The significance of ecological memory and social-ecological memory for ecosystem well-being in urban areas

Urbanization trend steers people to live in cities and cities has been expanding and occupying more areas, and through the natural ones which supply many ecological services. In relation to that this urbanisation trend creates a gap between human and nature because it reduces the interaction between people and nature and the access to green spaces. Populations living in cities do not think about the impacts of their industrial, agricultural activities or their consumption habits on ecosystem well-being. Since cities start to move away from nature, citizens also tend to be away from nature. Increasing pressure on natural systems and the transformation of natural areas decrease the places which supply a space for ecological and social-ecological memory to be sustained. As a conclusion of the missing memory, the city – human – nature triangle starts to be separated from each other. It is claimed that this bridge can be linked by using knowledge of local people. In this thesis, Ecological Memory (EM) and Social-Ecological Memory (SEM) concepts are used to fill this gap and linking human and nature. For using EM and SEM concept in cities, we need to keep them in urban areas in a place where people can interact with each other and get in connection with nature. We can call them as reserve areas; such as parks, community gardens, private gardens etc. If EM and SEM are assumed to be sustained in cities, urban green spaces become critical elements. Those areas increase the connection between users and thus, it helps local environmental knowledge to interact among users. Urban green areas prevent some trends in cities such as privatisation of land, decreasing contact between people and nature and the impoverishment of ecological habitats and functions. In the nature protection approaches developed in recent years humans have been proposed as a critical factor and the local knowledge of natural resources management of the local people. In the literature "local (ecological) knowledge" is related to "Community Based Conservation (CBC)". CBC is often handled together with SEM and EM, and these concepts are considered as they are compatible concepts with each other. EM and SEM are preferred because they involve all related concepts such as CBC and local ecological information. Within the scope of this thesis, EM and SEM have been suggested as concepts to create liveable and environmentally friendly cities. The decrease of urban green areas, which are the main problems observed in urban areas, is shown as a reason for the loss of EM and SEM in urban areas. As a result of the literature researches, it is seen that urban green areas are critical for the two dimensions of ecological memories. The social potential and ecosystem services provided by urban green areas make them kind of reserve spaces of EM and SEM. The results of this study showed that there is a relationship between EM and SEM and the presence of urban green areas. The hypothesis of this thesis which was the adaptation of EM and SEM into urban areas with the relevant implementation tools can reduce the urban areas' effect on ecosystems partly confirmed by impacts of these memories on users and on creating ecological awareness. Urban green spaces support two of the ecological memories, creating an awareness of ecosystem services, especially through food production. However, green space management has a great impact on the transfer of memory and knowledge to the future generations. This study aims to contribute to the literature in terms of showing the impacts of EM and SEM on ecosystem relations in urban areas and the ecological perceptions of users and the relation of urban agriculture areas such as community gardens and hobby parks in Istanbul with the two ecological memories. The thesis also tries to make a contribution to the literature with the evaluation criteria and the scales of EM and SEM.