27 May 2009 | The dirt road that bisected Lake Kuyucuk in eastern Turkey’s Kars Province was converted to a 200-metre long island in order to ensure the safe breeding of hundreds of species of birds that reside in the area.

“In time, we expect to have a robust water bird colony, hopefully reminiscent of the breeding colony of Manyas Bird Paradise in western Turkey. The island and its birds will attract more nature tourists and will increase local income at Kuyucuk, Duraklı and Carcıoğlu villages around the lake,” Dr. Çağan Şekercioğlu, Stanford University conservation ecologist and president of KuzeyDoğa Society which oversaw many of the aspects of the project, told the mongabay.com website.



The road, as BalkanTravellers.com wrote in a story about the dangers faced by the bird population of the Kuyucuk Lake, was a branch of the old road between Turkey and Armenia, which – due to the freezing of relations between the two countries in the 1990s, had been closed and was rarely used. The island’s creation restored the lake to its natural state by reconnecting its southern and northern sections.

The road was turned into an island in only two months, by removing 50 metres from both of its ends and adding the excavated soil to the southern bank of the newly-created island, making a gradual slope whose shallow bank will allow more bird species to breed on the island.

Unlike the road used to be, the island is now inaccessible to many of the local threats to the birds, including people, cattle, sheep, horses, foxes, wolves, dogs and cats.

“We have so far recorded 206 species of birds at Kuyucuk, sometimes exceeding 40,000 individuals at once. The reedbeds that provide shelter and nesting areas for birds have been destroyed due to overgrazing at Lake Kuyucuk, which we estimate to host more than half the 465 species of birds found in Turkey,” Şekercioğlu told the publication.

In addition to the benefits for the protection of the lake’s bird population, local officials and conservationists believe that the island’s creation will also attract tourists, mainly bird-watchers, to the area.

“Besides providing a haven for breeding birds, this island will promote Kars and Lake Kuyucuk throughout Turkey and the world,” Şekercioğlu said. “We hope it will also contribute to the local economy by increasing nature tourism.”

Şekercioğlu is convinced that “this island will make Lake Kuyucuk a true bird paradise and will promote Kars as an example of nature conservation and nature tourism,” while the project’s speed and inexpensive nature could serve as a model for future conservation initiatives.

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