Sevgi Çiçeği Millet Bahçesi

About Sevgi Çiçeği Millet Bahçesi

Sevgi Çiçeği Millet Bahçesi is a national garden on the shore of Mogan Gölü in the Karşıyaka neighbourhood of Gölbaşı, south of central Ankara. It is a separate park from the larger Gölbaşı Millet Bahçesi in Şafak Mahallesi. The project was announced in June 2021, when Environment and Urbanisation Minister Murat Kurum described an 87000 square metre Sevgi Çiçeği nature park being laid out on the Mogan shore. According to the minister, 287000 plants were to be planted there, and the area was meant to protect two species he described as special to Ankara: the white-headed duck and the sevgi çiçeği plant that gives the park its name. The garden sits close to a network of small ponds beside the lake. A 2024 leaflet from the EU-funded PONDERFUL research project on the Mogan pond network explains that the national garden was first planned within reach of these ponds, which are used by the endangered white-headed duck (Oxyura leucocephala). After talks between non-governmental organisations, universities and the implementing bodies, it was built further away from the ponds to limit its effect on their wildlife. The leaflet presents this as a good example of balancing conservation with recreation.