Guide
Kasatura Bay Nature Conservation Area is a large dune system on the Black Sea coast of Kırklareli province, set in a matrix of coppice woodland, and the Directorate General of Nature Conservation and National Parks calls its flora extraordinary. There are no facilities of any kind in the area; nature photography and walking are what it is suited to. It covers 315 hectares and was registered on 18 April 1988.
Two claims give the site its status. The directorate describes it as the only place in Thrace with black pine forest in a natural state, and the only black pine stand in the region. It also says the area has the natural characteristics suited to the Mediterranean monk seal living there — a statement about the habitat rather than a record of the animal. Alongside these it names a healthy population of roe deer, a species that could become endangered, and a rich mix of plants and animals, together making a rare ecosystem.
The dunes lie at the southeastern end of the Istranca mountains where they drop away, in a broad valley at the mouth of two small rivers that filter down through heath and acidic woodland. As the dune ridges formed, the river turned sharply southeast. Because of the diversity and quality of its rare plants, and the large populations of them, Kasatura is recognised as an important plant area. Black pine leads the tree list, with Hungarian, sessile and Türkiye oak, oriental and eastern hornbeam, ash, beech, maple, lime and alder. Roe deer, wild boar, wolf, jackal, marten, fox, badger and hare are the mammals recorded.
The area lies between the town of Kıyıköy and the Tekirdağ provincial boundary, 48 kilometres from Vize in Kırklareli province. Other distances given are 100 kilometres to Tekirdağ, 160 to Edirne, 180 to İstanbul and 280 to Çanakkale.
- Designated
- 18.04.1987
