İztuzu Beach in the context of "Dalyan"

Lake Köyceğiz is an alluvial set lake in the Muğla Province of Turkey. Having an area of 5200 hectares, it is one of the vastest coastal lakes in the country. It bears the name of the town of Köyceğiz, situated on its north bank. It is connected to the Mediterranean through a narrow and reedy channel called "Dalyan" which flows by a township of the same name (Dalyan) and the ancient city of Kaunos. Dalyan channel joins the sea at İztuzu Beach.

The surroundings of the lake as a whole and particularly the banks of its Dalyan sea connection are important nature reserves and popular tourist attractions. They are part of the Köyceğiz-Dalyan Special Environmental Protection Area.

The Köyceğiz-Dalyan Special Environmental Protection Area is a protected natural reserve in the Turkish province of Muğla. In June 1988 it was determined and declared the first protected area of its kind (Özel Çevre Koruma Bölgesi) of Turkey. In 1990 the original SPA area was extended westwards. Up to now, there are fourteen natural reserves with this status, of which Pamukkale is probably the best-known. All these areas are under the supervision of the ÖÇKK, the Turkish Environmental Protection Agency for Special Areas.

The area got its special status as a result of Prince Philip´s request to the Turkish Prime Minister Turgut Özal for a moratorium on the construction of a hotel complex at İztuzu Beach, while awaiting an environmental impact assessment. At the time Prince Philip was President of the WWF, which had been approached by environmentalists such as June Haimoff, Günther Peter, David Bellamy, Lily Venizelos, Nergis Yazgan and Keith Corbett to help stop the construction of a hotel complex at the beach. İztuzu Beach was one of the main nesting areas for the endangered loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta), and the environmentalists were trying to preserve the turtle’s habitat. In September 1987 the construction project was suspended for an environmental impact assessment, and in 1988 the Turkish government decided upon a construction prohibition because of the area’s special significance. That was not only because of the natural importance of the beach and its significance as a turtle habitat, but also because of the cultural and historical significance and the geological importance of the Dalyan-Köyceğiz hinterland.Because of its protected status, the area offers good and ample opportunities for ecotourism and recreation. For one, the Köyceğiz-Dalyan SEPA boasts the most fantastic panoramic vistas.

June Haimoff (MBE) (27 December 1922 – 23 April 2022) was an English environmentalist who lived in Dalyan in the Turkish province of Muğla. In the period from 1984 to 1988 she and fellow-environmentalists such as David Bellamy, Lily Venizelos, Günther Peter, Nergis Yazgan and Keith Corbett launched a successful campaign to preserve İztuzu Beach as a habitat for the endangered loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta). This beach is one of the main nesting places of the species in Turkey and the Mediterranean.