Türkiye’s reforestation efforts pay off, make up for destroyed forests

Around 255,000 hectares of land were damaged in fires in Türkiye between 2012 and 2023, while 1.7 million hectares were added to the forest asset in the same period.

According to a record compiled by state-run Anadolu Agency on the data of the country's General Directorate of Forestry (OGM), prevention, extinguishing and reforestation steps are of strategic importance in the fight against forest fires.

In this regard, the OGM tries to intervene in forest fires by using airplanes, helicopters, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), watchtowers, cameras and land vehicles.

Rising temperatures due to climate change also play a role in the fires, officials say. Meanwhile, with the afforestation campaign, much more areas than the burned areas are added to the forest inventory.

The data reveal that Türkiye's forest cover in 2012 was over 21.6 million hectares. About 2,450 fires broke out in the same period, affecting 10,454 hectares.

In 2015, forest cover increased to over 22.3 million hectares, while 2,150 forest fires broke out on 3,219 hectares.

Forest cover also increased in 2018, reaching over 22.6 million hectares. In this period, 2,167 fires broke out on 5,644 hectares.

Since 2019, Nov. 11 each year has been marked and celebrated as National Afforestation Day.

That year, Türkiye's forest cover was recorded as being over 22.7 million hectares, while 2,688 forest fires broke out on 11,332 hectares.

In 2020, the forest area reached over 22.9 million hectares. In this period, 20,971 hectares were damaged in 3,399 fires. In 2022, when the forest area was recorded as being over 23.2 million hectares, 2,160 forest fires affected 12,799 hectares.

Last year, the forest area increased to over 23.3 million...