The Convention on Wetlands, signed in Ramsar, Iran, in 1971, is an intergovernmental treaty, which provides the framework for national action and international cooperation for the conservation and wise use of wetlands and their resources. The Ramsar designation is the equivalent of a gold medal or five stars for a wetland. In order to be chosen a Ramsar site, a wetland must be globally important and meet the scientific criteria identified by the International Ramsar Secretariat (www.ramsar.org). The wetland commission of the partner country has the authority to identify Ramsar candidate sites and to propose them to the Ramsar Secretariat. Ramsar status can be obtained if the site meets one of nine main criteria. The data collected by the KuzeyDoğa team since 2004 have shown that Lake Kuyucuk meets not one, but five separate Ramsar criteria. The Turkey Wetlands Council approved Kuyucuk’s Ramsar candidacy on April 2, 2009.On June 20, 2009, Turkey’s Ministry of Environment and Forestry officially announced Lake Kuyucuk’s Ramsar designation and its Ramsar map in Turkey’s Official Gazette:
After the official announcement, KuzeyDoğa prepared the 35-page Kuyucuk Ramsar application that was submitted to the International Ramsar Secretariat by Turkey’s Wetlands Council in July. The secretariat evaluated the report and on November 22, 2009, officially announced Lake Kuyucuk as Turkey’s 13th Ramsar wetland on its website:OFFICIAL WETLANDS ANNOUNCEMENT OF KUYUCUK
ANNOUNCEMENT NO: 5
ANNOUNCEMENT NO: 5
Being accepted with the resolution of the Council of Ministers dated 15/3/1994 and numbered 94/5434, and published in the Official Gazette dated 17/5/1994 and numbered 21937, and with regard to the 2nd and 3rd articles of the Ramsar Agreement (Agreement on the Preservation of Wetlands) and 24th and 25th articles of the Regulation on the Preservation of Wetlands published in the Official Gazette dated 17/5/2005 and numbered 25918, Kuyucuk Lake was included in the international list and taken under preservation whose plot and border coordinates are attached hereunder.
Principles for the preservation and use regarding this area are implemented, provided that it complies with the terms and conditions of the agreement, with respect to the provisions in the Regulation on the Preservation of Wetlands as well as the 23rd article of the Act on Organization and Duties of the Ministry of Environment and Forestry dated 1/5/2003 and numbered 4856. The institutions and agencies as well as the real and corporate persons that are responsible for the implementation are obliged to operate for the preservation of the area in compliance with the above-mentioned national regulations and with the terms and conditions of the international agreement.
In all the planning activities that will be carried out in respect of the said area, Ramsar Agreement and the Regulation on the Preservation of Wetlands are taken into consideration. All kinds of planning, programming and projecting as well as the conservation and administration works that were previously prepared on this area are within one year rendered compatible with the national regulations regarding the wetlands and the provisions of the international agreement in which our country take part as a party.
For the operations in terms of the consents to the real and corporate persons, right for buildings to be allocated, and the facilities to be built with the limited rights of the ownership, the application is conducted taking the provisions of the regulations.
The borders of the mentioned vicinity were outlined with 1/25.000 scale maps, and they are transferred to the related agencies and governorships together with the border coordinates.
Hereby announced.
Principles for the preservation and use regarding this area are implemented, provided that it complies with the terms and conditions of the agreement, with respect to the provisions in the Regulation on the Preservation of Wetlands as well as the 23rd article of the Act on Organization and Duties of the Ministry of Environment and Forestry dated 1/5/2003 and numbered 4856. The institutions and agencies as well as the real and corporate persons that are responsible for the implementation are obliged to operate for the preservation of the area in compliance with the above-mentioned national regulations and with the terms and conditions of the international agreement.
In all the planning activities that will be carried out in respect of the said area, Ramsar Agreement and the Regulation on the Preservation of Wetlands are taken into consideration. All kinds of planning, programming and projecting as well as the conservation and administration works that were previously prepared on this area are within one year rendered compatible with the national regulations regarding the wetlands and the provisions of the international agreement in which our country take part as a party.
For the operations in terms of the consents to the real and corporate persons, right for buildings to be allocated, and the facilities to be built with the limited rights of the ownership, the application is conducted taking the provisions of the regulations.
The borders of the mentioned vicinity were outlined with 1/25.000 scale maps, and they are transferred to the related agencies and governorships together with the border coordinates.
Hereby announced.
