Share this Post:

Print this page

Email this page

Glimpses From My Peace Corps Past in Turkey

Facebook

Twitter

RSS

YouTube

SIGN-UP for our latest news and action alerts:

Regular Blog Features:

Scope of Science:

Understanding environmental issues with science

Blog Categories:

Facebook Fans

Related Blog Entries

by Erika Rosenthal:

Cancun Conference Results In Critical Steps Forward

(Editor's Note: Earthjustice attorneys Martin Wagner and Erika Rosenthal are back from participating at the United Nations climate conference in ...

by Tom Turner:

Will Brown Be Green?

When Jerry Brown became governor of California in 1975, it was, for many of us, a relatively green nirvana. He created the Office of Appropriate Techn...

by David Lawlor:

I Brake For Cute Animals

Rose Eveleth has an interesting piece on the National Resource Defense Council’s OnEarth blog about zoos choosing to house only the cutest, &ldq...

Earthjustice on Twitter

Follow @Earthjustice

28 October 2009, 10:57 AM

Tom Turner

Glimpses From My Peace Corps Past in Turkey

Nice to see solar, but not the overgrazing and dam

A heartening sight in my old Peace Corps village (in Turkey) was all the solar water heaters on top of the houses. It only makes sense, but then sensible things don't always prevail. Fritz Schumacher, coiner of the term 'appropriate technology' would be proud.

Less attractive was a trip up to the yayla—high-mountain pasture—where the villagers take their livestock to graze in the summer months. When I lived here and heard about the yayla I pictured the Sound of Music—lush green alpine meadows, leiderhosen and all that—but these pastures have been badly overgrazed and signs of erosion are everywhere. It's still wild and beautiful this time of year with most of the koyun (sheep) and inek (cattle) gone, but not the paradise I had thought.

Finally, on the way to an old abandoned monastery, we passed the site of a brand-new hydroelectric dam that will wipe out miles of trout streams, several houses, even a mosque. Think about that for a minute.