The Global Environment Facility Small Grants Programme (GEF SGP) presented the successful results of a project implemented by a civil society organization in Turkey, which led to a recent agreement with the Turkish Government to create a biological corridor for the protection of large carnivores and the connection of isolated populations across 82 kilometers.
30 January 2012: The Global Environment Facility Small Grants Programme (GEF SGP), implemented by the UN Development Programme (UNDP), reported its success in supporting a local non-governmental organization (NGO) in proposing and creating Turkey’s first biological corridor between two important global biodiversity hotspots.
The KuzeyDoga Society started a project in April 2010, with SGP support, aiming to understand the status of large carnivores in the northeastern part of Turkey, in order to evaluate and generate awareness about the threats they face and find possible solutions.
KuzeyDoga’s efforts led to the December 2011 signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Ministry of Forestry and Water Affairs and the NGO for the creation of a wildlife corridor. The corridor will extend for 82 kilometers from the Sarikamis Forest-Allahuekber Mountains National Park to the Posof forests on the Turkey-Georgia border. This corridor will provide additional habitat for large carnivores, connect their isolated populations, and help reduce human-carnivore conflict.
The project also supported ecotourism workshops to promote village-based wildlife tourism in the region. [GEF Press Release]