Türkiye launches nationwide events to promote forest protection

İZMİR

Türkiye has launched a nationwide campaign to raise awareness and prevent forest fires, with events organized in all of the country’s 81 provinces by the Agriculture and Forestry Ministry.

Agriculture and Forestry Minister İbrahim Yumaklı took part in an event held within the scope of the large-scale campaign in the western province of İzmir.

Speaking at the gathering, Yumaklı underlined the efforts to both protect forests and expand forested areas, highlighting that 7.5 billion seeds and saplings have been planted in Türkiye over the past 22 years.

“While our forests continue to grow, they are increasingly exposed to threats stemming from climate change. The most significant of these is wildfires,” Yumaklı said. “In the past 10 years, the area of land burned by forest fires has doubled compared to the previous decade.”

Yumaklı stressed that wildfire prevention is a collective responsibility, urging young people, children and volunteers to work together toward this objective.

Meanwhile, events were held simultaneously in various other cities across the country.

In the capital Ankara, participants, including local officials, veterans, volunteers and students, gathered in a forested land to collect waste materials such as plastic, glass and dry branches.

In the southern province of Adana, students and civil society representatives joined forces in a memorial forest to remove potential fire hazards from the forest. In another southern city of Osmaniye, students and forestry officials collected trash near a plateau.

The Thracian province of Edirne saw high school students carry out a cleanup in a forest park.

In the northeastern city of Kars, efforts focused on cleaning up dry vegetation and litter from several forested spots.