In a bid to bolster environmental consciousness and promote the preservation of the Mediterranean monk seal and marine ecosystems, the “Mediterranean Monk Seal Monitoring and Awareness Project” has been not too long ago launched in Türkiye’s bustling vacationer vacation spot Muğla. This formidable undertaking seeks to coach main and secondary college college students, in addition to youngsters staying in inns, on the importance of safeguarding Mediterranean monk seals, seagrass meadows and the broader marine ecosystem.
The undertaking, initially conceived in February and now within the implementation section, is a part of the “TUI Sea the Change” program, a collaboration between the Mediterranean Conservation Association and the TUI Care Foundation. With a complete strategy, it goals to achieve a complete of 600 college students in three main colleges and three secondary colleges situated in Muğla’s Ortaca district. These college students will endure consciousness coaching, utilizing partaking instruments reminiscent of sport playing cards, inventive actions and animated movies. The undertaking additionally entails discipline research to supply hands-on experiences for the youngsters.
Notably, the undertaking extends its attain to youngsters staying in inns all through Muğla, permitting them to entry this important coaching, selling a wider understanding of the Mediterranean monk seal and marine ecosystem preservation.
The undertaking’s main goal is to collect essential information concerning Mediterranean monk seals and seagrass meadows via monitoring research, with a projected completion date in early 2025.
Ezgi Saydam, the Mediterranean Conservation Association’s Mediterranean Monk Seal program coordinator and marine biologist, emphasised the urgency of the undertaking, citing that there are solely round 800 Mediterranean monk seals worldwide, making their survival perilously unsure. Türkiye is house to roughly 100 of those people, including to the nation’s crucial position of their conservation.
Saydam underscored the Mediterranean monk seal’s significance as an indicator of marine ecosystem well being and the necessity for continued conservation efforts. The undertaking goals to achieve a deeper understanding of the seals’ use of caves and determine people who inhabit these areas. Furthermore, it contains awareness-raising actions to mitigate human pressures, a major menace to the species.
Elaborating on the academic facet of the undertaking, Saydam defined: “We plan to make informative presentations and play card games in local schools so that children can have fun and learn. We have also prepared a very nice animation and aim to reach more people by showing it in both hotels and schools. We will go to hotels and do water sports, diving and more, aiming to meet with the departments and provide information about Mediterranean monk seals and how sensitive the species is to human pressure. We will explain what behaviors they should not engage in.”
The undertaking can even emphasize the crucial position of seagrass meadows, along with Mediterranean monk seals. Educational efforts will embody each main and secondary college visits, the place education-based consciousness actions on seals, their habitats, the Mediterranean ecosystem and seagrass meadows can be performed. The program employs game-based instruments and goals to lift basic consciousness whereas fostering respect for marine life and habitats.
The initiative extends past training, because it has established a goodwill settlement with tour boats within the area to additional defend Mediterranean monk seals. The undertaking marks a major step towards educating the youthful technology and the broader neighborhood on the significance of preserving marine ecosystems and their inhabitants.
Source: www.dailysabah.com