Integrated Marine Pollution Monitoring Program (DEN-İZ) of Türkiye
The Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change has developed a common monitoring strategy for all our seas by adopting an integrated and ecosystem-based monitoring approach for all marines (Mediterranean Sea, Aegean Sea, Black Sea and Marmara Sea), and has implemented the "Integrated Marine Pollution Monitoring Program (DEN-İZ)" since 2011.
DEN-İZ program has been transformed into a three-year monitoring program since 2014, thus ensuring regular monitoring and consistent data production to cover all seasons. With DEN-İZ Program, the chemical and ecological status of Turkish Seas is determined, the effectiveness of the measures taken to prevent pollution and their compliance with national and international legislation are evaluated. In the multi- stakeholder DEN-İZ Program, which is carried out with the participation of various institutions and organizations and universities operating in the marine field in our country under the coordination of TÜBITAK-MAM, the Barcelona and Bucharest Maritime Convention requirements, the EU Water Framework Directive (2000/60/EC) and the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (2008/56/EC) strategies are being implemented. Marine monitoring data is reported to MEDPOL, the Black Sea Commission Secretariat, national institutions and local authorities.
Monitoring and evaluations in the DEN-İZ Program are carried out in determined coastal water bodies and marine assessment areas, the period of DEN-İZ 2023-2025 period has started. In the program, there are many components such as physicochemical parameters in water column, pollutant parameters in sediment and biota, phytoplankton, zooplankton, macrozoobenthos, seagrass, fish and macroalgea monitoring in terms of biodiversity, monitoring of marine macro and micro litter, radioactivity and eutrophication. DEN-IZ Program monitoring network consists of 425 stations.
In every monitoring period, new monitoring strategies and components are added to the program in line with the our country's needs. In the new planned monitoring components for the 2023-2025 DEN-IZ Program; the impacts of climate change will be assessed in all marines; through physical parameters such as sea water temperature, surface water temperatures, sea level, coastal soil loss, acidification, atmospheric characteristics of air temperature. Besides assessment studies related to coral reefs, coralligeneous habitats and marine sponges and decreases in seagrasses will also be assessed.
The other new planned works are especially in Mediterrenean Sea and Aegean Sea are; as a part of marine litter monitoring monitoring; monitoring of microplastics in biota within the scope of zero pollution policy and development of the Open Sea Monitoring Program and evaluation of monitoring components with the IMAP NEAT assessment tool.
The other activity will be about the evaluation of results; Thematic Reports on Eutrophication, Marine Litter, Biodiversity, Pollutants (organic and inorganic) and Climate Change will be prepared in 2024-2025.
At the end of the program “IV. National Marine Monitoring Symposium” will be organized in 2025 for the dissemination of outputs of the program.
The DEN-İZ Program, which largely meets the requirements of international conventions and European Union legislation, is a dynamic monitoring network that is constantly expanding with the number of monitoring points and monitoring parameters, and it is carried out entirely with the national budget and national administrational and technical capacity