Forest Protected Areas Management System in Turkey, and Mr. Yıldıray Lise, biologist and deputy manager in the same Management System. We have come to the end of the New Horizons Podcast of United Nations Development Programme Turkey. This podcast has been recorded at the studios of Radio İLEF of University of Ankara. You can follow our podcast on Açık Radyo (Open Radio) on FM frequency or on the internet, besides on YouTube in video format. Our username on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and Flickr is UNDP Türkiye. Hope to see you next week, goodbye!
Recently, Turkish and EU local authorities of over 20 municipalities met in Ankara and participated in an introductory meeting between these twin municipalities. Well, what was the reason of the meeting; what was the connection of the UNDP with the meeting? Moreover were these meetings productive? We will discuss these with today's contributors.
UNDP Turkey: Hello, this is the New Horizons podcast of United Nations Development Programme Turkey. UNDP, which works for a more productive, healthier, more educated and greener future, has stories to tell you. In every part of the podcasts, we share selected stories of these works of UNDP. Recently, Turkish and EU local authorities of over 20 municipalities met in Ankara and participated in an introductory meeting between these twin municipalities. Well, what was the reason of the meeting; what was the connection of the UNDP with the meeting? Moreover were these meetings productive? We will discuss these with today's contributors. Our contributors are Mr. Bayram Bayraktar from Düzce; he is Deputy Mayor of Düzce, and Mr. Bülent Açıkgöz from UNDP, is EC Projects Manager. Welcome! I shall start with our guest speaker from Düzce. Mr. Bayraktar, you, representing Düzce Municipality, participated in the meeting and in the introductory meeting with municipalities from the European Union. Has your twin municipality been determined?
Bayram Bayraktar (B.B.): Not yet. Now, there are ongoing one-to-one meetings. We met thirteen municipalities from the EU during this three-day-meeting. We were given information relating to them. We provided them information about us. As a result of this, every municipality notified the Union of Municipalities of Turkey about municipalities they would like to be matched with as twins.
UNDP Turkey: And these matches will be announced at the end of the meetings. There are ten municipalities from Turkey, aren’t there? And there are approximately fifteen municipalities from the EU.
Bülent Açıkgöz (B.A.): Let me summarize the pilot municipalities in Turkey. Actually, it is beneficial to provide brief information about our project. The Support for Further Implementation of Local Administration Reform in Turkey Project is carried out by technical and financial support of the EU. UNDP provides technical assistance. General Directorate of Local Administrations of the Ministry of Interior is the national beneficiary of the project. Thus, within the scope of the project, technical support is provided regarding implementation of legislation in local authorities, especially in the last 5-10 years. There are five components of our project. One of these components enables partnerships especially between municipalities.
UNDP Turkey: To clarify the point again, what are the other supporters of the project except the UNDP and the Turkish Government?
B.A.: Excluding the UNDP and the Turkish Government, the EU provides financial support. There are no other national or international contributors. The project has been carried out through the contributions of these three parties. As I have mentioned, one of the components is enabling partnership between municipalities. In this context, there are 10 pilot municipalities that were chosen in 2010. The selection process has been implemented in a multi-participatory process. Mr. Bayraktar, Deputy Mayor from Düzce is here, representing his municipality. Other municipalities are Karadeniz Ereğli (Zonguldak), Uşak, Kırşehir, Kahta (Adıyaman), Nevşehir, Zonguldak, Gölbaşı (Ankara), Patnos (Ağrı) and Bursa Mustafakemalpaşa. There are many pilot municipalities representing many provinces and many cultures from East to West, from the North to the South of Turkey.
UNDP Turkey: There are many countries on the EU side, such as Lithuania, UK, Sweden, Greece, Hungary, Italy and Bulgaria. I would like to ask you, Mr. Bayraktar. What are your experiences regarding your expectations and the moment you met with the other municipalities? Could you tell us about that moment, please?
B.B.: I think we had the meeting about ten months ago in 2010. Municipalities from Turkey all gathered together. They expressed what they were expecting from the project and how the process should continue. There were two other meetings held, apart from the first one; and colleagues attended them as well. I think by the fourth meeting, there are two benefits; the first one is the process of getting to know each others' municipalities in Turkey. Many authorities from municipalities did not know where Kahta or Patnos were found. This is the benefit of this meeting. We first got to know each other and exchanged information on our cultures. This is the first phase with good outcomes.
UNDP Turkey: Do these municipalities extend cultural or local gifts to each other?
B.B.: We put up an exhibition stand. Each municipality displayed local, hand made goods and leaflets introducing the region.
UNDP Turkey: What did you bring from Düzce?
B.B.: The Abkhazian cheese is well-known, as well as organic hazelnuts, honey, marmalades and vinegar. These are all organic. In addition to these, there are hand made goods produced by local women. Our region shelters different cultures, for example, the Circassian, Abkhazian, Laz and the Kurdish cultures.
UNDP Turkey: Besides the cultural aspect, there is also an “exchange” aspect of the project. At this point, I would like ask Mr. Açıkgöz. What gains will this meeting of municipalities bring us?
B.A.: Basically, there are four thematic groups, formed in the workshop. One of them is environmental protection and energy efficiency. Another is tourism and culture; municipal services, including urban planning, local housing, etc; and the last one is social services. We aim to match municipalities and develop joint projects in the context of these four thematic groups. That is, we aim to have city projects which provide opportunities to actualize these projects, to make it easy to implement them, and to transfer technical information from one municipality to another, as well as making opportunities to create new jobs and commercial relations. In mid 2011, protocols for twin cities will be signed, and these projects will be planned and actualized. It is beneficial to state that we are not willing to name a street or an avenue after a twin city. We aim to directly create a project. Thus, our very last expectation is to name an avenue in another city after Düzce; we have more concrete expectations.
UNDP Turkey: Let me ask Mr. Bayraktar, Deputy Mayor. Do you have any expectations? During the meeting, have you had any observations such as, that municipality from that country would be more appropriate to be twinned with us?
B.B.: Sure, we had such thoughts. We have a win-win expectation; not only about what we can get; but also about what we can give. We have projects carried out within the scope of the EU. We had twin cities in Greece, and Bulgaria. We would like to give our strengths; we discussed for three days if it is possible to get their strengths to us and especially had discussions on what we can get and what we can give. There are 13 municipalities, for example, six from Italy, from the UK, Belgium and Lithuania.
UNDP Turkey: Mykonos is one of the familiar municipalities. There is Charleroi from Belgium; Brindisi from Italy. Of course, there are ones which we have never heard of; such as Birzai from Lithuania, Lecce and Santa Maria Capua Vetere from Italy. These are small municipalities we have not heard of. Well, Mr. Açıkgöz, what are the criteria for matching? Do you consider characteristics of Düzce and other municipalities?
B.A.: We have already touched upon study groups within the context of four thematic principals. These study groups gathered as one-to-one or triple pilots and got to know each other well. They discussed common problems and as a result of this, they tried to come up with overlapping solutions for eradicating these problems. Next week, with the coordination of the Union of Municipalities of Turkey, these unions and twin cities will be determined. Pilots will be matched; and we will be accelerating and continuing our works.
UNDP Turkey: Actually, there is one question which would be answered differently depending on which municipality you ask, regarding expectations… What are the expectations of Düzce?
B.B.: Our expectation is especially related to city planning. We would like a municipality which has gone beyond this planning and is eager to help us, this is preferable.
UNDP Turkey: City planning; because Düzce is an area which has been in a reconstruction period, since it is in the earthquake zone.
B.B.: We had a variety of expectations such as restructuring, infrastructure transportation, urban planning. Regarding these, familiar municipalities with approximately the same population and of the same size were in the first ranks of our choices. So of course Municipality of Charleroi in Belgium, Municipality of Brindisi in Italy, and Municipality of Harryda in Sweden are among the ones we would like to match with.
UNDP Turkey: This means you filled in a form and wrote your preferences.
B.B.: Of course, we made a list of selections. Our selections are based on economic similarities and similarities in population. They have solutions regarding the issues we have problems with. When outcomes of the project are examined, it becomes evident that we have things to give them, especially regarding eco-tourism.
UNDP Turkey: Let me ask the last question to Mr. Açıkgöz. In this case, we have summarized contributions of the UNDP; yet which of the Millennium Development Goals do these fit in to? What purpose do all of these serve, regarding UNDP’s own targets?
B.A.: In a general sense, UNDP’s support to municipalities is technical. Here, we shoulder responsibility as a facilitator. We gather municipalities together, enable them to meet each other and develop joint projects. This facilitator role is among activities we support for eradicating poverty and underdevelopment, as well as supporting the spread of technical information, with regards to Millennium Development Goals. As I said, we certainly aim to have sustainable and well-developed city projects. We definitely do not want to have our name for a street or an avenue in another city. In this sense, we aim our project to create jobs and to turn into a source of labour. Likewise, most of our projects have these priorities. We aim to have more concrete projects.
UNDP Turkey: Let me emphasize again, the Support for Further Implementation of Local Administration Reform in Turkey Project is not limited only to these matches. This is a project consisting of many branches. Of course, it has wide scope. We will be continuing to evaluate the issue in the following parts of our podcasts. Thank you very much for joining us, Mr. Bayram Bayraktar, Deputy Mayor of Düzce and Mr. Bülent Açıkgöz, UNDP EC Projects Manager. We have come to the end of the New Horizons Podcast of United Nations Development Programme in Turkey. This podcast has been recorded at studios of Radio İLEF of University of Ankara. You can follow our podcasts on Açık Radyo (Open Radio) on FM frequency or on the internet at undp.org.tr, as well as on YouTube in video format. Our username on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and Flickr is undpturkiye. Hope to see you next week, good bye!