Fighting desertification in Gömürgen, Turkey

Some time ago, Gömürgen was situated amongst rolling, wooded hills. Today, the trees have been felled and the region looks more like a desert, suffering from soil erosion and floods, which has led to an exodus from this inhospitable environment.

Ömer Adigüzel, now living and working in Dusseldorf, Germany still feels for his family’s old home and therefore created Hifswerk Gömürgen e.V., an aid foundation dedicated to halting the desertification process and the reforestation of the area through donations. To this purpose, the association received support from the “Make an Impact on Tomorrow” (MIT) project initiated by Henkel.

As a first step to the process and together with helpers from the community, the police, local school and cultural association from Gömürgen, the foundation has selected and 180,000 square meter area to start this process. The area has been fenced of to protect it from the ravenous appetite of the herds populating the area and hundreds of trees are to be planted by volunteers this coming April.

For more information about the project, visit project’s website at www.Goemuergen.de