An interview with Halit Dagli, Turkey's Minister for Forestry
Halit Dagli, Turkey's Minister for Forestry
Unasylva. Minister Dagli, what were some of the reasons behind the decision of Turkey to host the 11th World Forestry Congress?
Dagli. The world's forest resources are being degraded and depleted day by day. To reverse this unfortunate trend, we need to exchange knowledge and expertise through international cooperation in forestry.
Turkey has long been very eager to take part actively in international fore, and our offer to host the 11th World Forestry Congress is one of the main results of this driving aim. We are very honoured that, in 1995, the FAO Council conferred on us the mandate to host the Congress. Both in terms of geographic location and natural resources, Turkey has certain advantages. Turkey is a bridge between East and West in the Northern Hemisphere; its borders span several climatic zones; it has a varied structure of land, different forest types and rich biological diversity.
Turkey, also, is anxious to show its forestry activities to the representatives of the other countries and benefit from their experiences. This Congress will facilitate an understanding of important issues embracing social, cultural and economic concerns and will help develop international relations further.
Unasylva. Would you highlight briefly the technical and financial resources that your ministry has mobilized to make this Congress possible?
Dagli. The Ministry of Forestry has designated a secretary-general for the Congress and has established an Organizing Committee with five subcommittees: the Science and Technical Committee; the Social Committee; the Publication Committee; the Logistic Committee; and the Exhibition Committee. Apart from the staff of the ministry, 150 people have been assigned from universities, foundations, associations, NGOs and other institutions. Of course, the committees are working in a close cooperation and coordination with FAO and the Congress secretariat.
The Turkish Government has allocated US$ 4.5 million for the Congress, and our ministry has put all of its resources and staff into its organization. Moreover, the Greater Antalya Municipality and the Antalya Governor's Office have provided support for the realization of this event. The Antalya Municipality has allocated a considerable sum for the construction of the Conference Centre where the Congress will be hosted.
Unasylva. Interest in sustainable forest development has reached unparalleled levels. What efforts are being made to "open" the World Forestry Congress beyond the professional forestry community?
Dagli. Our ministry is sparing no effort to attract interest in the 11th World Forestry Congress from beyond the forestry sector. That is why many people from outside the sector have been included on the committees to which I referred a moment ago.
In order to inform private and public organizations, institutions, foundations, associations and individuals throughout the world, the Organizing Committee has established a focal point in every country. It is our hope that the focal points will facilitate a well-organized flow of information.
The Organizing Committee has sent booklets and announcements about the Congress and solicitations for voluntary papers to more than 14000 addresses with the aim of reaching all interested parties within and outside the forestry sector. The committee has also been in contact with people and organizations who wish to express themselves and contribute to the Congress. So far, we have received about 1200 voluntary papers, which is really a satisfactory figure.
In addition, we have arranged competitions on articles, graphic arts, posters and photographs in order to encourage the participation of university students, youth and women. We also plan to hold special sessions for women and youth during the Congress.
Unasylva. Turkey has one of Europe's most varied forestry landscapes. What are some of the principles of forestry development from the Turkish perspective? And how do they fit into the European and world context?
Dagli. Our forestry is being developed in accordance with the specified aims, principles and policies of the Forestry Master Plan and the Five-Year Development Plans.
In brief, the aims and policies of forestry in these plans are: meeting the national demand for forest wood and non-wood products; increasing the capacity of the forests to halt erosion; community health; developing wildlife; recreation; providing for tourism and scientific activities; contributing to rural and communal development directly or indirectly; and protecting, sustainably managing, developing and expanding our forest resources. Implementation of the commitments made at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, and the Resolutions of the Helsinki Second Ministerial Conference on the Protection of Forests in Europe, held in 1993, is among our priorities.
Unasylva. As in many of the countries in the Mediterranean basin, fire is one of the major threats to forestry in Turkey. Would you share some of Turkey's fire prevention and control philosophy with the readers of Unasylva?
Dagli. Forest fires are one of the biggest threats to our forests. According to our statistics, for the past ten years, the average number of forest fires per year has been 1866, and the average area burnt is 12500 ha per year.
Our philosophy about forest fire fighting can be summarized as a three-phase combination of activities: measures to prevent forest fires; fire-combating activities; and activities after forest fires have been extinguished.
Measures to prevent forest fires
We attempt to reduce the incidence of deliberately set fires - born of poverty and illiteracy - in and around forest villages by contributing to social and economic development, by increasing opportunities for education and by decreasing the direct dependence of these communities on forests. For this purpose, the General Directorate of Forest and Village Relations was founded under the Ministry of Forestry. Various tools are used in terms of public training. Besides, with appropriate silvicultural treatments, the amount of combustible material in forests and plantation areas is being decreased. Dry weeds, needles and branches are removed before the fire season and various activities are carried out to establish proper fire safety roads and firebreaks.
Fire-combating activities
Within the frame of the fire-combating activities, many assessments and analyses are made to facilitate the rational use of monitoring systems, communication facilities, water pool systems, mobile first-intervention teams, aircraft and helicopters. A key factor is the acceleration of our reaction time in order to save time and resources and to increase the effectiveness of the available equipment and human resources.
Activities after extinguishing forest fires
After controlling a forest fire, staff who work in extinguishing fires, expert observers, decision-makers and community members meet and discuss the fire. Results of the meeting are documented and made available for later use. This helps to put into place effective mechanisms to bring the burnt-over areas back into a healthy condition as quickly as possible. In the country's Mediterranean and Aegean regions, which are particularly sensitive to fire, burnt areas are replanted within the same year of the fire.
Unasylva. Unlike many of its European neighbours, nearly all of the forests in Turkey are owned by the state and managed by your ministry. What are the implications of this form of land tenure?
Dagli. About 99.9 percent of our forests are state-owned. Until 1930 the forests were open to public use, there was no regular management and, as a result, most forests were damaged and degraded or were converted to other uses such as agriculture and settlement. In 1930, Turkey set in motion fundamental changes to its forestry policy and introduced the protection and regular management of forests by law. This change can partly be ascribed to the negative consequences that the previous system had for our forest resources. Finally, with some constitutional amendments in 1960, state ownership was confirmed.
Nevertheless, the private sector has been encouraged, through various incentives such as loans on special terms and tax breaks, to establish forests on private land with the aim of expanding forest cover from the current 25.9 percent to 33 percent. This would result in an increase of forest on private lands to approximately 10 percent of the total.
Unasylva. Turkey is developing an important programme aimed at improving the situation of village communities and cooperatives located in or around state forests. Would you describe some of the key points of this programme?
Fuelwood gathering In a forest village community
Dagli. The forest villages represent one of the poorest and most vulnerable segments of Turkish society. The Ministry of Forestry has long been involved in efforts to assist these villages, and it plants Pinus pinea, walnut and chestnut species to provide forest fruits, and acacia for apiculture. But trees are only a part of what the forest villages need. In order to contribute to the overall socio-economic development of forest villages, the Forest Village Development Fund was established.
At present, 3 percent of the gross sales and 10 percent of the net profits of the forest districts and state sawmills are transferred to this fund. The fund is used to provide long-, medium- or short-term low-interest credit to individuals and cooperatives, based on specific project proposals. The fund also provides grants to villages for infrastructure investments.
Since 1970, multipurpose county development plans have been implemented. These plans are prepared by using rural development techniques and by taking into consideration the infrastructure and economic conditions which cover all socioeconomic aspects of the villages. In due course, the plans are revised to keep them up to date. Contributions to the socioeconomic development of the villages are tied to these plans.
For the economic and social measures proposed in these plans, family-sized are projects are developed and implemented with support from the Forest Village Development Fund. In the case of projects whose primary goal is to increase incomes, the participation of the local population is compulsory. Interest rates are one-seventh of ordinary agricultural credit interest rates. In social projects, the other hand, the interest rate is not applied but the participation of local people is sought. Between 1974 and 1995, nearly 250000 forest villagers benefited from individual credit grants.
Projects run by cooperatives and associations are given priority if they are aimed at:
· decreasing the consumption of forest products and positively affecting forest-village relations;
· being integrated within larger projects;
· meeting the needs of family-sized projects or solving the problems associated with marketing.
Unasylva. Of the 11000 plant species existing in Europe, 9000 examples can be found in Turkey. Therefore, the conservation of biological diversity is an important aspect of the Turkish approach to sustainable forestry development. Would you discuss some aspects of this?
Dagli. Our ministry, with the authorization given by three special laws (the Forest Law, the National Parks Law and the Continental Hunting Law), is the most effective institution in the country with regard to the protection and sustainable development of biological diversity.
In Turkey, activities to protect biological diversity are based on the identification of unique ecosystems and in situ protection of endangered species and their habitats.
The Forest Law is a global legal framework regulating all activities of forest management. The National Parks Law lays out the criteria for protected areas and contains the basics of identification, protection, development and management of these: areas.
Various protected areas have been established, including national parks, natural parks, natural monuments, nature conservation areas, wildlife conservation areas and conservation forests. In fact, over the past five years alone, 11 national parks, 41 resting areas, three natural parks and 19 wildlife conservation areas have been declared in Turkey. With this, the total area of protected areas has reached 800000 ha.
Our target is to increase the total area of protected areas from the current 3.5 percent to 10 percent of Turkey's total land area. As a result of the increase of protected areas, both in number and in area, we expect to:
· transmit our unique natural formations intact to future generations;· create an awareness that most of the biological diversity that will be of value in the future already exists today, although we may not recognize it;
· stop the loss of the natural and cultural values;
· promote a popular vision that nature is the most effective remedy for today's social, cultural and spiritual problems resulting from the stress of city life.
Activities for the protection of game animals and their habitat are carried out under the Continental Hunting Law. Pursuant to this law, the Central Hunting Commission, which is composed of individuals from the ministry, universities and NGOs, meets once a year. The Commission takes decisions on various hunting issues, including seasons, bans and protected areas. At present 28 mammal and 320 bird species are under protected over 1,8 million of protected-land. The Commission's decisions are taken in the light of the resolution of the BERN Convention and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).
As regards activities specifically aimed at biological diversity, Turkey is about to sign the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity. A policy "d strategies aimed at the protection of biological diversity have been set out in the National Environment Action Plan.
The Ministry of Forestry is also implementing the resolutions of the Second Ministerial Conference on the Protection of European Forests, held in Helsinki. The necessary studies are under way for implementation of the criteria and indicators for sustainable forest management. The ministry has established a committee to monitor the implementation of the six criteria and their indicators, adopted within the frame of the Helsinki Process, and has been exerting every effort to translate the decisions into action.
Unasylva. A National Afforestation and Erosion Control Mobilization Law was issued last year. Would you explain your expectations of this new law?
Dagli. A total of 86 percent of Turkey's land area is subject to erosion at various levels and 58 percent of the total area is subject to extreme erosion.
Our ministry gives priority to controlling erosion in upper watersheds. Our work in these areas first aims at halting surface water runoff. This is the most critical phase and the essence of the erosion control activities, since the erosion phenomena show up when the balance between soil, water and vegetation cover is distorted. Our work in upper watersheds focuses on restoring the vegetative cover which was previously damaged or diminished. Multipurpose species are used in order to contribute to the income level of local people. Other activities aim at controlling floods, avalanches and sediment movements.
Physical or biological control is not enough, however. There is a need for social and economic measures in order to be successful in erosion control activities. Because of the importance of the human factor, a "participatory approach" is taken as a guiding principle. Proposals of local populations around the intervention area are taken into serious consideration.
Erosion in Turkey is a problem not only for the Ministry of Forestry but for the whole country. Therefore, in 1995, the National Afforestation and Erosion Control Mobilization Law (Act 4122) was passed by parliament and may be the first example of this kind of law in the world. Under the provisions of the new law, all sections of society are held responsible for afforestation and erosion control activities. Financial resources have been strengthened; plantation and erosion subjects are included in the education programmes of schools; and even state and private television broadcasters are responsible for broadcasting programmes on afforestation and erosion control.
Unasylva. The 11th World Forestry Congress will be the last of these gatherings in the twentieth century. Would you give the readers of Unasylva some insights into the main expected outcomes of the Congress?
Dagli. After this Congress new horizons will be opened in world forestry and the role of forests and forestry will be drawn even more to the attention of decision-makers and the public worldwide. During the Congress, many experts and scientists from various parts of the world will express their views, international processes such as Helsinki, Tarapato, Montreal, the Near East and others will be discussed and, finally, many valuable ideas and outcomes will come into consideration.
Emphasis will be given to the importance of international cooperation for the protection of forests, combating desertification, protection of the global environment and use of our natural resources in a sustainable manner. For the protection and sustainable management of natural resources, it is my sincere hope that many concrete proposals, measures and thoughts will arise at the Congress, and that Turkey will have the chance to be a bridge to facilitate the passage of forestry from the twentieth to the twenty-first century.
Unasylva. Thank you, Minister.
