What happened
Türkiye is to draw up a National Wetlands Strategy intended to support protection of wetlands throughout the country. The requirement follows the insertion of Article 39/B into the Wetlands Protection Regulation.
The new strategy is required to accord with the Ramsar Strategic Plan. Its design must bring together a principal objective, objectives for delivery, activities and plans for those activities within a single framework.
The strategy will have a 10-year implementation term. Once that period has ended, the strategy then in force will be reviewed and renewed.
For organisations involved in wetland policy, the immediate next step is to follow the preparation process and, where relevant, participate through the bodies and stakeholder routes identified in the regulation.
Why it matters
The change establishes a national strategic process for wetlands rather than setting out an individual wetland measure. It also links the planned national approach to the Ramsar Strategic Plan, which the regulation identifies as the basis for determining the strategy.
Its required structure is notable: the overarching aim, delivery objectives, activities and activity plans are expected to operate as an integrated whole. This means the document is intended to cover both strategic direction and the activities planned to support it.
The available material does not specify particular duties for companies, funding provisions or a timetable for drafting. It does, however, set out who will be involved in preparing the strategy and the approval needed for it to enter into force.
How the strategy will be prepared
Institutions and organisations that belong to the National Wetlands Commission will take part in the preparatory work. Other stakeholders designated by the General Directorate will also be included.
That participation process precedes formal adoption. The completed strategy will become effective only after approval by the National Commission.
Stakeholders selected for the process will therefore have an opportunity to contribute during development, while Commission approval remains the final condition for commencement. After implementation begins, the 10-year cycle ends with a review and renewal of the existing strategy.
What to watch
Further detail will be needed on the strategy’s objectives, activities and activity plans once preparation advances. The evidence currently available confirms the framework, its Ramsar alignment, the 10-year duration, participating groups and approval route, but does not provide the content of the eventual strategy.
