Hızlı Git
If you are searching for a clear, Turkey-focused overview of the Ramsar Convention, you are essentially looking at one thing: how internationally important wetlands are identified, protected, and managed with “wise use” as the backbone. Below, I explain what the Ramsar Convention is, why wetlands matter, what the Ramsar criteria mean, and the 14 Ramsar sites in Turkey.
What Is the Ramsar Convention?
The Ramsar Convention is an intergovernmental framework focused on the conservation of wetlands that are internationally recognized as valuable—especially as habitats for waterbirds. In practical terms, it aims to promote both the protection and the sustainable (wise) use of wetlands.
The Convention seeks to build a shared language around conserving wetland biodiversity, maintaining ecosystem services, and managing human activities in a way that is more compatible with wetland systems. On the implementation side, it reminds countries of responsibilities such as designating protected areas, producing management plans, strengthening monitoring and research capacity, and improving inter-institutional coordination.
In the Ramsar approach, a “wetland” is understood as a broad ecosystem type that can be natural or artificial, permanent or seasonal, still or flowing, and fresh, brackish, or saline—covering a wide spectrum including marshes, reed beds, peatlands, and tidal coastal waters.
Why Wetlands Matter
Wetlands are often perceived as “just standing water,” yet they are among the most actively functioning parts of a landscape. They balance water regimes, buffer floods, can improve water quality by retaining certain pollutants, and establish movement and breeding corridors for wildlife. That is why, once a wetland is lost, recovery is often difficult, slow, and costly.
- Wetlands produce ecological, aesthetic, cultural, and recreational value in their regions.
- They host distinctive plant and animal communities; in particular, they can be critical stopovers for waterbirds during breeding, wintering, and migration periods.
- Because waterbird flyways cross national borders, wetland conservation requires international coordination as much as national policy.
February 2 is recognized as World Wetlands Day. It is a useful calendar reminder for talking about wetlands, but the real issue is sustaining the same attention every day of the year.
Ramsar Convention Criteria
For a wetland to be recognized as internationally important, it is expected to meet at least one of the nine Ramsar Criteria. These criteria can be read in two main groups.
Group A focuses on representative, distinctive, and rare wetland types and carries the idea of being a “unique or scarce example of a wetland.”
Group B criteria focus more explicitly on biodiversity conservation, with detailed sub-criteria related to threatened species, waterbirds, fish, and other taxa.
- Criteria related to species and ecological relationships
- Special criteria for waterbirds
- Special criteria based on fish
- Special criteria for other species
Official summaries and explanations of the Ramsar criteria are also available in wetland handbooks and guidance documents published by relevant institutions.
Core Obligations for Contracting Parties
Under the Ramsar Convention, expectations go beyond the idea of a “one-time designation.” Key pillars include setting aside protected wetland areas, developing administrative measures that strengthen governance, encouraging scientific research and knowledge-sharing, sustaining management practices that support waterbird populations, and expanding qualified staff training.
A major implementation threshold is this: if a country chooses—based on national reasons—to reduce a Ramsar site’s boundaries or remove its status, it is expected to establish similar protected areas at a scale that compensates for the loss. On paper this looks simple; in the field, it is often challenging in ecological, planning, and social-consensus terms.
Ramsar Convention in Turkey: 14 Ramsar Sites
Among the wetlands under protection status in Turkey, Ramsar-designated sites are commonly stated as 14. The total number of wetlands in the national inventory is far larger, and monitoring and management processes are conducted under different protection statuses.
- Göksu Delta – Mersin – 1994
- Lake Burdur – Burdur – 1994
- Lake Seyfe – Kırşehir – 1994
- Lake Manyas (Bird Lake) – Balıkesir – 1994
- Sultan Marshes – Kayseri – 1994
- Kızılırmak Delta – Samsun – 1998
- Akyatan Lagoon – Adana – 1998
- Lake Uluabat – Bursa – 1998
- Gediz Delta – İzmir – 1998
- Meke Maar – Konya – 2005
- Yumurtalık Lagoons – Adana – 2005
- Kızören Sinkhole – Konya – 2006
- Lake Kuyucuk – Kars – 2009
- Nemrut Caldera – Bitlis – 2013
In Turkey, processes related to the Ramsar Convention are carried out under the coordination of relevant public institutions; management plans, monitoring studies, and training activities gain meaning within this framework.
1. Göksu Delta
The Göksu Delta is an important delta that offers many waterbird species opportunities for breeding, feeding, wintering, and stopover thanks to its diverse habitats and food resources.
2. Lake Burdur
Lake Burdur is often mentioned as one of Turkey’s prominent wetlands in terms of birdlife. It also carries notable potential for birdwatching and nature-based tourism.
3. Lake Seyfe
Lake Seyfe creates value for many species—especially during migration and breeding—through its islets, shoreline zones, and surrounding steppe character.
4. Lake Manyas
Lake Manyas is considered among Turkey’s most important waterbird breeding and stopover areas. For more details about this site—also known as “Bird Paradise”—you can also read Bird Paradise National Park: Our Award-Winning National Park.
5. Sultan Marshes
Sultan Marshes stand out for hosting multiple habitats together and for being located near one of the important intersections of the Africa–Europe bird migration routes.
6. Kızılırmak Delta
The Kızılırmak Delta is listed among the widest and most ecologically rich wetland systems of Turkey’s Black Sea Region.
7. Akyatan Lagoon
Akyatan Lagoon is one of Turkey’s major lagoon systems and provides habitat for many species through its diverse habitat mosaics.
8. Lake Uluabat
Lake Uluabat can be described as a wetland that hosts different ecosystem components together, including reed beds and aquatic plant communities.
9. Gediz Delta
The Gediz Delta is a wide delta that brings together different aquatic ecosystems and coastal wetland types.
10. Meke Maar
Meke Maar stands out with its geomorphological character; it is a wetland system developed within a crater (maar) structure. Formations like this carry both the geological and ecological memory of a landscape at the same time.
11. Yumurtalık Lagoons
The Yumurtalık Lagoons consist of lagoon systems connected to the sea and to one another. During migration and wintering, they can provide shelter and feeding areas for many species.
12. Kızören Sinkhole
Kızören Sinkhole is a wetland example distinguished by its karstic character. In such sites, microhabitat diversity and shoreline-zone dynamics become decisive in producing ecological value.
13. Lake Kuyucuk
Lake Kuyucuk is known as one of the wetlands that lies on the African–Eurasian flyway and stands out with its bird diversity.
14. Nemrut Caldera
Nemrut Caldera draws attention with its large-scale crater structure and crater-lake system. When caldera geomorphology meets ecology, it produces a highly distinctive landscape character.
For more content on Ramsar sites and wetland management, you can keep following Peyzax.
References
- Ramsar Convention Secretariat. Introduction to the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands (Ramsar Handbooks, 5th ed.). Official Ramsar Convention page
- World Wetlands Day. WWD Guide (related publications). World Wetlands Day website
- Republic of Turkey Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, General Directorate of Nature Conservation and National Parks. Wetlands (information page)
- Anadolu Agency. Informational news about Ramsar sites in Turkey. AA website
