Ecobiketrip

Cycling around the world concerning about ecological issues

Hasankeyf

I took the bus for time reasons to be on time at a declared meeting date where a local information center in Hasankeyf should be opened with big press appearance. I got this information from eca-watch newsletter. I also got in contact with Ulrich Eichelmann, the frontman in Austria, who was also here and declared this site to be worth of protection.

Starting ahead, entering the southeastern region of Turkey the landscape was shifting to dry stone valleys appearing to have no end. Hills after hills with not much, but stones and some dry plants. Green could just be seen on depressions of land, where human watering systems take their impact.
First I thought I am caught in nowhere, all the same and nothing different.
Until I entered the valley of Tigris I understood immediately why people want to preserve this area. They called this area from bibliographical times the garden of Eden, culture here is more than 10 thousand years old. People used to live in caves till the late 70’s, afterwards it was forbidden by law to live in historical monuments and houses where built and hundreds of caves are for tourist attraction nowadays. Besides there are many more monuments in this unique landscape. Even the way to have dinner at the river, or to use water channels to send water to all the caves is very well thought.

The NGO that is now dealing with this issue is Doga Dernegi. All of them are really friend

ly, well organised and could even manage the biggest star in Turkey, called Tarkan, to visit this village. There was a tour all around the sights for everybody and while walking I was impressed by biodiversity in this place. Not only endemic plants are found in this place, but also birds, turtles some species of fish that only live here and nowhere else on the world. Wildlife, landscape and cultural monuments are extraordinary and fit this place in an outstanding way.

One small problem there is: all this should be flooded in order to await the immense increase of needed energy for growing of urban population and their expectation for industrialism. A huge dam should be built with water level rising of more than 100 metres, disappearance of the village and ambient habitats included.
The funny thing is that also Austrian Banks will give huge export credits for this project, more details you can read on eca-watch and their Ilisu Campaign.
My next days ride will lead to some relating aspect, I am going to visit Munzur and 2 dams that have been built and 6 more are planned.

the route

We came up with a project which aim is to spread the idea of sustainability, to establish awareness of how fragile our ecosystem has become and on which places on the world you can see some fatal impacts made by humans. Authenticity plays an important role in terms of getting the whole impression and so we decided to visit these places ourselves cycling the world and telling stories of nature under ecological pressure. These are our points of interest:

  • 80% of the urbane waste in India get to the rivers flowing to the seas -> accumulation of plastic garbage through international streams in front of the bay of Los Angeles with a size double the USA ->Internationalisation of regional waste problems -> Bioplastics from Polylactidacid may be an alternative?!
  • Dams in Ilisu and Munzur in Turkey
  • Drinking water poisoned with arsenic through good meant development work in NE India till Thailand
  • Disappearance (clearing) of mangrove forests and accompanied problems like floods and reduction of fish species in Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia
  • Papermills and their impacts in Thailand, Indonesia
  • “Ramsar Convention on Wetlands”, since 1971, regions especially worth of protection, worldwide
  • Huge oil refinery in Iran, also recycling from steel shipwrecks
  • Oilpalm plantation in Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and Central America -> Clearing of rainforest -> extraction from „bio“fuels
  • Other biofuels in Guatemala, Honduras
  • Rainforest of the Austrians in Costa Rica, research station Nouragues in French Guyana

If everything works out as planned I am finally off by Wednesday next week!


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