Turkey Expands Its Forests While NGOs Call For More Protection

Forested lands of Turkey have increased by 177,000 hectares in one year.

This is reported to be with the rehabilitation of decayed forests and new planting work.

Non-governmental organizations warn against wildfire threat and recommend better rehabilitation and restoration.

On Monday, the World Wildlife Foundation (WWF) and the Association for Conversation of Nature and Culture said that Turkey should revise its approach to forest fires at a time of changing climate and adopt preventive measures to preserve its forests.

The two organizations released a joint report on the issue focusing on the large fires that gutted forests in the country's Mediterranean region.

Dr. Sedat Kalem of the WWF also said that Turkey is more susceptible to fires especially due to high summer temperatures. 

Kalem added that Turkey lost up to 8,000 hectares of forests in the past two decades, in nearly 3,000 fires of different sizes.

In Turkey, forestation efforts gained new momentum in recent years with the country devoting a special day to planting new saplings, mobilizing the public in this green endeavour.

The Daily Sabah reports that last year alone, the size of forests reached 23.1 million hectares (57 million acres), with an additional 177,000 hectares planted. Nevertheless, wildfires aggravated by the ongoing climate crisis pose a dire threat to the efforts.

The Directorate General of Forestry, which is a subsidiary of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry undertook maintenance of areas covering about 853,000 hectares, rehabilitating forests and replacing decaying trees with new saplings in 2021.