Young Voices for the Sea: How Sucul Yaşam Derneği is Inspiring Coastal Conservation
Sucul Yaşam Derneği (Aquatic Life Association) is a newly established local NGO working to protect marine and coastal ecosystems in Muğla, Türkiye. Despite being a small team, the organisation has already built strong collaborations with local youth centres, schools, universities, and environmental groups.
With our grant support, they launched the “A Generation Protecting Nature” project, which reached over 1,100 children, parents, and educators with hands-on conservation education. Through wildlife monitoring, birdwatching tours and interactive workshops, children became active participants in protecting their local environment — often bringing these lessons home to their families.
Read our full interview with Sucul Yaşam Derneği to learn how grassroots action, environmental education, and intergenerational awareness can shape the future of marine conservation in Türkiye.
Can you tell us about the mission of your organisation and the work you do?
Muğla’s coastal areas are among the most visited spots in Türkiye, especially during the summer. But these coves are not only home to tourists — they also host sea turtles, monk seals, sharks, marine birds, and invasive species. We founded Sucul Yaşam Derneği to help protect these marine and coastal ecosystems while supporting sustainable, small-scale fisheries and fostering a new generation of nature-aware citizens.
We initiated awareness-raising activities and established partnerships with NGOs and local municipalities. We aimed to provide environmental education to all age groups — from 7 to 77. We visited primary schools to introduce children to marine species, collaborated with university students on ecology projects, and created a youth-led conservation community that took stewardship of Ekincik Beach.
We also worked with local schools to deliver sessions on Türkiye’s marine biodiversity and collaborated with partners to promote the protection of sea otters and sea turtle nests. Through our partnership with Muğla Sıtkı Koçman University, we also support efforts to collect scientific data.
We plan to continue expanding our impact by applying to both national and international project calls and building new partnerships.
What challenges or issues were you hoping to address through this project?
In many parts of Muğla, there is limited knowledge among both children and adults about the ecosystems in which they live and the NGOs that work to protect them. Through this project, we wanted to break the hesitation or scepticism some communities feel toward civil society and show that protecting nature is something we can all do together.
We mainly aimed to reach children and their families to build a stronger sense of environmental awareness from a young age.
What were your goals for the A Generation Protecting Nature project, and what activities did you carry out?
Our core goals were to:
- Engage young people in environmental education and citizen science,
- Foster a generation with strong nature ethics,
- Encourage parents and families to participate in conservation actively.
We worked with five youth centres affiliated with the Muğla Youth and Sports Directorate. Through our specially designed Wildlife Monitoring and Nature Protection Education Module, we provided training for 1,143 children, parents, and teachers.
To bring learning to life, we took 50 children on a field trip to Iztuzu Beach, where they observed sea turtle rehabilitation efforts and learned about wildlife monitoring. We also partnered with local nature organisations to deliver birdwatching and wildlife camera workshops with 150 children and 150 parents.
We closed the programme with a public exhibition at the Köyceğiz Youth Centre, showcasing the wildlife photos and videos collected by the children.
The biggest challenge was keeping children engaged during indoor sessions — so we adapted the content to include more visuals and interactive elements. Having strong local relationships made this easier; without the support of schools and youth centres, it would have been much harder to reach the right audience.
What kind of feedback did you receive from children during these activities?
Children enjoyed the in-class sessions, but their excitement grew during the field activities. Setting up trail cameras, touching real equipment, and seeing pollution with their own eyes had a deep emotional impact. One child said after the walk: “I didn’t know this much trash could hurt animals.”
How did local collaboration contribute to your project’s success?
For any small, local NGO, working with municipalities, public institutions, and other NGOs is critical. This grant was our first ever — and it helped us strengthen our network, increase our visibility, and be taken seriously by potential partners.
In our first year, it was hard to find collaborators. However, other organisations are now approaching us to collaborate. Internationally, we still face some hesitation due to our small size and limited budget. But we are determined to keep applying and building trust through results.