Suggestions on Preventing Deforestation and Erosion due to Global Climate Change in Türkiye

Abstract

The rapid increase in the world's population from the past to the present has led to an increase in the demand for natural resources, resulting in the deterioration of the forest ecosystem and the emergence of many problems such as global warming. During this period, the changes brought by the industrial revolution have caused an increase in the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) released into the atmosphere by adversely affecting the ecological balance. The role of forest ecosystems will increase in order to eliminate the negativities caused by the continuous increase in the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere and climate change. Within terrestrial ecosystems, soil and vegetation hold and store carbon. Forests, meadows, pastures and agricultural areas constitute the part kept in vegetation. Some of the most important factors affecting the amount and duration of carbon sequestered in terrestrial ecosystems are climate, vegetation type, soil properties, erosion, bedrock and land use changes. As a matter of fact, these changes in land use have triggered desertification, dryness and erosion along with soil losses. In particular, soils transported by erosion are a great loss for nature and cause disruption of the ecological balance. Therefore, in order to maintain this balance, the natural species in the region should be protected and a forest ecosystem consisting of natural species should be created. In this case, we need to understand forest ecosystems very well and to correctly identify the silvicultural interventions that can be applied. In this study, it was aimed to create a road map for silvicultural interventions that can be applied by evaluating carbon losses in areas where desertification, drought and erosion occur in Türkiye. In addition, in line with this road map, general recommendations that are thought to be useful in preventing and combating carbon losses are given.