Land use - National Responses (Turkey)

Although there are scientific principles to determine how land classified according to land capacity class will be used, the climate, microclimate and socioeconomic structure of the region and the country are generally factors that should not be disregarded. Today, with the rapid change in land use, the simultaneous consideration of economic and ecological factors in development and rational resource use have made it necessary to take environmentally sensitive land use decisions and to determine these changes even more rapidly. Hence, the CORINE (Coordination of Information on the Environment) land cover programme, one of the most important land management programmes within the context of the EU GMES (Global Monitoring for the Environment and Security), has therefore been initiated by the European Commission. The Corine land cover 2000 project in Turkey started in 2005 using satellite images from 2000 and was completed in mid 2008. The CLC 2006 project started in January 2009 and was completed in December 2009. The main aim of CLC 2006 is to use satellite images from the years 2000 and 2006 according to European Environment Agency criteria and to detect the changes in landscape/land use with the help of remote detection and geographic information systems to monitor the environment and create land use maps for the year 2006. The changes in the last six years have been determined using satellite images from 2000 and 2006 during the project and the most current landscape maps for all of Turkey have been created according to European Environment Agency criteria.

Preparations have also started in Turkey for land use and spatial data information production within the context of the EU Inspire Directive.

References:

-          The Ministry of the Environment and Forestry, http://www.cevreorman.gov.tr , http://corine.cevreorman.gov.tr/

-          The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, http://www.tarim.gov.tr