WHY MUGLA ?

The province of Mugla, which includes three of Turkey's most important wild plant habitats (Ozhatay et al 2005) as well as 15 of Turkey’s important natural resources (Eken et al 2006) but which as a foremost tourism destination is under serious environmental pressure, has been chosen as our pilot region. Citrus fruits, grapes, figs, almonds and olives are among the main economic crops in the province. Due to the rugged terrain of the land and the high proportion of small family farms Mugla still retains a high level of agricultural biodiversity 

Preliminary surveys were carried out in ten of Mugla's twelve districts in 2007, and local names of more than 400 local varieties of 28 fruit species were recorded. So far genetic samples have been collected for 200 varieties, which have been photographed and detailed information obtained from local people entered in our database. Since some fruit varieties are known by different local names in different areas, the eventual number of varieties will probably turn out to be fewer than the current total. Nevertheless, there is sufficient evidence of a high level of diversity for certain species in the region to fully justify the choice of Mugla as our pilot region.

Map of southeast Turkey, showing the areas which have been surveyed so far.

Surveys have been carried out in the districts of Mugla, Bodrum, Dalaman, Datca, Köycegiz, Marmaris, Milas, Ortaca, Ula and Yatagan (two districts, Fethiye and Kavaklidere, have not been included in the 2007 or 2008 programmes).