Deforestation, erosion, flooding along the Black Sea coast == Turkey is up against a number of environmental threats. According to a 2010 study by the Nature Association and other environmental groups, Turkey boasts 305 Key Biodiversity Areas (KBA), or protected areas of international importance in terms of biodiversity. ?These KBAs cover 90 percent of the biodiversity in Turkey. But water policies threaten those precious regions,? Nature Association Deputy Director General Engin Y?lmaz said. Environmentalists agree that the problem is not that Turkey does not face significant environmental issues but instead that they are not high on the priority list for people in Turkey, unfortunately. 

Math teacher with the Daruşşafaka Educational Institutes and expert in environmental education Meltem Ceylan said, ?The environment is not on the agenda for politicians in Turkey, because it is not on the people's agenda.? If society made the environment a priority, Ceylan argued that politicians would have to follow suit. ?But there is no pressure. This is why some environmental groups are trying to raise public awareness.?

Turkish public opinion polls echo Ceylan. A survey recently conducted by the SONAR research group found that the environment did not make the top 10 list of the most important issues to the Turkish public. But Ceylan feels otherwise. ?This is where we live. This is our home. We must protect it,? she said.

Ceylan calls environmental issues the ?invisible problem? in Turkey. ?We have unemployment and other huge social problems here. These seem to be more important because environment is always there and can always be consumed. Some species are becoming extinct, but people do not see it. It is a kind of invisible problem in Turkey.?

?The threat to nature has never been this great. The last 10 years have been a nightmare. It is a huge issue, but some people don't seem to notice,? Y?lmaz lamented.

Answer to ?invisible problem? == more education

The answer, those in the environmental and educational sectors agree, is more education. While environmental topics are taught in school, Ceylan said that the lack of resources and inadequate training for teachers are a major problem in formal environmental education. ?The main problem is the knowledge of the teacher. The curriculum changed in 2005 on orders from the Ministry of Education, but it doesn't matter if teachers don't have the information or the background in the field to lead the lesson,? she said.

Besides formal education, schools also offer extracurricular activities like environmental clubs for students. But Ceylan said that a lack of resources somewhat handicaps their effectiveness. Ninety-nine percent of schools have environmental clubs, Ceylan said, but these programs are supported by individual teachers and not by any sort of environmental umbrella organization.

Ceylan said that environmental education must comprise more than stale lectures and books in order to be effective. ?I work with the art teacher, for example, on environmental education programs for students.One time the students put on a play, and we made their costumes from waste materials,? she said. With environmental issues often placed on the back burner in Turkey, environmental groups are also getting more creative in their campaigns and programs. Environmentalists, agreeing that reversing policies that harm the environment begins with changing hearts and minds, have placed a greater emphasis on educating people on the principles and limits of nature.

After focusing solely on soil and erosion training for the last 19 years, the Turkish Foundation for Reforestation, Protection of Natural Habitats and Combating Soil Erosion (TEMA) department of education head Burcu Ar?k said that it is time for a restructuring of TEMA's environmental education strategy.

?We have entered an era in which knowing about soils and erosion is not enough. Talking about it is not enough. Everyone in Turkey, everyone in TEMA, everyone in the other organizations needs to rethink how they live their daily lives. We need to ask ourselves, ?What is the real cost of what we consume?' Unless we know the environmental effects of our every step and try to change accordingly, we won't get anywhere,? Ar?k said.

Ecological IQ, the key to world citizenship

Ar?k said that the key to world citizenship is what she calls ?ecological IQ,? or a knowledge and understanding of the ecosystems and the principles and limits of nature. ?Unless we support ecological IQ on every level, whatever we say or do cannot work. We need to develop this skill as soon as possible. Today,? she said.

While environmental groups like TEMA and the Nature Association provide environmental education for people of all ages, they both have targeted their efforts on the next generation.

Children, who see life simply and clearly, understand and embrace environmental issues, Y?lmaz said. ?Children are much more open to languages == not only to the languages of humans but also to the language of nature,? he said.

Ar?k agreed: ?Children are more open and understand more directly. In fact, they already have the knowledge. They just need support.?

Ceylan, as someone in the education sector, concurred. ?It is easier for students to love something. They are more curious. For adults it is harder to change habits, lifestyles and consumption patterns. If we give children the opportunity to love and introduce environmental issues the right way, we can open a new door and a new understanding.?

Turkey's Nature Association partners with environmental organizations from 37 countries around the globe in the Spring Alive campaign in raising public awareness on environmental issues during the season of spring. While most countries focused on children, Turkey opened the scope of its project to the entire public in an effort to strengthen the bond between people and nature.

TEMA's most recent environmental education endeavor is a multi-step ecological literacy program that begins with teachers and school systems before sharing that knowledge with the next generation.

The Ministry of Education and TEMA teamed up in putting together this ?Ecology Literacy Teacher Training? pilot program, the first of its kind in Turkey and one of only several in the world. After successfully completing the two-week program == which consists of workshops and hands-on activities on issues ranging from soil ethics in civil society to forestry and erosion by leading scientists and experts in the fields == the teachers will receive certification to be ecoliteracy instructors recognized by the Ministry of Education.

But Ar?k emphasized that school systems must first ?greenify? themselves before teaching students. ?If children are taught about the importance of being environmentally conscious when their own school system is not environmentally friendly, they will automatically sense the difference. They will register that it is normal to say one thing and practice another, especially in terms of the environment.

Ar?k said this is why TEMA puts so much emphasis on teachers. ?We want to reach teachers because they are the role models for these kids. In order for us to really help them we must support them to develop an ecological IQ,? she said.

Ceylan said that she may be a math teacher, but she believes that the environment should be protected by all people no matter their discipline. ?I studied mathematics in college, but I was also involved in environmental clubs and activities. They have changed my life,? she said.