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Numerous and Promising Results for Sustainable Management of Forests After More Than 10 Years of Franco-Turkish Cooperation

Sustainable Forest Management in Turkey
© Cécile Bégard/AFD

On the occasion of the closing committee of their cooperation project, Agence Française de Développement (AFD), the Turkish General Directorate of Forests (OGM) and the National Office of the Forests-International (ONFI) took a final look at their exchanges on sustainable management of forests, which contribute to the fight against climate change and the protection of biodiversity.

AFD has been supporting the Turkish Ministry of Treasury and Finance and OGM since 2012 to improve forest management in Turkey via a public policy loan (600 million euros) and a technical assistance grant (1.2 million euros). "This project saw the involvement of French and Turkish stakeholders, both private and public, who benefited mutually from their cooperation. Some one hundred experts were mobilized and more than 30 exchange missions were organized in 2019-2022," explains Tanguy Denieul, AFD's Director in Turkey.

Results on a national scale and technical exchanges in many sectors 

As the project is coming to an end, its results are already visible at the national level:

  • Turkey's forest cover increased from 27% to almost 30% between 2012 and 2019 (+1.1 million hectares of additional forest).
  • In 2018, Turkish forests offset 16% of the country's greenhouse gas emissions.
  • The project has resulted in the development of key documents for OGM’s propective actions: the Turkish Forest Adaptation Strategy to Climate Change and the Roadmap on Integrating Biodiversity into Forest Management.

Further reading: Protecting forests in Turkey

The areas of cooperation and expert exchanges covered various sectors of forest management, such as:

  • Integration of forest biodiversity into forest management
  • Biological control of forest pests
  • Development of ecotourism
  • Fire prevention and control
  • Research on forest genetics and climate change adaptation strategies
  • Rehabilitation techniques for marble quarries
  • Avalanche prevention and control.

Among the many concrete impacts of this collaboration between Turkish and French experts, it is interesting to highlight the creation, by OGM, of a roadmap aimed at better integrating biodiversity into forest management. A leaflet has been deployed to guide the OGM's regional directorates on the choice of methods to be implemented in the field.

In 2021, the OGM launched a pilot project in Erzurum region to test this roadmap. Its aim is to implement the roadmap throughout the country by 2025, taking into account the lessons learned from the pilot projects.

The Deputy Director General of the OGM, Mustafa Özkaya, praised the potential of Franco-Turkish cooperation: "Our loan agreements and technical cooperation, which have lasted for more than 10 years, are coming to an end today. We have achieved good results in 14 different sectors. Our friendship with France has grown and we have also shared very useful experiences with French experts. Every closing is a new beginning. Now we hope to continue our collaboration with France”.

Press Contact: Kristin Kopruluyan | +90 (0) 532 584 77 35