Türkiye's forest cover grows seven times more than area burned in 12 years

Türkiye has increased its forest assets by 1.7 million hectares between 2012 and 2023, despite 255,000 hectares of land being damaged by fires in the same period.

According to a record compiled by Anadolu based 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 in a timely and effective manner by using airplanes, helicopters, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), watchtowers, cameras and land vehicles.

It is stated that rising temperatures due to climate change also play a role in the fires.

Meanwhile, with the afforestation campaign, much more areas than the burned areas are added to the forest inventory.

National Afforestation Day

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, November 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.

Increasing afforestation efforts

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 hectares, while 2,579 forest fires damaged 15,520 hectares.

Thus, Türkiye's forest area increased by about 1.7 million hectares in the 2012-2023 period.

During the same period, around 255,000 thousand hectares were damaged by forest fires. Thus, Türkiye's forest cover increased about seven times more than the area burned in this period.

About 32,000 fires were fought in 12 years.