In Bartın flax cultivation with a local variety of the plant, was done until 50 ? 60 years ago. The reason for that is both the labour-intensiveness of the conversion of flax to linen and also the relative easiness of obtaining ready-to-wear clothes, as local production of hand or machine-woven cloths in the past was more for consumption and not so much for the selling of the products. Also, due to economical difficulties, most young people have left Bartın for work in larger cities, but there are some who are willing to go back to their villages, if they could make a living there. Now the linen production is decreased until it is almost none existent these days, a sustainable livelihood opportunity is lost, the skills for weaving the linen is about to be lost and the local variety of the flax is under threat to be extinct.
The project aims both to protect the local variety of the flax plant with the seeds they have found and to make this a sustainable livelihood opportunity for those who remain in the villages.