Status: Completed

Project Duration: September 2023- September 2024

Challenge

The Ayvalık Islands Nature Park (17,950 hectares), which is one of the designated Important Natural Areas in Turkey, predominantly consists of island and marine habitats, making it a key habitat for the conservation of seabirds. However, the Ayvalık Islands have not been systematically studied in terms of breeding/migratory birds in the marine and island ecosystems until now. This lack of data makes it difficult to conduct effective nature conservation and area protection efforts and weakens the capacity of NGOs and other stakeholders in the face of increasing usage pressures.

Solution

The project will investigate the biodiversity of the Ayvalık Islands and the marine area, identify threats, conduct impact assessments, and raise awareness among school-age students in Ayvalık based on the preliminary findings. The project focuses specifically on bird research, as birds are flagship species that provide valuable insights into the ecosystem and are relatively easy to study.

Activities

• The field research: investigation of other bird species’ breeding and migratory activities, as well as recording other fauna groups such as the Mediterranean monk seal .
• Raising awareness among the local community, especially the youth, about the species present in the conservation area.
• Storing data in scientific database, such as eBird, as open-source information contributed by citizen scientists.
• Biology and Bird/Nature Observation Training for Primary and Middle School Students in Ayvalık for a total of 300 students (100 primary school and 200 middle school students) in two schools in Ayvalık to introduce and educate them about biodiversity and bird/nature observation.

Project’s deliverables

• Conducting field research to investigate the breeding and migratory activities of bird species, and documenting other fauna such as the Mediterranean monk seal.
• Raising awareness among the local community, particularly the youth, about the species present in the conservation area.
• Storing collected data in scientific databases like eBird, ensuring open-source accessibility through citizen science contributions.
• Providing Biology and Bird/Nature Observation Training for 300 students (100 primary school and 200 middle school students) in Ayvalık to educate and engage them in biodiversity and bird/nature observation.

Update September 2024: This project has collected data on 96 bird species through 125 hours of observation across 794 km of marine area and conducted a threat analysis to identify critical pressures on the islands. The enthusiastic participation of more than 320 individuals in educational and awareness activities highlights a strong commitment to seabird conservation, supported by international collaborations and hands-on workshops. Discover more about their significant contributions here.

About the organisation: BBOM-Ayvalik – Ayvalik Another School is Possible Education Cooperative, established in 2017 with the aim of promoting equality, freedom, social justice, sensitivity, pluralism, ecological thinking, creativity, and scientific values in the field of education throughout the Ayvalık district.