Reports: 144,000 trees to be cut down for quarry expansion in UNESCO-listed forest in Thrace

Photos: AA

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An opposition deputy has submitted a parliamentary question regarding the reports that more than 144,000 trees will be cut down in Istranca (Strandzha) Mountains in northwestern Turkey as part of the expansion of a quarry.

A quarry operator in Kapaklı village of Kırklareli province applied to the Ministry of Environment and Urbanization, requesting the expansion of the quarry, according to reports.

Istranca Forests was included in UNESCO's World Network of Biosphere Reserves in 1993.

 The company also submitted an Environmental Impact Assessment Report, which says that the lands that are designated as agricultural lands will be bought from their owners.

A total of 144,871 trees will be gradually cut down for the expansion of the quarry while five times more trees will be planted in the area, says the report.

MP Sezgin Tanrıkulu from the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) asked Minister of Environment and Urbanization Murat Kurum whether the reports were true.

He also noted that the Istranca Forests are a groundwater feeding area and felling trees might cause drought.

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Istranca Mountains, also known as Yıldız Mountains, is a 150-kilometer long mountain range parallel to the Black Sea coast of the Thrace region. It lies between Bulgaria's Burgas and İstanbul's north.

(TP/VK)