19 December 2008 | Threatened both by local villagers and international developments, the Kuyucuk Lake in eastern Turkey and its rare bird inhabitants are facing danger from disappearing.

“Kuyucuk lake, close to Turkey's border with Armenia, lies at a critical spot on the bird migration path between eastern Europe and Africa,” the BBC wrote in an article today, describing the lake’s importance and the threats it is facing.

The lake is a stop-over area for about 190 bird species, over a dozen of which are globally endangered – they use the lake to feed, breed or rest during their migration at the turn of the seasons.

One of the dangers faced by the lake is inflicted by the local population – the villagers have taken their cattle to graze by the water for years and chopped the tall reeds along the shore, leaving little space for the birds to nest or breed in.

Another danger, according to the BBC publication, stems from the lake’s location – just 30 kilometres from the Turkish-Armenian border. Although it has been closed since the 1990s when Turkey sided with Azerbaijan in its conflict with Armenia and diplomatic relations were frozen, there are now considerations to reopen it.

This would be disastrous for the lake, which is bisected by a branch of the old road to Armenia – now rarely used. If the border opens, ornithologists fear the road would be expanded and the whole lake area would be developed, with hotels, shops and recreational facilities crowding the shore.

According to the publication, nearly 60 per cent of “Turkey's wetlands have disappeared in the past five decades - a result of irresponsible irrigation combined with climate change,” which makes the struggle to save Kuyucuk for the birds more urgent.

Read more about Turkey on BalkanTravellers.com
Use BalkanTravellers.com's tips to organize your trip to Turkey