Akdeniz Koruma Derneği

Description

Akdeniz Koruma Derneği, known in English as the Mediterranean Conservation Society, is a Turkish marine conservation organization. It focuses on protecting marine life and habitats along Turkey’s Mediterranean coast. It is organized as an association with a governing board and a staff team.

The organization has been involved in establishing marine protected areas in Gökova, a bay on Turkey’s Aegean-Mediterranean coast. It also monitors the endangered Mediterranean monk seal, one of the world’s rarest marine mammals. Its work combines habitat protection with species monitoring to safeguard Mediterranean marine ecosystems.

The organization’s president, Zafer Kizilkaya, received the Whitley Award in 2013 and again in 2017 in recognition of the organization’s conservation work. In 2023 he was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize for Asia. These awards reflect international recognition of the organization’s marine protection efforts in Turkey. The organization also draws on a group of outside advisors to support its ongoing work.