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EVENTS 2012
 

Chistmas Fair 2012 and new friends
The Christmas Fair in Dalyan was a great success. It was a lovely, sunny day. People from all over the area were there and Father Christmas visited to the delight of the local children. The Foundation stall was very busy and we sold some gifts, gave out lots of leaflets and got lots of signatures on the petition. We saw lots of old friends and met some new ones. In particular, Jan Crosbie and Christine White from Koycegiz who were running a stall selling beautiful Christmas candles and table decorations. When we went to chat to them we discovered that they were raising money for the foundation! After visiting us on the beach in the summer and learning about the awful injuries turtles receive from boat propellers they and their friend Julie Cottrell in England started fundraising. Julie started the fund off with £100 and they have now raised a fantastic total of 1000TL.
Kaptan June and all at the foundation send a heartfelt thanks to them.

New mural on Kaptan June’s Hut
Shortly after the relocation of Kaptan June’s Hut, London-based artist Tammara Mattingly offered to do an İztuzu mural on the side wall facing the beach.
The mural shows loggerhead turtles coming to İztuzu Beach to nest, with oleander-bordered İztuzu Lake and the Gökbel hills at the background . Many Turkish visitors picnicking around the Hut in the weekends come to have a better look at this piece of art. Both the Hut and its new mural are watched with astonishment and delight and are praised for the way they have been integrated in the scenery.


Tammara’s Background
Tammara is the, creative director of Light & Colour workshop UK.
She has impressive expertise in applied art, multimedia, teaching and counselling Over the past 10 years she has used her artistic background to develop creative and therapeutic projects for schools, crime prevention teams, and various community services in London.
Thank you, Tammara!
The Foundation is proud to have met and worked with you and hopes to continue the cooperation for many years to come ...

Channel 3 Travels

On 5 June Kaptan June’s Hut was visited by the popular Dutch BNN television program “3 Op Reis” that would like to do an item on Kaptan June and her foundation. “Channel 3 Travels” is a series about travelling and tourism in which sustainability is an important element.
After making a boat tour on the river, the film crew came to Kaptan June’s hut to interview June. Subsequently June accompanied them to the sea turtle rehabilitation centre. The enthusiastic film crew was very interested in the foundation’s propeller guard project and the museum display.
The visit to İztuzu Beach was the conclusion of a small Turkey Tour they had done for their new broadcasting season. Not a bad choice at all!

Relocation of Kaptan June’s Hut

On 8 May Kaptan June’s Hut has been relocated to a more private spot in Iztuzu forest. Dalyan’s mayor Arif Sarı came with the suggestion to move the hut to one of the old concrete platforms in the forest that was built by Kavala when development started on the beach in 1987. It is a place which comes with a bit of history attached and its location is absolutely perfect! The spot offers far more shade and is closer to the car park and toilet facilities. Due to its elevation, it offers a splendid view of the beach and sea.
We highly appreciate the constructive collaboration with our mayor!

EVENTS 2011

The Dalyan X-mas and New Year’s Fair
On December 10th Dalyan’s first X-mas and New Year’s fair was organised by Dalyan Dernek, the oldest of the local charity organisations.
Where we have been very active at the beach this year, this was in fact the first time that we presented ourselves
to a wider public in Dalyan itself. The lovely weather on market day helped to make the Fair a great success, both publicity-wise and for raising funds. The day showed that the Dalyan associations can work together.
We ourselves were particularly pleased to welcome some new Friends and volunteers to support our foundation.

HAYTAP visiting Dalyan
Just when we thought that the season had ended and were planning to clear the Hut as a preparation for winter, Mebrure Kuzey-Blom of the Dalyan dog sanctuary came to June to hand her an invitation.
During the Feast of Sacrifice HAYTAP, the Animal Rights Federation of Turkey, were having their 4th national representatives’ meeting. Thanks to a very persistent Mebrure, one of the four days would be spent in Dalyan including a visit to Kaptan June’s Hut and the Sea Turtle Rehab Centre. Of course June was invited for all of the day’s program, a boat trip, lunch at Denizkızı, a visit to the dog sanctuary, the visit to Iztuzu and dinner.

Our first project
One of the main hazards for sea turtles in the Dalyan waterways is shell cuts by pro-propeller crashes. The boat fleet operating on the Dalyan waterways amounts to 500-600 boats, and only a handful has propeller protection. There-fore we decided that the first project of the new foundation would be the promotion of propeller caging.

Our team of Volunteers
People of different national-ties have voluntarily offered their time and effort to make our maiden year a success. Their efforts included managing the foundation, accounting, writing project plans, meeting with officials, converting the Hut into a PR centre, informing visitors, translating, supplying our Gift Shop, and many more chores ...

11 May 2011: June Welcomed at Buckıngham Palace
It did not pass unnoticed in the Turkish press that Kaptan June would be awarded an MBE for work done in Turkey! See a Turkish video report made in January 2011: Kraliçe tarafından onurlandırıldı

On 11 May June Haimoff-Fairey was received at Buckingham Palace to be awarded an MBE for her "services to environmental conservation and the protection of endangered turtles in Turkey", a recognition for her many years of splendid work. More photos and video will follow ...

6 May 2011: Fırst General Meetıng
After publication in the Resmi Gazete on 9 April 2011, the Foundation finally got its official status and could call its first general meeting for 6 May. After a general introduction about the vision and goals of the Foundation, the Board of Directors was officially elected.
The meeting was tri-lingual (Turkish, English and German) to suit Foundation members of different nationalities. Besides June Haimoff (1st President), the Board of Directors consists of Bahar Suseven (2nd President), Thomas Schmitz (3rd President),
Sue Taylor (Accountant) and Abidin Kurt (Secretary), all of whom have been close and loyal friends of June’s for many years.

11 APRIL 2011: Propeller Guard Project
Unfortunately loggerhead turtles and Nile Turtles regularly suffer from severe shell cuts by propeller strikes. Therefore the first project of the new foundation is aimed at encouraging local boat captains to fit propeller guards. To this end a get-together was staged with Atilla Gültekin (manager of the Dalyan Kooperatifi), Özleyiş Çakır (director/engineer of Emek Marin) and representatives of the Foundation to discuss the desirability of fitting specifically designed prop guards onto the boats of the Boat Cooperative. The foundation will give eight guards to the Dalyan Boat Cooperative as a first incentive to contribute to responsible eco-tourism on the Dalyan waterways. Okçular-based Cooperative captain Ali Topcuoğlu is the proud owner of the first prop guard.
See press article:

24 FEBRUARY 2011: Positive Court Decision !
After months of waiting we finally received word that the
KAPTAN JUNE SEA TURTLE CONSERVATION FOUNDATION
has been accepted and confirmed in court.
See press article : Kaptan June sea turtle foundation gets official go ahead

EVENTS 2010

Seeing the Notary at Denizli
Thanks to the donations of generous benefactors, 11 November 2010 will enter the Caretta caretta history books as the date at which the official establishment of the Kaptan June Sea Turtle Conservation Foundation started. It is the first foundation of its kind in Turkey, since other environmentally oriented foundations are not focused on the conservation of these special species.
After a long ride to Denizli, June and her companions met with Professor Yakup Kaska at the Pamukkale University. After discussing any pitfalls in the Foundation’s Constitution, the company joined for lunch.

Around 3 pm June Haimoff and her fellow-founders Yakup Kaska, Bahar (Heike ) Suseven, Yasemin Pakyürek and Abidin Kurt, signed the foundation’s constitution at the notary in Denizli. The meeting was a very pleasurable one in a very relaxed atmosphere.

Realising this important milestone after the painstaking process of bringing together the 50,000 TL asset required by the Turkish government, was an emotional moment for all the company gathered.

The process of establishment will probably take another 1 – 2 months. Any new developments will be reported on this web page.

Gala Evening
April 2010 saw the reunion of two elders of the environmental movement. Dr. David Bellamy and June Haimoff, incredibly energetic eco-warriors, came together to commemorate the ‘Battle for Dalyan’ and reignite awareness for sea turtles and Iztuzu Beach, Dalyan in southwest Turkey.

A Gala Evening was held on Saturday 10th April to raise funds towards the establishment of the Kaptan June Sea Turtle Conservation Foundation. It proved to be a successful evening, raising 6,000 Turkish Liras. The Foundation will be an enduring facility for raising revenue to enable educational opportunities for Turkish young people to attend University and study Environmental Sciences as well as raising funds for other environmental purposes. It will be overseen by the Pamukkale University with June being the Patron.

The guest of honour at the Gala Evening was the world famous environmentalist Professor Sir David Bellamy who in the 80's supported June in her fight to keep this beach free of development and preserve the nesting grounds. Professor Bellamy attended the Gala Evening and enjoyed Breakfast on the Beach with Kaptan June and others the next day.

Breakfast on the Beach
Are you interested in meeting Kaptan June personally?

Why not join us for "Breakfast on the Beach with Kaptan June"? These are regularly held at the Sea Turtle Rehabilitation Centre on Iztuzu Beach and are supported by a donation.

For the next date please telephone (+90)5386019220