Ministry approves construction plan of ‘Nation’s Garden’ around Lake Salda

* Photo: Anadolu Agency (AA)

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Prepared by the Housing Development Administration of Turkey (TOKİ), the construction plan of "Nation's Garden" and social facilities around Lake Salda in the Mediterranean province of Burdur has been approved.

The Governor's Office of Burdur has announced that the Ministry of Environment and Urbanization has approved the master development plan. The statement of the office briefly reads as follows:

"Approved by the Ministry of Environment and Urbanization, the Master Development Plan with 1/25000 scale covers the entire Lake Salda Specially Protected Environment Area. In the villages where all types of applications were halted, a low-density rural development will be allowed on the condition that it complies with the conditions of this plan.

'No activities to be allowed on the lake surface'

"No activities have been allowed on the surface of the lake. Natural areas, cycling and walking paths between villages have been recommended.

"It has been also recommended that the activities of mines currently located inside the area shall be ended. Agricultural lands, pastures, forest lands and wetlands have been protected.

"The related plan will be declared and opened to evaluation and objection by the Provincial Directorate of Environment and Urbanization as part of the Zoning Law no. 3194 and in the event that there are any objections, they shall be submitted for evaluation to the Ministry of Environment and Urbanization (Directorate General for Protection of Natural Assets).

"Moreover, the works for the subscale plans in the Yeşilova Municipality and Salda Village are still ongoing."

Lake Salda to be turned into a 'Nation's Garden'

Lake Salda was declared a "specially protected environment area" by a Presidential decree in March 2019. The lake and its surrounding area is also a first-degree protected area.

It was decided to lodge a tender in July 2019 to construct a "Nation's Garden" in the region. The tender was postponed, it was held in autumn. Having bidden 21 million 770 thousand TRY to undertake the construction, Güngör Agriculture and Construction Inc. won the tender.

Salda Lake is formed by waters and surface waters from 2 million years ago. Permanent rivers such as Salda (Karakova) Brook, Doğanbaba Brook and Köpek Brook and seasonal rivers such as Karanlık Brook, Kuruçay and Kayadibi Brook flow into Lake Salda.

In Salda Lake Subbasin, the existence of 100 bird species has been documented; while 62 of these bird species are singing birds, 38 of them are water birds, 9 are accipitriformes and one is strigiform. 75 of these species are protected by the Bern Convention.

About Lake Salda

Şanver İsmailoğlu, a geological engineer, gave the following information on Lake Salda in his article published on bianet on February 3:

With a depth of about 185 meters, Salda is the deepest lake in Turkey and the second deepest lake in the world. Lying on a 45-square-kilometer area, Salda is home for seadragons and 110 types of birds.

Because there is precipitation of MgCO3 (magnesite), there is no vegetation cover on the three sides of the lake. Because of its geological structure, it can shed light on the forming of the first living organisms and several scientific studies were conducted in the area. (RT/SD)