Posted on March, 09 2001

Istanbul, Turkey: The Foundation for the Conservation of Nature (DHKV) became WWF-Turkey during a ceremony in Istanbul on 26 February.

The protocol was signed between Dr Claude Martin, WWF International Director General, and Mr R Okan Tapan, President of WWF-Turkey. Dr Luc Hoffmann, Vice President Emeritus of WWF International, ministers, board members of WWF-Turkey and members of the press attended the signing ceremony.

Claude Martin, welcoming the new National Organization, said, "I believe that Turkey will contribute and bring a valuable point of view to the international nature conservation programmes. The international knowledge, experience and support of WWF will also strengthen the nature conservation efforts in Turkey."

At the signing ceremony, Mr Ergun Ozgen, Director General of Garanti Bank, accepted the Golden Panda award for the bank's concern for nature conservation issues and continuous and important contributions to DHKD (Society for the Conservation of Nature) since 1992.

WWF-Turkey also celebrated the declaration of legal protection status for the Kure Mountains and a commitment for the legal protection of a further eight sites � National Parks, Nature Reserves, Nature Parks, etc � by 2005. This addition of approximately 250,000 hectares on to Turkey's current total of about 500,000 protected hectares was declared a "Gift to the Earth".

Contact: Deniz Oztok. Tel: +90 212 528 2030. E: deniz.oztok@dhkd.org