SUSTAINABLE WATERSHED MANAGEMENT AND FORESTRY HANİFİ AVCI AGM DEPUTY DIRECTOR GENERAL MARCH 2007 ANKARA

DEFINITION OF A WATERSHED –Broken by a river, –Surrounded with mountains and hills, –Having its own natural resources, –Discharging its water to the same sea, river or lake.

WATERSHED MANAGEMENT Watershed management is planning, developing and managing of sustainable use of natural resources to provide social, cultural and economic development of the community by considering the main principles of ecology in a watershed.

SUSTAINABLE LAND MANAGEMENT IN WATERSHEDS Sustainable management of forests and wooded tracts Sustainable management of rangelands Sustainable management of agriculture Capacity building In order to realize these objectives, integrated watershed rehabilitation projects are necessary.

WATERSHED REHABILITATION Watershed rehabilitation is the work in order to take technical, cultural and administrative precautions to sustain natural balance between soil, water, and vegetation in the watershed, and to increase social, cultural and economic development of the community, living in the watershed.

A DEGRADED WATERSHED

A REHABILITATED WATERSHED

SOIL DEGRADATION Soil degradation is the reduction of the soil quality as a result of the misuse of the people, which leads to degradation of physical, chemical and/or biological characteristics of the soil and to the reduction of the soil productivity.

LAND DEGRADATION - Water and wind erosion ; -Reduction of the physical, chemical, biological and economic characteristics of the soil, -Long run loss of the vegetation; As a result of these natural or human activities, the sustainability of the natural and ecologic or economic function cannot be very long due to the damage.

DESERTIFICATION Desertification is soil degradation in the arid, semi-arid and semi-humid areas due to several factors such as climate change and human activities. COMBATING DESERTIFICATION includes activities such as; - Prevention and/or reduction of land degradation, - Rehabilitation of semi-degraded land, and - Recovering of desertified land.

Land degradation is both one of the main reasons of the rural poverty and one of the results of it.

GENERAL PROBLEMS OF WATERSHEDS Erosion Destruction of natural resources Over- and irregular pasturage in rangelands Poor vegetation Destruction and over-use of forest lands Herd livestock Dispersed settlement Over-population Low level of efficiency in animal production Shallow and infertile soil Misuse of lands and agricultural techniques Insufficient farmlands Insufficient water resources Insufficient modern agricultural techniques Insufficient organic substance in farmlands Rural poverty Lack of training and awareness in the use of natural resources

REASONS OF LAND DEGRADATION IN WATERSHEDS Erosion Deforestation Degradation of rangelands Climate change Loss of organic substance in soil Physical degradation of lands Misuse of lands Reduction of available water Aridity Agricultural medicines Soil contamination Reduction of natural vegetation and biodiversity

RESULTS OF LAND DEGRADATION IN WATERSHEDS Increase of Erosion Increase of Salinity in Soil Reduction of Agricultural Production (Quantity+Quality) Increase of Quantity of Insects and Illnesses (Vegetable+Agriculture) Reduction of Grass Efficiency in Rangelands Reduction of Biological Diversity Reduction of Water Capacity Increase of Forest Fire Plant Deceases Reduction of Water Resources Increase of the Necessity for Water Increase of the Degradation of Natural Resources Increase of the Floods Poverty and Migration

Protection, Rehabilitation and Management of Natural Resources Integration of Income Raising Activities and Protection, Rehabilitation and Management of Natural Resources Improving Human Resources Sustainability and Expandibility POLICIES OF WATERSHED REHABILITATION PROJECT

Integrated projects should be prepared on a community-based approach to sustainable natural resource management. The project provides the participation of all related and interested community groups, who shall take part on the management including decision-making, planning, implementing, monitoring, evaluating and auditing. WATERSHED REHABILITATION PROJECTS

WORK FIELD OF THE FORESTRY ENGINEERING Building natural and artificial forests, Afforestation, Combating erosion Controlling flood and avalanche Watershed management Integrated watershed rehabilitation Planning of rural development Project making and implementation work Maintenance and the rehabilitation of the forests and development of the degraded forests Seed production, vaccination, tree improvement Establishing forestry nursery Rangeland rehabilitation and planning Study and analyzing of the forestry soil Hunting planning and management Improvement of the forestry water resources Combating forestry fire and its damages ……….

Average altitude : 1232 m Average precipitation : 632mm 56% of the country is middle-high mountainous land, 62,5% of the country is with the slope more than 15%. TOPOGRAPHICAL FEATURES OF TURKEY

FORESTS OF TURKEY 27% OF TURKEY IS COVERED WITH FORESTS FERTILE FOREST : HECTARE %50,1 INFERTILE FOREST : HECTARE % 49,9 TOTAL AREA : HECTARE % 100

IMPORTANCE OF THE STUDY-PROJECT WORK Turkey has very different eco-systems due to climate, topography and soil characteristics. Study-project works are very important because growing environment conditions change in very short distances.

TOPOGRAPHICAL FEATURES OF TURKEY

SITUATION OF RURAL POPULATION 35% of Turkish population live in rural areas. 33% of rural population live in the forests or next to the forests. In villages of these areas in or next to the forest land, currently 7 million people live. Population of the forest villages is 11% of whole Turkish population. Migration from rural to urban areas continues.

% 33 % 33 % 12 % 12 % 15 % cm cm cm 0-20 cm % 40 % 40 DEPTH OF THE SOIL

Water erosion Wind erosion Avalanche erosion Landslide erosion Wave erosion Glacier erosion In the watersheds, there is both natural erosion and accelerated erosion as a consequence of human activities. KINDS OF EROSION EROSION

One of the most important problem related with watersheds is erosion. 54% of the forest lands, 59% of the farmlands, 64% of the rangelands are under the effect of moderate and intense erosion. In Turkey, around 500 million tone soil is being carried to seas and lakes annually.

A FLOOD STREAM AND CATCHMENT

6.1 Million marginal land is used for farming activities. MISUSE OF LANDS

Use of the Land Slope with 15% S.Flow S.Loss % tone/ha/year Slope with 28% S.Flow S.Loss % tone/ha/year Slope with 45% S.Flow S.Loss % tone/ha/year Corn Wheat Fallow Hazelnut Forest0.5 No1.3 No2.9 No RELATION OF THE USE OF THE LAND, SLOPE AND EROSION Surface Flow and Soil Loss in Darıyeri (Düzce) and Bakacak (Bolu) according to Different Slopes and Land Uses (Aydemir 1973; Karagül,1998)

The most important reason of the floods is the destruction of the natural balance between soil- water-plant in the upper parts of the catchments, where water is collected. The most effective and permanent method to prevent floods is taking precautions in the water collecting region in order to reestablish the destructed natural balance. REASONS OF THE FLOOD

Relation of the Forest Destruction and Flood

EROSION, FLOOD, OVERFLOW

Establishing forests through taking erosion precautions, in the water-collecting catchments of the stream and rivers, where precipitation-flow regime is destructed, in the hillsides, where vegetation is destructed; transforming degraded forest lands to fertile forest lands or improving vegetation; regulating water flow in the upper parts of the streams and establishing natural balance through this would prevent floods and overflows. PREVENTION OF FLOODS AND OVERFLOWS

STONE CORDON FENCE TERRACE WITH BUSHES EXAMPLES ABOUT EROSION CONTROL WORK

EROSION CONTROL WORK

Implementations on erosion control projects with the aim of flood prevention and afforestation have been achieved for long years by the Ministry of Environment and Forestry. By the end of 2006, afforestation, erosion control, rehabilitation etc. works have been completed in ha. area ha out of this belongs to erosion control works. Afforestation, erosion control, rehabilitation etc. works are planned in ha area for the year of WORKS COMPLETED

WORKS COMPLETED FROM THE BEGINNING TILL THE END OF THE 2006 (AGM-OGM) AFFORESTATION REHABILITATION EROSION CONTROL GREEN BELT AFFORESTATION PLANTATION BUILDING OF ENERGY FOREST RANGELAND REHABILITATION PRIVATE AFFORESTATION TOTAL……………………………………………… SEEDLING PRODUCTION UNIT HECTARE

AFFORESTATION WORKS

In order to make the works more common and successful,integrated watershed rehabilitation projects should be implemented with a participatory understanding from all the institutions, working in the watershed, civil society organizations and people living in the area. RESULT

EVERYTHING IS FOR A LIVABLE ENVIRONMENT…