A research on determination of Saklikent national park recreational carriying capacitiy inside of canyon

The rapid decrease in open-green areas in urban settlements with rapid urbanisation leads people to natural areas, especially protected areas. National parks are the protected areas with the largest area size among these places. National parks and nature parks are the places with the highest visitor potential for recreational use in protected areas. Saklikent National Park located within the borders of Fethiye and Kas, which constitutes the main material of our research, is 1.643 ha in size and the only visitor area is the recreation area in the canyon. As a result of the literature review, it is seen that no scientific study has been carried out in the canyon until today. Eşen Stream, which starts in the canyon, forms the physical border of Muğla Antalya city. The length of the canyon is 800 m and the part that receives intensive visitors is on a line of 200 metres. The canyon can be reached by footpath and suspension bridge. The canyon, which is defined as regaining the energy lost by human beings through the activities they wish, has been receiving visitors since 1980. In recent years, there has been an intense flow of visitors in the canyon. One of the two most popular places in terms of Fethiye tourism is Ölüdeniz Nature Park and the other is Saklikent canyon. The recreational carrying capacity, which will constitute the main method of our research in the protection of these areas, refers to the ability of an object to withstand any factor, its carrying power, its ability to meet. Recreational carrying capacity is defined by IUCN, UNEP, WWF as the threshold levels of human activities. Recreational carrying capacity is found by calculating physical carrying capacity, real carrying capacity, effective carrying capacity and social carrying capacity in person/day and person/year. It will also be possible to evaluate the places with visitor utilisation below the carrying capacity within the scope of ecotourism. During the research, expert and visitor questionnaires were conducted for the months with high visitor density, a digital map of the area was prepared and an inventory of natural, cultural and aesthetic landscapes was revealed. Carrying capacities were found with the help of formulae and the outputs of the research will help to make decisions for sustainable use of the area and to find visitor management models.