ISTANBUL - 27 SEPTEMBER 2025 - On Saturday, CLIMAVORE x Jameel at RCA presents the fourth edition of Manda Festivali in Akpınar village in the northern wetlands of Istanbul, Türkiye.
The Manda Festivali is an annual festival organised by CLIMAVORE x Jameel at RCA, a partnership between CLIMAVORE and Community Jameel developed at the RCA, in collaboration with local herders celebrating the presence and permanence of water buffalo and their herders in the eight forest villages of northern Istanbul—one of the last remaining forms of pastoralism in the city.
The festival places buffalo and their rights at the centre, recognising them as key beings in the repair of damaged wetlands and the shaping of shared futures. By linking grazing practices with the regeneration of damaged landscapes, it honours the intertwined futures of buffaloes, herders and wetlands, and calls attention to the need for protecting both their habitats and their lives.
Today, around 4,000 buffalo and 40 herders still move across these shifting wetland pastures, though their survival is increasingly threatened by expanding infrastructure and changing land use.
The CLIMAVORE x Jameel at RCA Water Buffalo Commons project supports buffalo and the multi-species way of life they sustain in Istanbul’s post-industrial wetlands. Through research, long-term fieldwork and the annual Manda Festivali, the project helps protect buffalo habitats and regenerate the wetland ecologies that form a vital part of Istanbul’s food belt.
Rooted in a city-wide campaign highlighting the ecological and social relationships between buffalo, the herders and their habitats, the festival brings together grassroots organisations, ecology advocates, animal rights activists, community organisers, local musicians, artists, biologists, yoghurt makers and the wider public.
Last year’s Festival drew in over 1000 participants, including the Mayor, District Governor and President of the Istanbul Water Buffalo Herders’ Association. This year’s programme includes pasture walks, live music, children's workshops, tastings and a local producers’ market.
A second edition of the ‘Water buffalo and herder portrait competition’ will be held to celebrate the human and more-than-human residents of the wetland ecosystem, with bespoke buffalo bells (lopka) awarded to the peoples’ favourites.
Building on the unique shape of the bells, this year’s festival also marks the launch of Lopka—a line of water buffalo yoghurt from Istanbul’s forest villages, co-developed with herding communities and supported by Ariste Peynir and Mutfak Sanatlari Akademisi (MSA), Istanbul’s Culinary Arts Academy.
The preservation and protection of these wetlands and landscapes are central to safeguarding the future of buffaloes, whose survival depends on the continuation of buffalo milk production.
By reviving culinary traditions rooted in the muhallebici (milk pudding houses) and their deep connection to buffalo milk, Lopka also becomes a living tool to support animal welfare, regenerate endangered wetland ecosystems, and sustain Istanbul’s pastoralist heritage on the city’s outskirts.