'Forestation Should be Done in Right Place, Right Time'

A stone pine forest in Kozak Yaylası, İzmir (Photo: N. Aksoy)

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Turkey lost 160 thousand hectares of forest in 20 years because of fires, according to the newly released report by the Foresters' Association of Turkey (TOD).

The report was prepared in eight months by a committee of 60 people.

It said that while most of the wildfires are human-caused, the largeness of the fire is determined by climate.

The report noted that Turkey is expected to experience increased droughts as a result of climate change, hence will be more vulnerable to fires, according to analyses by the European Joint Research Center.

160 thousand hectares of forest burned in 20 years

Most common causes for forest fires in Turkey are the fires caused by stubble burning and cigarettes, while most of the fires' causes could not be determined, according to the report.

In the period between 1997 and 2017, 2,188 fires broke out and 8,864 hectares of forest burned every year on average.

The report noted that the General Directorate of Forestry (OGM) has been "announcing the data on forestation as the number of the plants", which prevents the public from making a healthy evaluation.

According to the OGM, 4 billion and 39 million trees were planted in 49 million decares of area.

"Instead of that, inventories should be formed regarding forestation, reforestation, deforestation, natural forestation, and vegetation," the report said.

"Although the public gives importance to forestation, the high presence of the natural forests in a country is seen as more important. The reason for that is forestations were mostly made with a single type of a tree which is thought to make them more vulnerable against difficulties such as fires, diseases, insects and fungus.

"In sum, even though the public praises forestation, a national policy that ensures that the forestation is used in the right place and the right time is necessary. Holding an inventory like this is also in accordance with the international agreements." (AÖ/VK)