Gölünyazı (Eymir) Wetland
Gölünyazı is a natural lake within the boundaries of Kırkdilim village in the Merkez district of Çorum, known as the province’s birdwatching site; it is also called Eymir Lake. On the wetlands page of the 11th Regional Directorate of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, the Çorum wetland listed is the Gölünyazı Wetland of Local Importance (Gölünyazı Mahalli Öneme Haiz Sulak Alanı, in Merkez). The site is also mentioned briefly in Nature Breaks in Çorum Centre alongside other stops in the district; this page gathers the lake’s official status, academic inventory and the events it has been through.
Location, size and status
A 2016 paper by Maraşlıoğlu and Salur of Hitit University describes the lake as lying within Kırkdilim village, 150 m from the Çorum-Laçin road and 22 km from Çorum city centre, at an altitude of 1,100 m and coordinates 40°41’ N, 34°54’ E, an area of 23 hectares in total. The Online Türkiye Turizm Ansiklopedisi (Online Turkey Tourism Encyclopedia) entry places the lake at the 18th kilometre of the Çorum-Osmancık highway and gives its size as 233,132 m², a natural, shallow freshwater lake; the Kültür Portalı record says it is 20 km from Çorum. The name of the designation varies between sources: the Ministry’s list gives it as a “Wetland of Local Importance”, while the Kültür Portalı record and the title of the encyclopedia entry call it “Gölünyazı Milli Parkı” (Gölünyazı National Park).
According to the encyclopedia entry, on 20 May 2003 the Çorum Governorship adopted a Gölünyazı Wetland Conservation Action Decision, and on 21 May 2003 the area was allocated to the Provincial Special Administration at the Governorship’s request. From that date the governorship’s decisions banned drawing irrigation water from the wetland and all hunting on land and water, the lake was fenced with wire, fruit trees were planted around it, a tower was built to identify the bird species, and the lake was stocked with fish for the herons to feed on. Maraşlıoğlu and Salur also note a tower for observing birds at the lake.
Water regime
According to both sources the lake is not fed by any surface source; it depends on seasonal rainfall and groundwater. The encyclopedia entry says the lake dries up in dry seasons, holds water in rainy years and freezes over in winter. In the past the bed of the Gözlük Stream to the north was diverted toward the lake to raise the water level; when the stream’s flow increased in rainy seasons, farmland around the lake flooded, and the practice was ended.
Vegetation and birds
The dominant vegetation is reed; Maraşlıoğlu and Salur write that about two thirds of the lake is surrounded by reeds, whereas the encyclopedia entry says almost the whole shore is covered with reed, and notes aquatic plants in the lake such as su çoban değneği and su mercimeği (duckweed). The reedbeds give water birds food, shelter and breeding ground. Gölünyazı gives migratory birds a place to rest, stop over and breed, especially during the spring migration. The farmland around the lake is generally planted with wheat and sugar beet.
Bird counts differ between sources. Maraşlıoğlu and Salur write that the area holds 19 bird species in total, led by water birds such as the common pochard (Aythya ferina) and the grey heron (Ardea cinerea), some of them migratory. The Online Türkiye Turizm Ansiklopedisi entry says 30 bird species are resident and 69 migratory, and that species such as the ruddy shelduck, common pochard, garganey, Eurasian teal, mallard, white-headed duck, sakarmeke (Eurasian coot), cormorant, herons, bittern, moorhen, water rail, Montagu’s harrier and şahin (a falcon or hawk) can be seen; it says the white-headed duck is among the species of global conservation concern. Maraşlıoğlu and Salur state that amateur observers have reported purple heron, little bittern, great bittern, moorhen, water rail, ruddy shelduck, Montagu’s harrier, mallard, garganey and teal, but that because these identifications are not scientific records they left them out of their tables.
Biodiversity inventory
Combining earlier inventory studies and their own fieldwork, Maraşlıoğlu and Salur report that 55 vertebrate taxa, 39 invertebrate taxa, 13 genera of seedless plants and 4 genera of seed plants have been identified at the lake and around it. The encyclopedia entry says carp (sazan), the striped terrapin (çizgili kaplumbağa), three snakes (hazer yılanı, sarı yılan and çukurbaşlı yılan), hedgehog, hare, jackal, fox, weasel and wild boar have been observed. On invertebrates the two sources differ: the paper’s invertebrate table includes the medicinal leech (Hirudo medicinalis), while the encyclopedia entry says the leech that once lived in the lake is reported to have disappeared because it was collected.
Fire, drought and threats
The encyclopedia entry says the lake has faced the threat of disappearing, in the past and today, from factors such as poaching, reed cutting, water withdrawal for irrigation, invasive species, climate change, stubble fires and pollution from chemical pesticides and fertiliser; Maraşlıoğlu and Salur report that with the rise in global warming the lake is in danger of drying up. According to the records, in 2006 the burning of surrounding fields destroyed most of the reedbed and harmed birds; in the dry season of 2007-2008 the lake dried up completely and its fauna and flora almost vanished; in 2009-2010 rainfall increased, the lake began to refill and bird diversity began to rise. In summer 2014 a fire in the reedbed burned 80 dönüm (about 8 hectares). Maraşlıoğlu and Salur add that, despite the ban on irrigation withdrawal, reed cutting and hunting, poaching and reed cutting continue.
Current water level
Because the water level changes from year to year, visitors should ask the relevant institutions for current conditions before going; the figures on this page rest on publications from 2016-2019.
Sources
- Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, 11th Regional Directorate, Sulak Alanlar (Çorum: Gölünyazı Mahalli Öneme Haiz Sulak Alanı). https://bolge11.tarimorman.gov.tr/Menu/54/Sulak-Alanlar
- Faruk Maraşlıoğlu and Ali Salur, “Gölünyazı (Eymir) Gölü’nün Biyoçeşitliliği” (Biodiversity of Lake Gölünyazı (Eymir)), Uluslararası Bütün Yönleriyle Çorum Sempozyumu, 28-30 April 2016, pp. 289-304. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/320615334_Golunyazi_Eymir_Golu'nun_Biyocesitliligi
- Hatice Yurttaş Çelik, “Gölünyazı Milli Parkı”, Online Türkiye Turizm Ansiklopedisi, 2019. https://turkiyeturizmansiklopedisi.com/golunyazi-milli-parki
- Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Kültür Portalı, “Kuş Gözlemciliği - Gölünyazı Milli Parkı - Çorum”. https://www.kulturportali.gov.tr/turkiye/corum/turizmaktiviteleri/golun-yazi-sulak-alan