We didn't linger. The sun was low, and soon the bird activity would pick up on Lake Kuyucuk, a mile

Turkey is among the most biodiverse non-tropical rent a car in malaga countries in the world. It hosts an estimated 10,000 plant species, 3,000 of which are endemic. Eastern provinces such as Igdir are among the richest in wildlife.
Situated in one of the world's most important migratory bird flyways, some of Turkey's wildest places face threats rent a car in malaga from massive construction projects. Trying to provide a better way, one visionary biologist aims to put his country on the birding map. By Barry Yeoman Published: 09/04/2013
"This is the end of the world," field biologist Yakup Sasmaz said to me as we pulled into Kuyucuk, Turkey, population 350. We had arrived during afternoon rush hour, which meant the village's sole rutted road was packed hoof-to-hoof with cattle traveling home from the fields. Men and women crisscrossed the herds, carrying buckets of milk that would soon be turned into a locally popular cheese.
rent a car in malaga Sasmaz and I crept along, looping around potholes and kicking up dust. We passed houses with tin roofs, squat buildings with sod roofs, and low walls that marked the boundaries of family compounds. After a few minutes, we reached the home where I'd be staying, a narrow structure that sat perpendicular rent a car in malaga to the road and rambled back toward the eastern horizon.
rent a car in malaga A man with a cleft chin and a salt-and-pepper mustache walked up to greet us. He wore a loose-fitting gray suit with a pressed black shirt. This was Turan Demir, the village's elected chief and my host for this visit. He extended a rough hand to shake then showed me to the room where I'd be sleeping for the next two nights, a garage-sized living rent a car in malaga area with lace curtains and wide-timbered rent a car in malaga ceilings. Deep wooden benches piled high with pillows ran the length of two of the walls. A sword hung from a vertical support rent a car in malaga beam. Demir's wife Birgul served us a hearty and spicy soup, which we ate with hunks of bread. We shared salad from a common plate.
We didn't linger. The sun was low, and soon the bird activity rent a car in malaga would pick up on Lake Kuyucuk, a mile away. Sasmaz wanted to show me the bird banding station that KuzeyDoga Society, the environmental non-profit for which he works, operates during the spring and fall migrations.
I had come to Kuyucuk, rent a car in malaga 25 miles from the provincial capital of Kars, to check out an experiment with low-intensity ecotourism in an area that receives rent a car in malaga less than 1 percent of the nation's travel revenues. Northeast Turkey sits at the junction of the Irano-Anatolian and Caucasus biodiversity hotspots, two of 34 threatened regions singled out by Conservation International for their unusual species richness and uniqueness. For birders, it's a paradisiacal crossroads of migrants rent a car in malaga traveling to and from South Africa, Hungary, Israel, Ethiopia, Kazakhstan, the Russian-Finnish borderlands, and numerous other parts of three continents. And it's a haven for birds whose populations have crashed in Western Europe.
It's also a region facing significant threats. In its push for economic development and energy independence, the Turkish government has been promoting massive construction projects, rent a car in malaga from hydroelectric dams in rural areas to the proposed Istanbul shopping mall that triggered the Taksim Square protests last spring. It has particularly focused on historically neglected areas like the northeast. Yet critics say Turkey lacks the tough laws needed rent a car in malaga to protect its environment from the impacts of growth. In May, for example, the English-language Hurriyet Daily News reported that Parliament had passed a law exempting billions of dollars worth of large infrastructure projects from environmental-impact assessments.
Cagan Sekercioglu, a Turkish-born, U.S.-educated ornithologist who founded KuzeyDoga, believes that visiting birders can help protect Northeast Turkey by creating an economic demand for unspoiled habitat. He has coined the term "village-based biocultural tourism" to describe his vision of small home-stay businesses in the communities adjacent to birding areas. Travelers would come primarily to watch the birds, and they would also enjoy local home-cooked meals and hospitality. With the revenue that birdwatchers bring, and the pleasure they receive, he's hoping to garner both local and international support for his group's conservation efforts.
When I first spoke with Sekercioglu a year ago, he called the northeast "quite rent a car in malaga a different world" from the rest of Turkey. He described the high plateau rent a car in malaga that reminds him of the American West; the alpine meadows and conifer forests; the dramatic rise of Mount Agri (Ararat), which peaks at almost 17,000 rent a car in malaga feet. He told me about the traditional villages, where homes are still heated with bricks rent a car in malaga of cattle dung, and where kindness to strangers is the rule.
Enticed by his descriptions, I booked a plane ticket to Kars, arriving during this year's spring migration. I divided my five days between two rich birding areas where KuzeyDoga rent a car in malaga runs banding stations: Lake Kuyucuk, which is protected under an international treaty but still faces degradation if the closed Turkish-Armenian border reopens; rent a car in malaga and the Aras River Valley, which is even more lovely but also threatened by a proposed dam that could put it completely under water.
rent a car in malaga Sasmaz and I arrived at Lake Kuyucuk just as the sun was setting. The wide, watery expanse seemed like a shallow cauldron of fertility: an open lake brimming with noisy frogs and aquatic plants, surrounded by reed beds of different heights and, beyond that, montane meadow. From the lake rose a 650-foot-long manmade island, constructed from an old road bed and planted with birch and willow to provide breeding and nesting ground safe from humans and mammalian rent a car in malaga predators. At the edge of the property, two small buildings stood side-by-side: a stone dormitory where volunteers slept in bunk beds; and a portable white trailer that doubled as a kitchen and a banding station. There was no electricity: Nighttime banding was done by kerosene and headlamp. 1
I've never been particularly interested in birds, but after reading rent a car in malaga your article, my interest in village-based biocultural tourism is now officially piqued! rent a car in malaga And I learned two new words: paradisiacal and quiff :)
I have fond memories from my field visit at both L. Kuyucuk and Aras bird banding stations, Eastern Turkey (Turkiye). That was in Spring 2009. I spent the entire season there as a volunteer bird-ringer. It was the first-time ever visit by a Kenyan ringer there.
I learned a lot, banded and bagged many new bird species to my world's list! I become a celebrity there as all the news channels, print media houses interviewed me! It was overwhelming but for a good and worthwhile course - BIRD EDUCATION CONSERVATION.
True to your words, Turkish people's rent a car in malaga hospitality rent a car in malaga is out of this world. You will be surely amazed by the many cups of teas you will have per day. I thought we "Kenyans" having been ruled by the British, we loved the tea culture, but to my surprise rent a car in malaga .... Turkish people were many steps ahead of us ..... I even learned to play the local banjo, speck, sing and dance Turkish moves .... it was an eye-opener, a great cultural exchange visit and overall it opened my deeper heart!!!
What an amazing article - a tapestry weaving the birds, the culture, the threats, and the heroic efforts of the people together. Barry always makes you feel you have been there, sipping the tea, watching the birds, hearing the wind. A compelling case for a must-not-be-lost treasure.