Kızılırmak Delta

The Kızılırmak River's delta in northern Turkey is the third largest in the country. Formed where the river flows into the Black Sea, the delta has the biggest wetland in the region, with many coastal lagoons. The wetland is a key biodiversity area and the most important Ramsar site in Turkey.

With more than 500 kinds of plants and three-quarters of Turkey's bird species, the delta's reserve lets migrating birds rest and feed after the Black Sea crossing. Water buffalo provide milk and meat. The reserve is popular with tourists, particularly on weekends.

The land is some of the most fertile in Turkey: more than half is farmed. The town of Bafra on the delta and the nearby coastal city of Samsun made money from tobacco farming in the 19th and 20th centuries, but in the 2020s the main crop is rice.

The river was channelized near its mouth in the 2010s, which reduced bird habitat. The ecology of the delta is being damaged, such as by eutrophication of some lakes due to fertilizer in water running off fields. The coastline is receding because sediment is caught in upstream dams, and this is forecast to continue. There is a management plan for the delta until 2034, but it is not widely available.