‘Saving Black Sea Only with Global Partnership'

The Hungary-based Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe (REC) will begin a 10-day seminar tomorrow called "Sustainable Public Policies and Business Practices for Black Sea Countries" at Santralİstanbul with the participation of academics, bureaucrats, local administrators and businessmen. Sibel Sezer Eralp, president of the REC Turkey office, said a Europe without the Black Sea is not possible because the EU has a direct link to this unique sea.

"REC seminars have been educating people in Central and Eastern European countries since 2004. With Bulgaria and Romania's membership in the European Union, the EU now has actual borders with the Black Sea. Therefore, it has been wise to extend the seminars to Turkey," she said, speaking to Today's Zaman. A unique sea in the world, the Black Sea is semi-enclosed and has a very narrow connection to other seas; namely, the Bosporus to the Sea of Marmara, which in turn connects to the Mediterranean Sea through the Dardanelles and then via Gibraltar to the Atlantic Ocean.

Owing to natural factors, the diversity of species found in the fauna of the Black Sea is approximately three times lower than that of the Mediterranean. Specific features of the Black Sea make it very vulnerable to disturbances in the environment.

About 350 cubic kilometers of river water pour each year into the Black Sea from an area covering almost a third of continental Europe, including significant parts of 17 countries. Most of this water drains to the northwestern Black Sea.

The intensification of agriculture in the drainage basin and the use of fertilizers, overall pollution and irresponsible fishing have resulted in reducing biological resources, the diversity of its species and the aesthetic and recreational values of the Black Sea, bringing its ecosystem to the edge of collapse.

Scientists note that the Black Sea's water was clear and transparent in the past but after the late '60s, due to an increased use of fertilizers, the coastal waters turned green, yellow, brown and sometimes red depending on the blooming species. The main feeding ground for mackerel is in the northwestern Black Sea shelf and after the pollution of water in the breeding area by local sources in the 1970s, the stocks of this species noticeably declined.

Professor Ahmet Kideys, executive director of the Commission on the Protection of the Black Sea against Pollution, said the Black Sea ecosystem was in terrible condition in late 1980s and 1990s, when the fisheries were badly hit due to pollution and alien species; however, situation improved later.

"Following the main international agreement in Bucharest in 1992 among the six Black Sea countries came the 'Strategic Action Plan for the Rehabilitation and Protection of the Black Sea,' signed in İstanbul on Oct. 31, 1996 by the environmental ministers of all riparian countries. Recent improvement of the Black Sea ecosystem is a consequence of these actions as well as efforts of those countries along the big rivers flowing to this sea. But there is much more to do," Kideys told Today's Zaman.

Kideys said the Black Sea faces even newer problems with the effects of the climate change.

Now the ecological situation in the Black Sea is better than in the 1970s and 1980s but far from the ecological norm of the 1950s, scientists say.

Kideys noted that fishing is one of the main economic activities of the Black Sea and that better fishery management is needed in all coastal countries of the Black Sea. Carrying Caspian oil through the Black Sea and the Bosporus puts additional pressure on the ecosystem.

"Fish stocks of commercially valuable species, such as sturgeon and turbot, suffer from illegal fishing, pollution and destruction of their habitats," Kideys added.

He also said sustainable development of societies and the well-being of the coastal population will become priorities not only for the governments of the Black Sea coastal states but all others, as well benefiting from sustainable development.

"Clearly, unless development is secured in a sustainable way, the goods and services provided by the environment for many economic activities would be jeopardized, impacting the social and economic welfare of the inhabitants of this strategic region," Eralp said.

As the rapid increase in economic activity and the growth rate of Black Sea countries have brought many challenges to the region, a lot of Western countries started to develop their national development strategies.

However, Eralp said Turkey has not completed its own strategy although it has started working on it under the coordination of the State Planning Organization (DPT).

"In this area, there are many funding opportunities which Turkey can take advantage of. And such seminars increase awareness and ownership of the issue," she added.

The seminar was developed by REC in cooperation with Venice International University, Agroinnova and İstanbul Bilgi University.

The seminar series will be offered at two locations and dates, one starting in İstanbul on June 15-24, and the second in Venice from Sept. 29 to Oct. 7.

The welcoming address and opening remarks will be delivered on June 15 by Marta Szigeti Bonifert, executive director of REC; Professor Aydın Uğur of İstanbul Bilgi University; Professor Ignazio Musu, dean of Venice International University; Professor Ludovica Gullino, director of Agroinnova; and Stefania Romano from the Italian Ministry of Environment, Land and Sea.

The keynote speech will be delivered on June 16 by Nuri Çolakoğlu, chairman of the executive board of the TV Broadcasters' Association of Turkey and chairman of İstanbul 2010 -- European Capital of Culture.

Ambassador Murat Sungar, first deputy secretary-general of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC), will chair a high-level panel, titled "Financing Sustainability: Challenges and Opportunities for the Black Sea Region," on the last day of the seminar, June 24. Representatives from the private sector, the Turkish Ministry of Environment and Forestry, the European Commission and the European Investment Bank are expected to be on the panel.