Direct Institutional Efforts to Maintain and Extend Ecosystems & Biodiversity

Atatürk University takes comprehensive, body-level action to maintain and extend existing ecosystems and biodiversity of both plants and animals—including ecosystems under threat—through dedicated research centres, field work, restoration efforts, and active social-responsibility projects.

1. Institutional framework
   Atatürk University’s Biodiversity Research and Application Centre (Biyolojik Çeşitlilik Uygulama ve Araştırma Merkezi) is formally mandated to “identify, diagnose, protect, promote and ensure the sustainability of Turkey’s biodiversity and ecosystems” via its founding regulation. tdm.atauni.edu.tr+2Vikipedi
   The Centre serves as the hub for ecosystem- and species-level work, ensuring the university acts as a body rather than via isolated individual projects.

2. Conservation, monitoring & ecosystem extension
   Atatürk University conducts active field research, monitoring of threatened regional ecosystems (such as high-altitude wetlands, steppe grasslands, Anatolian mountain forests), and development of living collections/arboretum infrastructure under the Centre’s “Species & Ecosystem Conservation” programme. tdm.atauni.edu.tr
   These activities represent direct ecosystem maintenance (monitoring, protecting) and extension (living collections, arboretum) of biodiversity.

3. Outreach & event-based conservation
   The university organised the “Biodiversity Conservation Workshop” on 23 November 2022, in collaboration with public environmental authorities, focusing on ecosystems and protected species in the region. tdm.atauni.edu.tr
   This shows Atatürk University’s engagement beyond research, promoting ecosystem awareness as an institutional actor.

4. Integration with social-responsibility (Toplumsal Duyarlılık) projects in 2024
   As part of its wider institutional mandate, Atatürk University’s Toplumsal Duyarlılık Projeleri Uygulama ve Araştırma Merkezi (TDP-Merkezi) offers direct links between ecosystem/biodiversity goals and community-based projects:

• In 2024, the project “Sürdürülebilir Tarımda Alternatif Akuvakültür Sistemlerinden Akuaponik Sistemlerin Lise Öğrencilerine Tanıtılması” (15 March 2024) focused on sustainable ecosystem-based aquaculture systems for high-school students. tdm.atauni.edu.tr

• Also in 2024, the project “Sürdürülebilir Ekosistemler” (29 February 2024) explicitly addressed sustainable ecosystems in its title and application. tdm.atauni.edu.tr
  These illustrate Atatürk University’s institutional embedding of ecosystem-maintenance and extension work into its social-responsibility portfolio, increasing reach and impact in local communities and schools.

5. Evidence of institutional continuity & breadth
   The TDP regulations for 2024 define that social responsibility projects must link with UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and have clear scope, contribution and activity details. tdm.atauni.edu.tr
   This demonstrates that Atatürk University has institutional mechanisms–not just ad-hoc efforts-‐to integrate ecosystem/biodiversity work into its organisational structure and community engagement.