TURKISH AGRI.NEWS

Turkey is the world's number three country in adding forestland, after China and India, Turkey's A griculture and Forestry Minister said. In the last 30 years, Turkey has increased its forestland by 6 percent, Bekir Pakdemirli told Anadolu Agency. Worldwide, forestland has shrunk over the last 10 years an average of 5.2 million hectares annually, Pakdemirli said. With its afforestation, erosion control, and rehabilitation efforts over the last 10 years, Turkey is among the world's leading countries in adding forestland, and these effort will continue, he said. As part of efforts to fight desertification and erosion, Turkey carried out 327 project between 2011 and 2018. They include upstream basin flood control, afforestation catchment basins, avalanche defense, landslide hazard maps, integrated watershed rehabilitation, general soil conservation, rockfalls, afforestation, and wildlife corridors.

Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Bekir Pakdemirli has made written statement on combating activities of the Ministry regarding desertification and erosion... In Turkey, desertification and erosion control carried out in the years 2011-2018. Within the scope of these works 327 implementation projects achieved. Pakdemirli said: "Such projects comprise of overall upper basin flood control, dam basins in the green belt plantations, avalanche control, landslide hazard maps, integrated watershed rehabilitation, with rocks and stones rolling general soil conservation, afforestation and wildlife corridor projects." We aim to reduce the amount of soil transported by erosion to 130 million tons... Emphasizing that Turkey, just after China and India, is the third country with the highest afforestation rate in the world, he concluded: "In terms of our present activities, during 1970s in Turkey, with the amount of soil removed by erosion per year was 500 million tons, b...