Birds have died or migrated due to fires that erupted in four different reed beds around Lake Van (Wan) in east Turkey, Artı Gerçek reported.
The fires died down by themselves, as nobody intervened the to quell the flames that affected the reed beds during the birds’ spawning period.
The basin of Lake Van, the largest body of water in Turkey, is home to an estimated 346 bird species throughout the year, both resident and migratory. The lake is an important feeding area for flamingos, which draws the attentions of numerous visitor and photographers every year.
The basin of the lake contains one fifth of reed beds in Turkey.
The area known to many as a “bird paradise” was declared an environmentally protected region by the Turkish government in 2020.
The villagers living in surrounding area told Artı Gerçek that no measures have been taken to protect the region.
The fires might be caused by those who want to transform the reed beds drying up to due to draught into meadows, according to Ali Kalçık, the head of an association in Van established to protect the province’s heritage.
