Zafer Kızılkaya, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Mediterranean Conservation Society, was among the 2023 winners of the Goldman Environmental Prize, also known as the Green Nobel Prize and recognised as the most prestigious award in the field of environment worldwide. Zafer Kızılkaya became one of the six environmental advocates worldwide to win this award.
Established in 1989 in San Francisco by philanthropists and civil society leaders Rhoda and Richard Goldman, the Goldman Environmental Prize is awarded each year to an environmental hero from six continents around the world. In 34 years, the Prize has had an unrivalled impact on the planet. To date, it has honoured 219 winners from 95 countries, including 98 women. The 2023 winners of the award, which honours people around the world who have taken extraordinary steps to protect the planet, include Zafer Kızılkaya from Turkey. Zafer Kızılkaya, one of the founding members and chairman of the board of directors of the Mediterranean Conservation Society (AKD), which has been working for the protection of coastal waters and incredible biodiversity in Turkey since 2012, was among the winners. Zafer Kızılkaya received his award at a face-to-face ceremony at the San Francisco Opera House.
John Goldman, President of the Goldman Environmental Foundation, said: "The world has become more aware of serious environmental crises such as climate change, fossil fuel extraction, pollution of our air and water; we are now much more aware of our connections to each other and to all life on the planet. An activist in Malawi who is trying to fight plastic pollution in his own country has a direct link to us, and vice versa, and has much to teach us about how we can do this work at home, where we live. This work and the fate of all of us are intertwined." pZafer Kızılkaya, who graduated from METU Civil Engineering Department and Coastal Zone Management Master's Programme, worked as a researcher and underwater photographer in marine protected area projects in the Pacific Ocean for more than ten years. Since 2008, he has been working closely with local fishing communities in Turkey to conserve biodiversity and support the improvement of marine habitats. Founding AKD in 2012, he was instrumental in establishing Turkey's first community-managed marine protected area (CMA) in the Gökova Bay to reduce the threat of destructive and illegal fishing. Based on this approach, many new marine protected areas have been established in the region. pFounded in Izmir in 2012 as a national non-governmental organisation, the Mediterranean Conservation Society (AKD), of which Zafer Kızılkaya is one of the founders, works for the monitoring and restoration of the effects of climate change on the seas and endangered species such as the Mediterranean monk seal and sand shark, and the marine ecosystems in which they live. At the same time, in order to protect local people whose livelihoods depend on the sea and cultural values, it carries out activities that support business lines such as small-scale fishing and eco-tourism.
The Mediterranean Conservation Society works together with public institutions from Turkey and stakeholders operating in the field of environmental protection from abroad in its conservation activities carried out on the coasts of Turkey. Fauna & Flora, a UK-based international wildlife conservation organisation working with global partners to protect nature, has been working closely with AKD since its establishment in 2012. Fauna & Flora has not only funded AKD's work, but has guided AKD's development as an organisation and worked closely with Zafer Kızılkaya and the AKD team to develop and implement AKD's conservation strategies, including the protection of the Gökova Bay. "This award recognises the work that underpins AKD and its pioneering conservation projects and the huge impact they have for nature and communities," said Berry Mulligan, Senior Marine Programme Manager for Eurasia, Fauna & Flora International. Our team has seen first-hand how these projects are built and how they benefit nature and communities. Therefore, this award is a source of great pride for us."
AKD carries out its successful activities in Turkey with the permission and coordination of the Ministry of Environment, Urbanisation and Climate Change, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, the General Directorate for the Protection of Natural Assets, and the Ministry of Interior.
The Mediterranean Conservation Society is also the recipient of important awards in the field of environment, including the Whitley Nature Conservation Gold Award, Marsh Award Marine Conservation Leadership Award, UNDP Equator Award.