The workshop of the Project for “Identifying Nitrate-Sensitive Areas and Making Action Plans” and the stakeholder meetings of the Mediterranean, Aegean and Marmara Regions are held at Otium Sealight Beach Resort in Kuşadası Aydın on 8-12 November 2021.
The project, supported by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (TOB), General Directorate of Agricultural Reform (TRGM) and carried out by TÜBİTAK Marmara Research Center (MAM), started in 2018 and will be completed in June 2022. The project aims to identify Nitrate-Sensitive Areas, which are already contaminated and/or likely to get contaminated with nitrate in the near future, to apply region-specific measures according to the "Good Agricultural Practices Code" in the annex of the communique, and to conduct cost-benefit analyses of the measures to be applied.
As part of the project, cooperation is established with many specialty universities throughout the country. During the meeting, specialized faculty members from Ege University, Isparta University of Applied Sciences, Uludağ University and Çukurova University will share information about their fields.
The meeting started on 8 November 2021 with opening remarks by TÜBİTAK MAM Environment and Cleaner Production Institute (ÇTÜE) Director Dr. Selma Ayaz, Head of Department for the Protection of Agricultural Environment and Natural Resources at TOB TRGM Dr. Ali Kılıç Özbek, Aydın Provincial Director of Agriculture and Forestry Mr. Ahmet Ökdem and TOB TRGM Deputy General Director Dr. Metin Türker.
The keynote speakers stated that the identification and control of diffuse pollutants, which have a great impact on pollution, is extremely important for improving and protecting the quality of water resources, and that the prevalence of agriculture and livestock activities in our country increases the significance of taking these pollutants into account. In this context, it was stated that very important studies were carried out by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry in order to protect our water resources against agricultural pollution.
On the first day of the meeting, presentations were made on "Agricultural Pollution Control and Management Studies" by TOB TRGM Working Group Officer Yusuf Gürbüz, “Identification of Nitrate-Sensitive Areas (Methods and Results)” by Dr. Mehmet Dilaver from TÜBİTAK MAM ÇTÜE Project Team and Prof. İrfan Yolcubal from Kocaeli University, and on “Making Nitrate Action Plans and Cost-Benefit Analysis” by Assoc. Prof. Mert Dedeoğlu from Isparta University of Applied Sciences and Prof. Haydar Şengül from Çukurova University. The meeting continued with sessions in which Nitrate-Sensitive Areas, Action Plans and Cost-Benefit Analysis of the Aegean Region, Mediterranean Region and Marmara Region basins were evaluated at village scale together with the TOB Project Team, TÜBİTAK MAM Project Team, the collaborating university faculty members and the meeting participants.
The meeting was held with the participation of approximately 240 people from the central and provincial organizations of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Universities and Non-Governmental Organizations.
