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Kure Mountains IPA, Turkey
Kure Mountain Important Plant Area on Turkey’s Black Sea Coast is one of the most important sites for wild plants and habitats in the world.
It has been identified as an Important Plant Area (IPA) by a group of national and international scientists under the CBD Global Strategy for Plant Conservation and also as a Key Biodiversity Area. It was designated as a national park in 2000.
The site has is one of the world’s best examples of Black Sea humid karstic (limestone) forest ecosystems. The Devrekani River Valley which divides the IPA in two contains a unique combination of Mediterranean shrublands and Black Sea forests supporting a wealth of plant diversity. The Küre Mountain also hosts 29 endemic plant taxa, only found within Turkey, such as the threatened Delphinium ilgazense and Silene paphlagonica.
One species, Ornithogalum kuereanum occurs in these mountains and nowhere else in the world. Fourteen of these endemic species are also classified as threatened in the Turkish National Red List including the critically endangered Astragalus kastamonuensis. Such vast plant diversity in turn supports other important wildlife for example the globally near-threatened semi-collared flycatcher Ficedula semitoquata and the bearded vulture Gypaetus barbatus.
This unique area is threatened by planned Hydroelectric Power (HEP) projects, specifically the Loç Region, the Devrekani River Valley and the Küre Mountains National Park. The construction association with the proposed HEP project and the diversion of 90% of the waters of the Devrekani River will irreparably damage the irreplaceable biodiversity of this region. If the projects are allowed to continue a unique piece of Turkish natural heritage will be lost forever.
Plantlife International has written to the Turkish Minister of Environment and Forests to request that that the project is cancelled.