5.15. SDG 15. PROTECT, RESTORE AND PROMOTE SUSTAINABLE USE OF TERRESTRIAL ECOSYSTEMS, SUSTAINABLY MANAGE FORESTS, COMBAT DESERTIFICATION, AND HALT AND REVERSE LAND DEGRADATION AND HALT BIODIVERSITY LOSS Having rich biological diversity through its geographical and ecological structure, Turkey encountered various pressures on the ecosystem, land use, as a result of the population movements throughout history. On the other hand, the effects of climate change began to be observed in our country being located in arid and sub-arid Mediterranean climate zone. Therefore, protecting natural habitats which are part of the common heritage, reducing the loss of biodiversity, preventing deforestation and desertification are of major importance. POLICIES In addition to NDPs and strategic plans of relevant public institutions, key policy documents on SDG 15 include the National Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan, National Forestry Programme, National Strategy and Action Plan for Combating Against Desertification, National Drought Management Strategy and Action Plan, National Basin Management Strategy, Strategy and Action Plan for Combating Agricultural Drought in Turkey, National Biological Diversity Strategy and Action Plan. The key components of the policy framework in line with SDG 15 are as follows: • Taking special measures to conserve natural protected areas of particular importance, productive agricultural land, pasture lands and forests, • Making combat against desertification, erosion and drought effective, • Managing conservation-use balance in a multi-purpose and effective way by taking into account the improvement of biodiversity, gene resources, forest health, non-wood products and services and eco-tourism, • Increasing the rate of forest areas, accelerating afforestation activities and rehabilitation activities, effectively protecting the forest eco-system against various factors, especially fires and pests, • Determining and mapping forest ecosystem services and integrating them into the forest management plans, • Strengthening land management for soil conservation, especially pollution, and its efficient use, • Preparing key soil maps across the country, preventing its out-of-purpose utilisation by doing land use planning and production planning taking advantage of this data, • Renewing key soil surveys and completing national soil information system based on this, • Identifying, protecting, sustainably using, improving and monitoring biodiversity important for agriculture, forestry, food and pharmaceutical industry, • Increasing protected areas in terms of terrestrial and freshwater biodiversity by ecosystem type, • Prioritising research on the protection and development of gene resources, • Increasing the capacities of institutions authorised to manage terrestrial ecosystems and improving inter-agency coordination. • Conserving biodiversity and gene resources, raising awareness of the public, in particular beneficiaries from children and natural resources, on their sustainable use. LEGISLATION Our legislation contains the regulations on the conservation and sustainable management of terrestrial ecosystems such as agricultural lands, pastures, forests, wetlands, drylands and mountains, biodiversity and genetic resources. Protection of threatened and endangered species and rare plants and animal species in terms of ensuring the sustainability of biodiversity are the basis of the relevant legislation, especially that of Law on Environment and Law on Forests. IMPORTANT DEVELOPMENTS AND IMPROVEMENT AREAS SDG 15 is assessed on two focus areas: i. Conservation and sustainable management of terrestrial ecosystems and ii. Conservation of biodiversity and genetic resources. In the context of conservation and sustainable management of terrestrial ecosystems, works are undertaken on combating desertification, land degradation, soil pollution, deforestation and drought risks. 117 TURKEY’s 2nd VNR 2019 SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS “Strong Ground towards Common Goals”
As of 2018, approximately 31.6% of Turkey’s territorial size is agricultural areas and 29% is forests. Increasing population, urbanisation and industrialisation put pressure on the agricultural lands. Therefore, the size of agricultural land which was 24.9 million hectares in 2007 decreased to 23.3 million hectares in 2017. For the protection and development of forests that are an integral part of the terrestrial ecosystem, ecosystem – based forest management plans prepared and implemented through functional planning approach. Afforestation and restoration activities were increased, activities slowing or reversing deforestation and forest degradation were supported. 112,273 hectares of degraded forest lands were rehabilitated, afforestation activities were undertaken on 44,752 hectares of area, and erosion control activities on 86,758 hectares of area in 2018. While our forestry areas were 21.2 million hectares in 2007, this increased to 22.6 million hectares in 2018. While this development increases the carbon sequestration, it also creates a strong impact on the resilience of ecosystems and climate adaptation. National forest inventory preparation important for research to assess the future status of forestry areas and develop scenarios. Turkey contributed a total of 10 million USD to FAO-Turkey Partnership Programme (2015-2019). Of this amount, 3 million USD was used for projects undertaken in Africa, 2 million USD for those in Central Asia. Under the programme, technical assistance was provided to many countries on sustainable forest management, drought and desertification. The Mountain Green Cover Index was calculated by assessing 46,942 points to monitor the green cover on mountainous areas. Our lands and natural areas under desertification risk due to soil erosion, improper agricultural practices and land use, overgrazing, pollution of topsoil, demand and pressure of increasing population for natural resource are also contribute to this risk. National Strategy and Action Plan to Combat Desertification (2015-2023) defines the activities and responsibilities. Combating desertification and land degradation solutions are ongoing. Under the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, 12th Conference of the Parties was organised in the heading of Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) in Turkey and the Ankara Initiative was formed. As pioneered by Turkey, it called for commitments of 5 million USD of contributions for 4 years to support the implementation of the Convention. Turkey was one of the first countries which set National LDN Targets. To identify areas in our country susceptible to desertification, the Desertification Monitoring System and Desertification Risk Map were produced. The risk map is prepared based on desertification criteria and indicators, severity classes of drylands sensitive to desertification in terms of climate. According to this map, 22.5% of our country’s land areas are at high risk of desertification. Our country is sensitive to erosion, especially water erosion due to its climate, topography and soil conditions. According to 2016 data, 61.2% of our land suffered from severe and extremely severe water erosion. In this context, there is a need to increase soil conservation and upper basin rehabilitation activities in order to prevent land degradation. Detailed soil surveys conducted in line with international standards and international classification systems were adopted. The need for more detailed land areas information and soil classification systems needed to be developed. The plains where the land loss and land degradation develops rapidly due to erosion, pollution and out-of-purpose utilisation are considered as “greater plain protected area”. In this context, 265 plains corresponding to 7.21 million hectares of area were declared as protected area. Legislation introducing regulation on the fertilisers of organic, mineral and microbial origins used in agriculture was published in 2018 to improve the physical, chemical and biological structure of soils, increase efficiency, protect human health and to prevent environmental pollution. The policies of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry were reviewed to ensure a management philosophy in line with SDG in the context of sustainable management of terrestrial ecosystems.
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SUPPORT PROJECT TO THE MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND FORESTRY IN SDGs’ HARMONISATION AND IMPLEMENTATION SDG Targets 15.1-9, 15a-c, 2.1-5, 2.a-c, 14.1-7, 14.a-c Executing Entity Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (TOB)-FAO Start & End Dates 2018 - Ongoing Project aims to harmonise the agenda of MoAF with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and raise awareness and capacity in the area of harmonising, implementing and monitoring SDGs within the Ministry. Under the project, 17 SDGs were compared with the measures included in the Strategic Plan of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry Strategic Plan to reveal that 63 out of the 141 targets had certain levels of matches. SDG 1 SDG 2 SDG 3 SDG 4 SDG 5 SDG 6 SDG 7 SDG 8 SDG 9 SDG 10 SDG 11 SDG 12 SDG 13 SDG 14 SDG 15 SDG 16 SDG 17 Matches Target No matches Conservation of biodiversity and genetic resources, investigation of these resources, their conservation, sustainable use and acquirement of economic value is of Turkeys’ priority. Turkey with three phytogeography regions named as Euro- Siberian, Mediterranean and Irano-Turanian and serving between two continents, has highly rich biodiversity in terms of plant species as a result of the changes in its climatic and geographical characteristics at short intervals. The 5 micro- gene centres are the origins or diversity centres of many economically important cultivated plant species, medicinal plants and more than 100 species undergo change. While there is 12,500 species of gymnosperms and angiosperms in the European continent, it is known that there is over 11,000 species only in Anatolia. Approximately one-third of these species are unique to Turkey. The List of Plants of Turkey indicates that 3,035 of 9,753 natural species are endemic. The total figure increases to 11,707 when adding subgenus taxa, 3,649 of which are endemic. Turkey is rich in flora, and relatively rich in fauna. The most recent data indicate that species of 460 birds, 161 mammals, 141 reptiles and amphibians, 480 sea fish and 236 fresh water fish live in our country, 629 of which are under Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry protection. Eighty-one Wildlife Improvement Areas were established to protect endangered wild animals. To increase the population size of endangered wild animal species, 24 breeding stations were established and once reached adult age animals are released back their natural habitats. National Biological Diversity Strategy and Action Plan (UBSEP) for the protection of biodiversity and endangered species published in 2001 was updated in 2007 and 2018. In UBSEP, the duties and responsibilities for equitable use, conservation and development of biodiversity riches possessed by ecosystems are laid down. In our country, many activities and projects are undertaken by the public sector, academia and NGOs regarding the identification, protection, monitoring of endemic or endangered species, preparation of the management plans of the areas, conservation-use practices in line with the targets identified by the UBSEP. National Biological Diversity Inventory and Monitoring Project, Recording Biodiversity Based National Traditional Knowledge Project, Conservation and Sustainable Management of Steppe Ecosystems in Turkey, Project for the Protection and Sustainable Development of Biodiversity and Natural Resources in Yıldız Mountains, Project for the Investigation, Protection and Management of Large Mammal Species in Line with the Targets of Conservation of National Biodiversity and Gene Resources are some of the sample works. Under the National Biological Diversity Inventory and Monitoring Project, Biodiversity Map of Turkey based on 119 TURKEY’s 2nd VNR 2019 SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS “Strong Ground towards Common Goals”
geographic information systems will be completed by the end of 2019. Protected areas with different protection status are determined to ensure the conservation and continuity of biological diversity, natural and cultural resources. 8.92% of Turkey’s surface areas covers protected areas (terrestrial and marine) as of 2018. These areas are monitored and reported on a national basis according to the determined criteria and the results are taken into consideration in the decision-making processes. In UBSEP, many policies such as introducing legal and institutional measures and conducting research were identified for the control of invasive alien species and reduction of their impacts. While the number of invasive alien species in our seas was 263 in 2005, this figure reached 500 in 2016. The vast majority of the invasive alien species in the Mediterranean Sea come through the Suez Canal and the majority of those in the Black Sea come through the ballast water of the ships. In our inland waters, 25 foreign species were identified as of 2016. In 2018, Project for Addressing Invasive Alien Species Threats at Key Marine Biodiversity Areas were initiated to prevent the entry of invasive alien species into our seas and to protect native species and habitats by cleaning our seas from them. Turkey with potential for the conversion of untouched and unique biodiversity into economic resources has been exposed to bio-trafficking. To prevent this, training was organised in 2012 to increase the capacity of security forces in 15 provinces where the risk of bio-trafficking is the highest. In addition, activities were undertaken across the country in order to develop institutional and legal regulations on protection, control, inspection and raising awareness of the public under the Project for Combating Bio-trafficking. Also, Information Sharing System for Combating Bio-trafficking was established and Combating Bio-trafficking Action Plan was prepared. Inspections are conducted to prevent illegal trade of endangered wild animals under CITES Convention. Considering the sustainability of hunting and wildlife resources, the areas where hunting animals decreased or became extinct are closed for hunting across the country. 2,185 hunting grounds were established and registered as of 2018. In these areas, hunting certificate and hunting permission card are monitored and enforced based on the certain quotas. Contribution is paid from the hunting revenues obtained under hunting tourism to local administrations with hunting grounds and areas for the protection, care and production of wildlife. NEXT STEPS: The following policies will be implemented in the upcoming years to achieve SDG 15: • Integrating terrestrial ecosystems into the policies for the management by doing valuation of natural resources, • Ensuring the use of natural resources with a holistic approach and developing holistic planning and management structure for terrestrial ecosystem, • Collecting the data needed and revealing policies for neutrality in the context of Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN), • Taking necessary measures to transform wood and non- wood products into products with high value-added in forest ecosystem and to increase cooperation between public and private sectors, • Developing holistic policies on the scale of gene, species, habitat, ecosystem functions, • Eliminating the lack of qualified specialists in terrestrial ecosystem diagnostics and management, • Raising public awareness on the conservation and sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystem, • Benefiting from local human resources and encouraging on-site production of intermediate products to ensure that the value-added from natural resources in the terrestrial ecosystem remains at its level, • Protecting forest villagers in the conservation of terrestrial ecosystem and taking necessary measures to keep the forest villager in their places, • Ensuring sustainable management of mountain ecosystems and steppes. 120 TURKEY’s 2nd VNR 2019 SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS “Strong Ground towards Common Goals”