Construction machinery enters protected Osmanağa Bay in Göcek! Permit from the ministry...

Osmanağa Bay, one of the most pristine spots in the Fethiye-Göcek Special Environmental Protection Area, has been caught in a grip of profiteering under the guise of a tourism facility project. Despite its status as a 3rd-degree natural protected area and its critical ecosystem, construction machinery entering the region has begun to destroy endemic trees and fish breeding grounds.

ENDEMIC ORIENTAL SWEETGUM TREES AND REEDS IN DANGER

According to information received from local sources, as part of the project carried out by Yönetim ve Çevre Koruma AŞ, the reed beds in the bay and the region's unique, rare endemic Oriental Sweetgum (Sığla) trees are being cut down. The destruction of the reed beds, which serve as spawning grounds for fish, is causing irreparable damage to the marine ecosystem.

MINISTRY-APPROVED 'DAILY TOURISM FACILITY' PERMIT

What amplifies the scale of the scandal is the operating permit for the construction machinery in the area. It has been learned that with a permit granted by the Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change, this protected natural wonder has been opened up to capital investment for the construction of a "Daily Tourism Facility."

Muğla Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Ahmet Aras expressed his reaction, stating, "How can it be reasonable or conscientious to enter an area located in the Fethiye-Göcek Special Environmental Protection Area, which has 3rd-degree natural protected status and contains reeds where fish lay eggs and endemic Oriental Sweetgum trees, with construction machinery to cut down trees and build a daily tourism facility? I am asking this question to the Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change, which granted the company named Yönetim ve Çevre Koruma AŞ the permit to ruin Osmanağa Bay in our Göcek neighborhood, one of the heavenly corners of our Muğla, for the sake of profit. Furthermore, I would like to ask another question whose answer I am truly curious about... Are you not people of this country?"

CONCRETE BLOW TO WILDLIFE

This development in Osmanağa Bay, which is located within a Special Environmental Protection Area (ÖÇK), directly threatens the biological diversity in the region. Environmentalists and local residents are calling on authorities to accelerate the legal process and stop the destruction immediately.

News Source: 12punto