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Turkey
Located within the Alps-Himalayan mountain belt, Turkey constitutes a natural bridge between the continents of Asia, Africa and Europe. Mountains occupy around two-thirds of the country's territory, and these mountain formations are distinguished by two parallel ranges running alongside the Black Sea in the north and to the Mediterranean coastlines in the south, and also a number of volcanic and tectonic mountains in the west, middle, east and the southeast of Anatolia. The irregular topographic structure of Turkey's mountain ranges has created a wide diversity of climatic and ecological conditions and species' varieties. Most of Turkey's mountains are covered by forests and alpine grasslands with a small portion given over to agriculture.
Mountains play an important role in the country's history, culture and economy, and many of the mountains in Turkey and neighbouring countries have special sacred significance. The centuries-old nomadic life style with summer grazing in mountain regions still continues to this day, although the nomadic population has been steadily shrinking, and those that remain live mainly in the southeast of Anatolia and the Taurus Mountains.
Turkey has been careful to protect its mountain areas and has created numerous national and nature parks, in addition to seven biogenetic reserves. Grants have been provided to support the socio-economic development of forest villages, and a development plan now exists for the forestry sector. However, in other respects there are still issues that need to be addressed: the socio-economic conditions of mountain dwellers, as well as problems of erosion, overgrazing, illicit tree-felling and frequent forest fires.
Priority activities now include working towards the conservation of biodiversity, the prevention of land degradation and hazards, and the education of people about mountain issues and watershed management in particular.
Mountain sports have become increasingly popular in recent decades, but unfortunately these sports have had a negative impact on mountain ecosystems, especially where tourism development has been unplanned. There is much potential for expansion in this sector, with benefit to local communities, but this expansion has to be managed wisely. One of the main challenges for Turkey is to develop tourism initiatives that combine aspects of community development, revenue reinvestment, preservation of cultural heritage and conservation.
At the start of the International Year of Mountains (2002) there was no legislation addressing mountain related issues, other than the National Park Law. Relevant institutions and agencies in Turkey are now recognizing the need for long-term collaborative action in order to create a basis for sustainable mountain development that conforms to international standards.
Related Web site: Government of Turkey (in Turkish only)
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Read how Turkey promoted the International Year of Mountains (2002)
