Forestry Workers' Union President Şükrü Durmuş speaks to 12punto: The struggle continues on forest land neighboring Patara

12punto.com.tr/EXCLUSIVE

Agriculture and Forestry Workers' Union President Şükrü Durmuş made statements regarding the forest land in the Sahil Aklar locality of Kalkan, in the Kaş district of Antalya, located approximately 1-2 kilometers from Patara, which is admired for its natural beauty.

Stating that the area should remain as forest land for the sake of the ecosystem, Durmuş spoke to 12punto about the crisis that has been ongoing in the region since 2021.

Durmuş stated the following:

'IT IS A PART OF THE ECOSYSTEM'

"A cadastral survey was conducted here in 2021. However, the cadastral survey falls under the status of areas removed from forest land. The regulation we call 'Appendix 16' is a regulation in favor of opportunists. Unfortunately, I say this with regret, there are erroneous regulations made by some malicious individuals in the cadastral commission there.

Some commission members, whose primary constitutional and legal duty is to protect forests, collaborated with profiteers to first remove certain areas from forest status. Yet, these areas never met the criteria for removal from forest status. Cadastral commissions remove certain areas from forest status. However, these areas are places that were agricultural land but were converted to forest because they were not cultivated later, and are now being removed under the claim that they are more suitable for agricultural use as a result of objections.

Especially the areas in the Sahil Aklar locality, in Kaş-Kalkan, are stony and rocky areas. These areas have never been agricultural land and are covered with maquis vegetation. These areas are a part of the forest ecosystem and must be protected.

'THE CONSERVATION OFFICER HAS NOT BEEN SENT TO THE LAND FOR 2 YEARS'

These profiteering groups first occupied these areas with heavy machinery, then the cadastre said this is agricultural land and removed them. In 2022, we objected to the removal of these parcels from forest status, which was done in 2021. We specifically stated that 17 parcels were unlawfully removed from forest status.

Inspectors and experts ruled that these areas are part of the forest ecosystem. The removal of the 17 parcels from forest status was blocked and they were returned to the forest. But the interesting part is that for 2 years, the local forest management director himself has not been implementing this decision, which was given by the inspection board and agreed upon by the commissions. Not only is he not implementing it, but these 17 parcels, totaling 998 decares of land, have now perhaps grown to 2000 decares. The person making this grow is the Forest Management Director himself and the chiefs under his command.

I ask, the conservation officer has not been sent to the land for two years; I tell the officer, he says, "The chief blocked it." He didn't want us to go.

Such destruction is being experienced in the history of forestry. Thousands of decares of land are unfortunately falling victim to rent-seeking. This must be stopped, we must persistently pursue it. This is the brief summary of the event."

MINISTER YUMAKLI'S WARNINGS

Minister of Agriculture and Forestry İbrahim Yumaklı, in his statement, said, "Meteorological data says there is a high risk in 3 days. As all our public institutions, we are on alert for these 3 days."

'70 PERCENT OF FIRES ARE CAUSED BY HUMAN HANDS'

Commenting on Yumaklı's warnings, Durmuş said:

"Yes, there is a risk according to meteorological data not just for these 3 days, but even for a week. It is very clear that meteorological data will be unfavorable. Global change continues and will increase exponentially every year. Science is not wrong on this matter.

This statement is correct, but the problem is this. An institution with a 185-year history is not taking preventive measures against fires. The most important event here is that 70 percent of the fires that occur are caused by human hands. The more human activity there is here, the greater the risk. Agricultural machinery can start fires, balers can start fires. Even more tragically, for years we used to do production work in the winter. Production was not done during the fire season. Fires also break out in production areas. However, the general directorate does not take any breaks in production. Unplanned production continues. Permits granted from the forest create a lot of risk. Mining permits, energy distribution line permits, permits given to companies, and permits given under various names increase the risk.

In other words, the more human activity there is in the area, the greater the risk. Furthermore, if preventive measures are not taken, it becomes inevitable. They said, 'We will cut down the trees on the roadsides to prevent fire risk.' It was a deception with no precedent in the history of forestry. The trees on the roadsides were cut down on both sides. The risk increased even more.

The forest road network in Turkey is 350,000 kilometers. When this is cut on both sides, approximately 50 million cubic meters of excess product is obtained. In other words, multinational companies are having difficulty finding raw materials globally, but Turkey is finding a way out of the economic crisis it has entered by cutting and selling forests. They are really cutting and selling forests, the forests are disappearing. Therefore, one of the reasons for these forest fires also stems from production.

We have warned Minister Yumaklı many times. The Minister comes out and says, 'Thank God we are having a very good year.' Yet a forest management director died. Thousands of forest areas burned, trees burned. We are being managed completely wrongly."

News Source: 12punto