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• A significant rise in the levels of reforestation and
rehabilitation undertaken annually on degraded
forest lands, with the active involvement and
contribution of local communities and other
stakeholders. Joint management of many of
these areas with rural communities to meet local
demands for firewood, grazing, erosion control
and non-timber forest products, employing forest
management practices that conform to the principles
of sustainable forest management
• Growing public awareness and sensitivity leading
to a policy, legal and institutional framework for
sustainable management of forest resources in the
overall interests of Turkish society.
Efficient conservation and sustainable management
of Turkey’s forest resources will make an important
contribution to sustainable forest management values at
regional and global levels, in accordance with Turkey’s
commitments under the relevant global conventions
and international processes.
With thanks to the Foreign Relations, Training and
Research Department of General Directorate of Forestry
and Radio Institution (TRT) and other private radio stations and
television channels to broadcast programmes and advertising
activities at their own cost, to encourage a love of forest and trees.
For this reason, World Forest Day on 21 March and National
Tree Week was also celebrated across the country, and several
awareness-raising activities were organized and broadcast in the
framework of these events.
A long-term vision for the role of the Turkish forestry sector can
help to formulate the agenda for sectoral change. The principal goals
of forest development in Turkey have included sustainable produc-
tion of forest products and services, poverty reduction, employment
generation and environmental conservation. Realization of these
goals in the context of strengthened economic discipline would be
likely to lead to the following:
• Multipurpose planning and management of forest resources
to provide multiple benefits (environmental, social, economic
and cultural) at local and national levels and on a sustainable
basis
• An increase in forest areas managed with a main objective other
than timber production
• Expansion of areas set aside for national parks and protected
areas to cover a representative range of Turkey’s natural
ecosystems, and extension of approaches already piloted to
involve local people in management
Turkey enjoys rich biological diversity
Image: Aykut Ince