This week, Turkey has been celebrating tourism, as we do every year from the 15th to 22nd of April. To raise awareness of our Blue Wave project in the Fethiye region, and bring together local stakeholders and the community, we arranged two ‘clean-up’ events in the bays.

The first event took place at the Fethiye Harbour and three volunteer divers took to the water to remove some of the underwater garbage from the daily tour boats docking area, and we held a press event to raise awareness of the issue.

Around 30 volunteers then sailed to one of the bays for beach cleaning, and returned with about 20 jumbo size bin bags to take to the Fethiye Municipality Recycling Facility. Although this was a simple activity, it really highlights the need for everyone to get involved and protect the environment within the bays so that visitors and locals can enjoy the area for many years.

The Blue Wave project aims to improve awareness and understanding of the threats to the marine environment from marine tourism, and improve the level of sustainable practices carried out within the sector and amongst tourists.

We’re working with the Fethiye Municipality, the Chamber of Shipping, TURMEPA and D Marin to preserve the environment of the Fethiye and Göcek Special Protection Area, and look forward to the summer season of 2017.