Project Title: Compilation of Previous Knowledge for Conservation, Multiplication, Utilization, and Sustainability of Plant Species in the Black Sea Region, the Richest Region in Terms of Biodiversity, to Create a Digital Database for Target Species

Project Objective:
The Black Sea Region, located in the north of Turkey, is the richest region in terms of biodiversity. With global climate change, urgent measures need to be developed to conserve and sustain natural diversity in this region. The aim is to contribute to the conservation of the world's common heritage of diversity while also aiming to evaluate natural plant species from an agricultural perspective and develop conditions to meet market demands by creating a digital database.

In addition to the previous research and studies of each country stakeholder, the economic, ecological, and social issues of the Black Sea Region (such as the indiscriminate destruction of natural plants and resulting loss of biological diversity) are targeted. Through multilateral cooperation, research efforts to address this issue will be increased, existing data will be evaluated within the framework, and joint solutions that could contribute to the development and strengthening of the economies of the relevant Black Sea Region countries will be sought.

With global climate change, experiences related to the production of natural plants by farmers in each country (such as which species, markets, issues, opportunities, and use of voluntary certification programs) will be collected to compare with experiences encountered by other farmers (related to trade). The aim is to identify and investigate local stakeholders involved in the conservation/production of natural plant cover who can contribute to a common network for information, application, and certification.

The project has three main objectives:
Development of a database on threatened wild plant cover due to illegal collection in each country
Development of a database consisting of existing scientific methods for multiplication and production of natural plant cover (in situ/ex situ) in each country
Establishment of a common network and website providing access to the developed databases

Key and Specific Activities to be Conducted under the Project:
Data Collection and Evaluation
Identification and investigation of local development organizations or environmental NGOs involved in the conservation/sustainability of natural plant cover and their willingness to join a common network for information, application, and certification exchange
Development of a Database for Multiplication and Production of Target Species
Supporting the Implementation of New Production Methods for Target Wild Plant Species and Developing Common Practices Based on Previous Analyses
Establishment of a Digital Common Network with Project Stakeholders, Development, and Implementation of Common Identification Mechanisms
Project Coordination and Management

I am attaching CVs of some of the academics from our institution who could potentially be part of the project team. You can access the CVs through the following links:

Doc. Dr. Hatice Filiz Boyacı (https://avesis.erdogan.edu.tr/haticefiliz.boyaci)
Dr. Önder Albayrak (https://avesis.erdogan.edu.tr/onder.albayrak)
Dr. Kevser Çoğalmış (https://avesis.erdogan.edu.tr/kevser.cogalmis)
Doc. Dr. Murat Tören (https://avesis.erdogan.edu.tr/murat.toren)
Prof. Dr. Turan Yüksek (https://avesis.erdogan.edu.tr/turan.yuksek)