Akdeniz Koruma Derneği (known in English as the Mediterranean Conservation Society) is a Turkish

marine conservation Marine conservation, also known as ocean conservation, is the protection and preservation of ecosystems in oceans and seas through planned management in order to prevent the over-exploitation of these marine resources. Marine conservation is i ...

organization An organization or organisation (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English; American and British English spelling differences#-ise, -ize (-isation, -ization), see spelling differences) is an legal entity, entity—such as ...

. The Society has been involved in the establishment of

marine protected area A marine protected area (MPA) is a protected area of the world's seas, oceans, estuaries or in the US, the Great Lakes. These marine areas can come in many forms ranging from wildlife refuges to research facilities. MPAs restrict human activity ...

s in

Gökova Gökova is a neighbourhood of the municipality and district of Ula, Muğla Province, Turkey. Its population is 2,098 (2022). Before the 2013 reorganisation, it was a town (''belde''). It lies at the head of the Gulf of Gökova in a plain also k ...

, and monitoring of endangered

Mediterranean monk seal The Mediterranean monk seal (''Monachus monachus'') is a monk seal belonging to the family Phocidae. , it is estimated that fewer than 700 individuals survive in three or four isolated subpopulations in the Mediterranean, (especially) in the A ...

s. In 2013 and 2017, president Zafer Kizilkaya was granted a Whitley Award in recognition of the organization's contribution to conservation. In 2023, Kizilkaya was awarded the

Goldman Environmental Prize The Goldman Environmental Prize is a prize awarded annually to grassroots environmental activists. History Awardees are named from each of the world's six geographic regions: Africa, Asia, Europe, Islands and Island Nations, North America, an ...

for Asia.

References

External links

Official website
Marine conservation organizations Nature conservation organizations based in Turkey {{nongov-org-stub