The cultural and political ecology of reed-cane craftsmanship in Lake Eber

Abstract

The current study examines the interactions of people living around Lake Eber with the lake and their use of it from a cultural and political ecology perspective. In this context, fieldworks were carried out in different periods of 2018-2019. At the same time, observations and interviews covering the research subject were carried out. In the study, it was determined that aquatic plants such as common reed, reedmace, lakeshore bulrush and common cattail are cut from the Lake Eber and are used as building materials and in the production of rush mats, beach umbrellas, prayer rugs, reed pillows, floor mats (straw) and tomb mats. On the other hand, it was observed that the interest in reed-cane craftsmanship and the production of reed-cane products is decreasing every year. This is caused by drought, pollution and eutrophication processes seen in the lake. Based on the results of the study, we suggest that more field studies should be done to examine the factors that threaten the lake ecology and projects should be conducted to improve the situation in the lake.

Keywords

• cultural ecology
• lake eber
• political ecology
• reed-cane craftsmanship
• wetlands