56 MAGAZINE | THE BEACH
S
o much to
preserve and so
much in need
of protection ...
Fethiye
is
blessed by Nature.
In the local valleys the
market garden industry has
expended to grow Kiwis,
bananas and avocado while
many of the traditional fruits
and vegetables grow all year
round.
Along the coast there are ongoing projects for protection
of the Loggerhead (Caretta
caretta) sea turtles nesting
“
especially on Babadag ancient
Cedar forests live on, existing
almost unprotected. During
the last Ice Age while plants
of the Eurasian plateau froze,
those on Babadag due to its
proximity to the sea survived,
and maybe animals escaping
from the cold also found a
home here!
Lack of research has hindered
our knowledge of the
extensive diversity of life in
the area. Though the brown
bear is only to be found
further inland, the Babadag
range is home to porcupine,
lynx, wolves, mountain goat (Capri capri), red
squirrel, snake eagle, booted eagle are part
of the local wildlife
at Dalyan, Fethiye, Patara
and Kekova. There are also
local groups protecting the
Mediterranean Monk Seals.
Beach management and nestmonitoring is now in force
along most of the coast. The
lower regions are covered
in Maquis(dwarf forest) and
Red Pines,which require little
water to tide them over the
dry summers, however they
are extremely susceptible
to forest fires which destroy
around 20,000 hectares of
Anatolian forest every year.
At higher altitudes and
tortoise, wild boar, wolves
and lynx. Lynx are most rarely
seen, living at low density, but
they are extremely harmful
killing prey several times their
size. Fethiye is on one of the
migration routes for birds from
Asia Africa and Europe. Recent
reclamation of wetlands are
endangering their habitats
Indigenous birds of prey
are also on the decrease, as
they are the villagers enemy,
swooping down to kill their
fowl and even steal newly
born goats.