Determination of recreation planning principles based on ecological criteria of highland settlements in İçel province

165 7. SUMMARY This research has been realized in İçel province which has a superf ice of 1 5.855 km2, representing 2% of the national superfice, and which is located between 36° 01 ' and 37° 26' northern latitudes and 32° 56' and 35° 1 1 ' eastern longitudes. In this province, rapid population increase, rapid urbanization, and industrialization and related development cause many environmental problems and the rational use of natural resources is quite limited. These problems are partly carried to "Yayla" Settlements which form the main objective of this research. The upland settlements in İçel province and their near environs cure one of the most attractive regions of Türkiye, in terms of touristic and recreational and of natural and cultural resources. These values give a great dynamism to the region with respect to domestic and international tourism as in the past. Foreign tourism activities has a lower concentration yet in the province, compared to the Aegean, west Mediterranean and Marmara Regions of our country. However, domestic tourism is quite important at the coastal zone of the province. As a result of this, second residence developments have extended from the seashore towards the plane without intervals. Today, these housings turn to vertically concentrated blocks as time goes by. For that reason, natural and cultural values, principally the sea and fertile cultivation areas, loose their attractivity at the coast and acoastal planes. As a result of all these, the inhabitants tend to upland areas which have a more attractive natural values compared to the coast and where they meet more economic toursistic and recreational activities. However the tendency of the mankind towards using the nature according to its interests results in carrying natural and environmental degradation which are happennig at the coast to the upland areas. It is important to make long-term physical plannings and programmes in order to prevent the arrival of these degradations to an irreversible level. In this study, it was aimed to determine the developments of upland tourism and recreation in İçel province and at how to approach to the solutions of their problems.166 At the first step, It has been tried to determine natural and cultural potential of the research area from the point of view of tourism and recreational activities and the upland settlements of different character, established by those who benefited from this potential. Selected uplands have been systematically grouped according to their sizes, administrative structures and attractiveness. Due to this grouping, the most intensively use ones have been called the "Main Upland", and the developments of tourism and recreational activities and their environmental impacts have been investigated in these main uplands. At the second step, it has been tried to determine the recreational tendencies and demands of those who reside all the year and those who come to the region in only some periods of the year for touristic and recreational purposes. With this aim the method of personal questionnary proposed by GOLD (1980) and UZUN and ALTUNKASA (1991) has been used and supported by in-situ observations and surveys. The questionaries were applied to 135 randomly selected persons who use the uplands temporarily but live in three cities (Mersin-Erdemli-Silifke), and who live in three main upland settlements (Çamlıyayla-Uzuncaburç-Sorgun) permanently. At the third stage, according to the existing upland developments and the data obtained from questionnaries, it has been tried to find out the principles and recomendations aiming at the physical organization of the upland developments in the research area. In doing this, a balance in favor of natural and cultural resources has been targeted. The general conclusion of the research is that the natural and cultural resources great extend of touristic and recreational activities. The long-term plans and programmes must be done to mitigate this pressure. The data obtained from this research may highlight the preparation of the mentioned plans and programmes, as basic data. However, in order to prepare more detailed plans and programmes the on costs-beenfits analysis of the natural and environmental resources of the research area must be done primarily.