Forests in Turkey
The country is slowly reforesting, which is beneficial for its wildlife and to absorb carbon to help limit climate change.
Almost half the forest is badly degraded, and the woodlands are threatened by drought, wildfire, mining, and pests and diseases.
[2]: 3 However, the national greenhouse gas inventory uses the Food and Agriculture Organization definition: forests must cover 1 ha or more and be at least 5m high.
[12] That period and prehistory can, however, be studied from tree rings, palynology (ancient particles such as pollen) and charcoal.
[10]: 214 Deforestation had increased sharply by 4000 BC, when wood was used for fuel and construction, for example in the settlement of Çatalhöyük.
[10]: 214 In the Bronze Age, at around 3500 BC, humans began to significantly impact forests, for example by transporting wood from remote areas.
[13] Sources such as Theophrastus show that Ancient Mediterranean civilisations used wood as a fuel in houses, bakeries, bathhouses, and for metalwork.
[10]: 217 The Ottoman navy built ships from timber from the coasts of the Black, Marmara and Aegean Seas.
[10]: 218 As part of late Ottoman Empire reforms, a Forest Charter was issued in 1840 and the Forestry Directorate established, but according to one study it was too top-down and lacked public engagement.
[19]: 63 Almost all forests are state owned and managed by the General Directorate of Forestry [tr] (GDF)[17] of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry;[20] the GDF plan to increase the amount of forests so as to remove more carbon from the atmosphere, and thus reabsorb more of Turkey's greenhouse gas emissions.
[21] There is a strategic plan for adaptation to climate change,[22] and Turkey is taking part in the Bonn Challenge.
[24]: 18 TÜSİAD reports that the massive forest fires that burned in 2021 and the shrinkage and drying of wetlands in Central Anatolia are the most obvious examples of aridification.
The severity of drought and the area affected will increase with the effects of climate change; it is predicted that this will harm forests.
[6]: 62 Brown bears sometimes leave the forest and enter urban areas - there is a fine for shooting them.
2%), Caucasian Spruce (Picea orientalis 2%), Cedar of Lebanon (Cedrus libani 2%): other species include Stone pine (Pinus pinea), Mediterranean cypress (Cupressus sempervirens), Aleppo pine (Pinus halepensis), Alder (Alnus spp.
[10] Old-growth-forests are defined as "A primary or natural/near natural forest area containing tree species, whose existence can be traced back from hundreds of years to neolithic ages."
[10]: 219 According to a 2018 study by Turkish and British academics, both local support and national policy are needed to protect and rehabilitate them.
"[43] In the mid-2020s the World Bank is supporting a project to make the forests more resilient against climate change in Turkey.
[51] There are no plans to reduce firewood burning,[50] although it emits soot and causes indoor air pollution, which is bad for health.
[52] About half of forest in Turkey is directly part of the economy, with most of the rest functioning as watershed and erosion control.
[53]: 33–34 Non-timber forest products include resin, acorns, mushrooms, truffles, and honey.
[70] Regeneration of ancient woodland (also called old-growth forest) may be possible, if local needs are properly considered.
[73] The Foresters' Association of Turkey, established in 1924, is one of the country's oldest civil society organisations.
[77] Turkey's 12th development plan (2024 to 2028) says that "carbon sink areas will be increased by improving the adaptation capability of our forests to climate change.
[79] Turkish people include Tahtacı, who may have descended from Ağaçeri and are documented in the short documentary Fatma of the Forest.
Turkic mythology may have included the tree of life Ulukayın,[80] and forest spirits archura and äbädä.
