Fading commons (Turkey): Flow with the flock

Middle Eastern transhumant shepherds are rich in what they know about moving, about settling temporarily. In the bare and dry they survive, in the luscious and green they prosper. Some Kurd tribes like the Koçers settle in the Karacadag Mountains of South East Turkey, some others like the Sarikecili, do so in the Toros Mountains in Southern Turkey overlooking the Mediterranean. They move every year by foot with their families and herds, over hundreds of kilometers to their summer pastures. These populations and their herds of goats and horses preserve several precious ecosystems, and along with biologically enriched lands through their transhumant movements that distribute seeds and format the landscapes throughout their entire journeys… But when not actively threatened, they are then left abandoned, while the changing world increasingly endangers them. This is their story which blends in with natural elements and fights not to fade.