Birds dying in Van due to practices of trustees

The bird deaths in the Erçek and Çelebibağı wetlands in Van, where 232 different species of birds live, continue. According to environmentalists, deaths are caused by the destruction of reeds and waste water.

Many different songbirds and even flamingos live on the shores of Lake Van. The wetlands around the lake house hundreds of different species of birds. The village of Kaşımbağı is located on the shores of Lake Van in the district of Erçiş. In the marsh areas near the village there is a massive bird death.

The state-appointed trustees in Edremit, Erciş and other districts cut off the reeds to build beaches and filled these areas with sand, contributing massively to the death of birds.

The discharge of wastewater kills

The marshes on Lake Van have become the migration route and safe haven for 230 of the 450 bird species present in Turkey and Northern Kurdistan, explains Seher Kadiroğlu Ataş, spokeswoman for the Ecological Council of Mesopotamia.

The main reason for the bird deaths is that the wastewater from one city and six districts is drained away into the lake. These are industrial as well as household wastewater, which is discharged untreated into Lake Van.

"The marshes around the lake are a habitat for birds and many ecosystems. The birds living in the region's biodiversity are now threatened with death," she emphasizes.

“The marshes in the area devastated”

Seeker Aktaş points to the ecosystem chain and goes on saying: "Soiling a link in the chain affects the whole chain. Lake Van is a closed basin. That's why the lake cannot clean itself. The marshes in the area are devastated, that must not be allowed.”