REPUBLIC OF TURKEY Ministry of Environment and Forestry General Directorate of Forestry (GDF) Forest and Water: Turkey Experience İsmail BELEN Deputy General Director 3-5 May 2011, Istanbul

 Total Area: 77.9 Million Ha.  Population: 72 Million  Average Altitude: 1132 m.  Climate; Continental inner Parts, Sub-tropical in Mediterranean Region Republic of TURKEY

TURKEY WEATHER MAP

 Turkey is taken place on earth’s highlands land characteristics of the country;  High, very high, and precipice land…….% 47,5  Undulating land……………………… % 40,1  Plain land………………………………..%12,4  The land of Turkey is largely mountainous area 7 different geographical regions  Hydrologically divided into 25 drainage basins GEOGRAPHIC SITUATION

2  Total: 21.2 Million Ha. (%27,2 of Total Country Area)  State-owned Forests %99  Plant  %95 of Forests are Natural & Semi-Natural Species (3000 of them Endemic) FOREST RESOURCES

Forests;  Optimize river flow and prevent both floods and droughts at least at the small scale  Assist to prevent surface erosion, avalanches, storms, landslides and debris filling riverbeds (soil protect function)  Act as a natural filter for water, decreasing the concentration of pollutants and detrimental contaminants in surface and ground water  Play an crucial role on the biodiversity of water ecosystem EFFECTS OF FOREST ON WATER RESOURCES

Source of Life : “Water” Source of Quality Water : “Forests”

 There are large amounts of flowing water springs. Turkey contains 2 million ha. in 135 wetlands, which are internationally important. This variable conditions bring a wide variety of fauna as well.  There are species around the country. When sub-species are taken into account this number leads to  Turkey has about plant species and over of them are endemic.

 Approximately 186 km3 of this water flows in rivers as surface water.  The renewable water potential is estimated to be 234 km3/year and almost half of it has potential for development.  In terms of technical and economical criteria, total usable quantity of water resources is about 110 km3.

 Annually, the forest areas receive 35 per cent of rainfall  Average annual rainfall in forest land and other wooded land- other land are 826 and 570mm/ m 2 respectively  Annual precipitation varies between 220 mm to mm with an average of 642,6 mm and this corresponds to an average annual precipitation of 501 km3.

Geographical distribution of mean annual precipitation (Sensoy, S. et al, 2008) ANNUAL PRECIPITATION

 According to CORINE 2006, which documented land use patterns in the country; 96% of Turkey is natural lands, which includes 42,35% agricultural lands and 54% forests and semi natural areas. Other land cover distribution percentages are; water bodies 1,64%, artificial areas 1,61% and wetlands 0,36 % respectively.

 Functional Forest Management Plans since 2006  Hydrologic Function; %16 of Forests  Erosion Control; %11 of Forests Erosion controlHydrologic function FOREST MANAGEMENT

 Watershed rehabilitation works in 1950s were introduced with the aim of decreasing the damages of floods and overflows and thereby providing safety for current dams.  First implementations in the upper watersheds were reduction of soil erosion, facilities and afforestation works regulating water flow regime. Ministry of Environment and Forestry is carrying on some projects related to Integrated Watershed Management. These are; Eastern Anatolia Watershed Rehabilitation Project Anatolia Watershed Rehabilitation Project Çoruh River Watershed Rehabilitation Project

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2 WATERSHED MANAGEMENT

2 WATERSHED MANAGEMENT ACTIVITIES

 Changes in precipitation and also temperature lead to changes in runoff and water availability. It seems that the semi-arid areas like the Mediterranean Region, will suffer a decrease in water resources due to climate change. Regarding the report of IPCC (2007), in southern Europe, climate change is projected to worsen conditions (high temperatures and drought), and to reduce water availability, hydropower potential, summer tourism and, in general, crop productivity..

 Forest productivity is expected to decrease in the Mediterranean Regions and the vegetative cover would experience drastic decline. The sustainable management of forests in arid and semi- arid areas needs to be implemented more carefully.  As Turkey has mostly arid and semi-arid areas, the role of forests in the water cycle is very much debated.

Turkey is identified as a key partner country by FAO, which took the lead in the different events on “forests and water”. Those events are also the key steps of developing an international forests and water agenda. Some of these are;  “The 5th World Water Forum” in Istanbul, 2009 (33,058 participants from 192 countries),  “The Workshop on Forests and Water”, in Antalya, 2009 (participants from 30 countries and international organizations aiming to facilitate implementation of the commitments in the Warsaw Resolution on Forests and Water),

 “The Forests and Water Side Event”, XIII. World Forestry Congress in Buenos Aires, 2009 (presentation),  “Forests and Water in the Context of Climate Change”, World Forest Week - COFO 2010, in Rome, 2010 (panelist), Forthcoming meeting in Turkey  “28th Session of the EFC Working Party on the Management of Mountain Watersheds”, in Kastamonu, th September The topic of the 28th Session of the Working Party is "water for forests, forests for water"

COLLABORATION OF THE F&W SECTORS  Ministry of Environment and Forestry (GDF and GDSHW)  General Directorate of Provincial Bank, Municipalities  BWMA, Universities, NGOs General Directorate of Environmental Management

2 Main Problem; Erosion and Rural Poverty Need for “Integrated Mountain Management Strategy” Responsible Agency to Ensure SSM Participation of All Stakeholders is Essential CONCLUSION

Thank You for Your Attention İsmail BELEN Deputy General Director 3-5 May 2011, Istanbul