Türkiye has launched a global forest fire action plan at the COP31 climate summit in the southern province of Antalya, seeking joint action as rising temperatures and drought make fires more frequent and destructive.
Agriculture and Forestry Minister İbrahim Yumaklı invited all countries to join the Integrated Fire Management Antalya Action Plan, prepared with Brazil, South Korea and the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
The plan aims to turn global commitments into practical cooperation, shared knowledge and action on the ground. Türkiye is ready to share its experience, Yumaklı said.
“Fires know no borders. The solution must be shared,” he said. Türkiye is improving prevention, early detection and rapid response while restoring burned areas according to their ecological characteristics, he said.
Yumaklı called for accessible long-term financing, technology, scientific cooperation and exchanges of field experience. Supporting forest villagers and local communities is essential to sustainable protection, he said.
Separately, researchers began fieldwork in the western province of Aydın to study how drought and fires affect tree physiology. The project brings together İzmir Katip Çelebi University, Austria’s University of Innsbruck and the Aegean Forestry Research Institute.
They studied stone pines affected by a 2024 fire in Aydın’s Bozdoğan district. Devices installed on the trees will track the effects of fire and drought for three years, helping reveal the physiological impacts of climate change.
Forests remove atmospheric carbon, protect soil and water, sustain biodiversity and provide rural livelihoods, Yumaklı said, describing them as key tools for climate mitigation and adaptation.
