culture and Tourism Ministry with Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry between “Water Efficiency Mobilization Collaboration” protocol was signed. Minister of Culture and Tourism Mehmet Nuri Ersoy and Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Ibrahim YumakliThe protocol signing ceremony was held in Ankara.
“2 billion 400 million people are longing for clean water”
Minister Yumaklı, in his speech, underlined that one of the most important inputs in tourism, which is described as a smokeless industry, is water, and said, “Due to the threat of global climate change in this context, we are also forming very different actions for the efficient use of water. We must state that 80 countries in the world are experiencing water shortages and 2 billion 400 million people are longing for clean water.”
“It is not unlikely that we will be among the countries with the highest water poverty in 2030”
Minister Yumaklı said, “We are not a water-rich country. We are a country under water stress. If we do not implement the actions that have been determined, including the protocol that we will sign here today, it is not unlikely that we will be among the water-poor countries in 2030.”
“We will carry the water efficiency mobilization to the international arena”
Reminding us of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s motto, “There is no difference in essence between protecting our water and our homeland,” Minister Yumaklı said, “We set out with the principle of Zero Loss in Water. We will carry the ‘Water Efficiency Mobilization’ initiated by the esteemed lady to the entire country and even to the international arena.”
“We aim to reduce water loss in drinking water systems to 25 percent”
Reminding us of the Water Efficiency Document published last year, Minister Yumaklı said, “There were 9 national targets and 114 actions. In this context, we aim to reduce the average daily water consumption of 150 liters per person to 120 liters by 2033. We aim to reduce the average water loss in drinking water systems from 32 percent to 25 percent.”
“162 sectoral water efficiency guides were published”
Minister Yumaklı stated that they aim to increase the agricultural irrigation efficiency, which is currently around 50 percent, to 60 percent and to save 30 percent of water in industrial use, and noted the following:
“162 sectoral water efficiency guides have been published to achieve the targets. There will be a significant water saving effect with the transition of large areas of landscape areas in tourism facilities to arid landscapes. We will have activities in line with our action plans for water reuse with grey water and rainwater systems.”
“Water Efficiency Guide for the Tourism SectorMinister Yumaklı, drawing attention to this, spoke as follows:
“We want to popularize the best available techniques that are specific to the sector and accepted worldwide. Creating and promoting systems that will popularize these applications is also extremely important in carrying them out in cooperation. I think that with the cooperation protocol signed here today, we will really appeal to a very wide area and a very wide audience in terms of the human population.”
“Water plays a vital role in tourism”
Minister Ersoy underlined the importance of water in his speech and said, “Water plays a vital role not only for the continuation of life, but also in many sectors such as economic development, agriculture, energy production and tourism. When evaluated from this perspective; sustainable management of our water resources is not a need for our future, but a great necessity.”
“We will raise public awareness about the importance of water”
Minister Ersoy continued his speech as follows:
“This cooperation established between our ministries is an important step towards ensuring the effective and efficient use of water resources. Within the framework of this protocol, we will develop projects that will save water, ensure more efficient use of existing water resources and raise public awareness of the importance of water.”
“We aim to achieve 40 percent water recovery in 10 years”
Minister Ersoy, who drew attention to the fact that the Ministry of Culture and Tourism will implement practices that will encourage efficient use of water in tourism regions and reduce water consumption, said, “With the Water Efficiency Strategy Document and Action Plan; we aim to increase water use efficiency in the tourism sector and as a result, to achieve 40 percent water recovery in the next 10 years. In the Water Efficiency Guide we prepared for the tourism sector; it is emphasized that arid landscape practices should be adopted in landscape areas and that irrigation method, time and duration should be optimized.”
Stating that they also addressed this process within the framework of the Turkey Sustainable Tourism Program, Ersoy said, “We had introduced ‘water saving criteria’ for hotels and businesses to receive sustainability certificates. We even evaluated this criterion as the first stage of the program. Within the scope of the Turkey Sustainable Tourism Program; there are 17,237 accommodation facilities with Stage 1 Certificate and 1,073 accommodation facilities with Stage 3 Certificate in Turkey.”
Pointing to wastewater treatment facilities, Minister Ersoy said, “In addition to using the treated water in areas such as irrigation water and fire water within the wastewater treatment facility area, the necessary infrastructure is being prepared during the facility construction phase so that the treated water can be taken into the grey water network and thus used in other areas in the future. In addition, the facilities are being designed by taking into account the collection of rainwater.”
Source: www.dunya.com
