This spring, we are accompanying the Bacak family of Sarıkeçili nomadic pastoralists in Turkey during their hundreds of kilometres of spring migration from their wintering site on the shores of the Mediterranean to their summering sites in Central Anatolia, beyond the Taurus Mountains. Their journey highlights various dimensions of mobile pastoralism as a biodiversity and climate-friendly cultural practice. We are excited to share our in-situ observations day by day, each focusing on a particular aspect of mobile pastoralism.  

Mobile pastoralism is the most efficient and sustainable livestock farming system in terms of use of natural resources, water and energy and land management. Herds moving between pastures according to seasonal availability, mobile pastoralism offers the only sustainable way to turn sunlight into food for people in areas unsuitable for crop production. The strong legacy of mobile pastoralism in the basin is one of the reasons why the Mediterranean is one of the biodiversity hotspots on Earth.

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We are proud to announce that our Saros Bay Conservation and Restoration Planning Project has received endorsement from the European Commission as playing a central role in contributing to multiple objectives of the EU Mission “Restore our Ocean and Waters”.

This endorsement not only strengthens our commitment to protecting and restoring this ecologically and culturally rich area along Turkey’s Aegean coast but also highlights the importance of our project in driving transformative change in the Mediterranean. It integrates our work into the broader European commitment to marine #conservation and #sustainability.

Saros Bay is home to a rich presence of Posidonia oceanica habitats, key coastal wetlands, Coralligenous assemblages, Important Monk Seal Areas (Monachus monachus), high presence of cetaceans and Important Marine Mammal Areas (IMMAs), Important Shark and Ray Areas (ISRAs), and marine bird species of importance, and threatened marine fish species. The area provides invaluable ecosystem services and delivers substantial health, social, and economic benefits to coastal communities.

However, the region faces numerous threats, including Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) fishing, high levels of water pollution, cumulative human impacts, invasive species, expanding coastal infrastructure, and sea-level rise due to climate change. Despite these challenges, there is a noticeable lack of on-the-ground conservation and restoration initiatives focused on both biodiversity and sustainable sea and land use systems.

Our project takes a participatory and integrated approach, combining environmental, cultural, and socio-economic knowledge and data to define the scope and objectives for conservation and restoration actions, empower small-scale fishers as change agents, assess ecosystem viability, identify socio-political and local threats, and outline strategies for the long-term Saros Bay Conservation and Restoration Program.

For more information, visit https://maritime-forum.ec.europa.eu/node/5948_en

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