FRUIT HERITAGE WORKING GROUP

In April 2007 five women of different occupations and interests got together to form the Fruit Heritage Working Group. The group is not a legal body, and is not attached to an association, foundation or university, but is a group of individuals who are cooperating in pursuit of shared goals. None of the members have had agricultural training. They collect data from local farmers who grow fruit by traditional methods handed down from their grandparents, and agricultural experts are consulted when necessary.

Like most other initiatives aimed at preserving the natural environment and nature friendly agricultural practices in Turkey, we hope that people in other parts of the country will follow suit in forming similar voluntary groups. One of our aims is therefore establishing a website and database that will provide a foundation for others wishing to work in this area, and building a body of know-how and open sources to share with them. 
 		  
Left to right : Elisabeth Tuzun, Fusun Ertug, Mary Isin, Esin Isin ve Nese Bilgin

ESTABLISHMENT

Many references in historical and early 20th written sources to traditional fruit varieties that are no longer available in city shops and supermarkets prompted food historian Mary Isin to wonder if any of them were still being grown in rural areas of Turkey. In the summer of 2006 her daughter Esin Işın began combing villages and local markets in the province of Mugla in search of heritage fruit varieties. It soon became apparent that an astonishing diversity of traditional varieties still existed in the region. In March 2007 Mary and Esin contacted Dr. Fusun Ertug about their findings, and asked for her help in launching a research project. Dr. Ertug had previously conducted an ethnobotanic study in Bodrum and is currently advisor on ethnobotany to the Turkish Cultural Inventory (TUKSEK) being compiled by the Turkish Academy of Sciences (TUBA), in which capacity she and Elisabeth Tuzun are engaged in a project in Datca. Dr. Ertug approached Elisabeth Tuzun, who had recently begun investigating the cultivated almond varieties growing in Datca. 

Next the group consulted botanist Prof. Tuna Ekim, who advised that genetic analysis should be included as one branch of the project, and put them in touch with geneticist and molecular biologist Prof. Nese Bilgin. Now five in number, the group went on to present their project to Prof. Adil Güner and Nihat Gökyigit, founder of the Nezahat Gökyigit Botanical Garden, on 1 April 2007. They arranged for funding to carry out systematic field surveys over the next six months.

By adapting ethnobotanical methods developed and applied in various areas, the group set about identifying heritage fruit varieties, collecting samples, and compiling detailed information about each variety. This work continued from mid-April until November 2007. Esin Isin, who is based in Bodrum, surveyed villages and markets in nine of Mugla's twelve districts, while Elisabeth Tuzun investigated first almond and then fig varieties grown in eight villages in the district of Datca.

The project is continuing in 2008, this time with funding from the UNDP Small Grants Programme (SGP), and assisted by agricultural experts from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, botanists, geneticists and others who recognise the importance of preserving ecologically friendly agricultural practices.

GROUP MEMBERS 

Dr. Z. Fusun Ertug (Project Coordinator), Archaeologist, Ethnobotanical research, Supervising field research, coordination. 

P. Mary Isin, Food historian, Data compilation from historical and modern written sources. 

Esin A. Isin (Project Manager), Metallurgy and Materials Engineer, Field Reseach. 

Elisabeth Tuzun, Orientalist, linguist - Field Reseach (Datca). 

Prof. Dr. Nese Bilgin, Bogaziçi University Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics - molecular analysis of fruit samples.
© 2008 FRUIT HERITAGE, Mugla's Local Fruit Varieties, Cultural Heritage, Database and Conservation Project