Public information and participation in the coastal areas of Turkey needs major enhancements although it is getting more widespread and effective all around the country. This is achieved by the increase of Non-Governmental-Organisations (NGOs) both in number and power. Also, regular meetings are organised by the metropolitan municipalities to discuss with the public the ongoing and planned projects. Moreover, the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) legislation require public information and participation during the preparation of the EIA report.

EIA

In Turkey, coastal developments and activities for which an EIA study is required, include thermal and nuclear power plants, refineries, ports and harbours, reclamation and dredging, petroleum and gas pipelines; storage facilities, ship dismantling facilities, open sea hydrocarbon production, petroleum production from the sea; various heavy industries which are located on the coast as well as elsewhere, shipyards, maintenance and repair facilities, fisheries industries, ballast water reception facilities, fishery harbours, coastal and sea structures, sea outfalls, breakwaters and marinas.

The legislation of EIA indicated that a meeting with the public should be held during the EIA study to inform them about the project under consideration, and to take their opinion about the project. If needed, the project proposal should be revised and another meeting with the public should be held. However, the participation of the public is limited and their opinion is usually not well considered by the administrators.

NGO's

The NGOs have played important effective roles in enhancing public information and participation in the coastal areas. Nevertheless, The NGOs still lacks knowledge about public participation and its implementation.

The following needs for public participation in Turkey could be identified:

• There is a need to teach the importance and benefits of public participation;
• There is a need to encourage people to participate in decision making;
• There is a need to convince the administrators and planners to take the public opinion into consideration;
• There is a need to make the decision processes more translucent.

Example: Wastewater sea outfal, Antalya, Turkey

A project, supported financially by Antalya Metropolitan Municipality and World Bank, has started in 1996 to improve the water and wastewater infrastructure in Antalya city. A part of this project included wastewater collection, treatment and disposal systems. A preliminary wastewater treatment plant followed by a long and deep sea outfall system have been planned for the treatment and disposal of wastewater.

Some of the citizens of Antalya and local NGOs insisted on immediate higher treatment level of the wastewater because they believe that the planned low level treatment will pollute the sea environment. However, specialized international experts from the World Bank as well as Akdeniz University investigated the situation and concluded that the planned low level of wastewater treatment is enough at the early stages of operation. For political reasons, some local administrators supported the opinion of the public.

As a result, the project was modified by adding biological treatment units to achieve higher treatment level of the wastewater. The biological treatment units were constructed and the operation of these units has started recently. Anyhow, such sophisticated expensive treatment plants are not sustainable in Turkey due to the lack of funds and experience.

Main Issues related to ICZM

Antalya is a famous important tourism center in Turkey. Antalya receives about 4 million foreign tourists each year and tourism is the major source of money income for the investors and the local people. The beautiful beaches and the clean seawater are major attractions for tourists. An integrated coastal zone management is needed to conserve all the natural beauties and achieve sustainable tourism and development. A good infrastructure is vital to treat and dispose all types of wastes and effluent discharges. The local people and NGOs in Antalya are keen to protect their valuable environmental. However, the people managed to change the project into more expensive unnecessary project, which is not sustainable. Some of the local administrators supported the public due to political reasons.

Due to the pressure of the public, an engineering workable design had to be changed. The second stage biological treatment units were added to the initially designed preliminary treatment units. The public of Antalya City are following the implementation of the project. The process is still in progress.

Lessons Learnt

Public participation could lead into wrong directions. Political issues play a role in public participation.

Further information

Who can provide further information with contacts?
1. Prof. Bulent Topkaya, The Department of Environmental Engineering, Akdeniz University, Antalya.
2. Dr. Ayse Muhammetoglu, Akdeniz University, Antalya