An ecological risk management approach: Lake Gala National Park

Wetlands are one of the world's richest ecosystems and landscapes that are later understood. Many of the wetlands protected under national legislation and international agreements in our country are under pressure due to natural and cultural threats. It is understood that the determined protection status and strategies by the legislation and plans can not be adhered on the application basis. The conservation and management decisions that have come up against the benefits from the wetlands of the local people have forced them. For this reason it has become clear that the protection-use balance of current protection planning and management approaches becomes compulsory. From here, the ecological risk assessment method is proposed for Lake Gala National Park where the same problems are experienced. The ecological risk assessment and management model proposed in this thesis and the pressures created by the use of the research area were evaluated as ecological based. Thus, two different scenarios were created. Scenario-1 is based on a management scenario in which ecological risk factors such as grazing, hunting, tree cutting, fishing and reaming are prohibited in practice, without any changes in landscape planning or design, just by the prohibited use of the national park. Only legally prohibited activities have been issued. The result is that the overall national park has reached a 'very low risk' level. Scenario-2 is based on a management scenario in which ecological risk factors are completely inhibited for agricultural purposes, such as 'agricultural wastewater discharge, drainage channels, excessive water withdrawal from the lake, and agricultural use'. This scenario has been created in order to understand how much the agricultural activities have exerted pressure on the national park alone. As a result, it would not be a solution to block agriculture on its own as long as there are high-risk point activities such as grazing, land-hunting and tree cutting. However it has been observed that the pressures decreased, as explained in the previous section. Following the scenario phase, public participation and discussion are proposed. This section is for the prevention of application and monitoring, and for the protection-use balance. In this thesis, no questionnaire could be made due to space and condition restrictions, but this section was edited based on the 2010 dated survey of national park analytic study report. This section is concerned with how to organize the 'scenario' section. It is suggested that the most appropriate scenario should be implemented with the participation of the public. As a result, a dynamic ecological risk management model has been proposed for the national park, and recommendations and strategies for the Gala National Park have been developed. Keywords: Lake Gala, ecological risk assessment, wetlands, national park, ecological risk management.