Defining ecologically sensitive areas in planning: Case of Gediz Delta wetland

One of the main aims of planning is to propose a solution for dilemma between protected areas and man-made urban areas. Planning decisions producing with nature protection care and planning tools have an effficient role to protect areas having ecological importance. In Turkey, the process of identification of conservation areas and planning is not well integrated to international conservation approaches. The aim of the thesis is to display conservation approaches, methods and applications accepted internationally, by opening this problem up for dissussion. In this way, indicators, undertaken to define conservation boundaries for wetland ecosystems, are brought about in the thesis. Conservation areas of Gediz Delta Wetland , defined as a case study area, and its periphery were determined by using UNESCO's "biosphere reserve" and conservation boundaries were defined by using multi criteria decision based on geographical information system, and weight of evidence technique that depends on Bayesian probability method. As a result, Gediz Delta's ecologically sensitive areas were classified according to results of Bayesian probability distributions that proposal conservation areas were determined. Results of the study showed that proposal core zone maximized by potential wetlands is larger than both boundaries which are wetland boundary accepted at the beginning of the study and wetland boundary defined by law about wetland conservation in Turkey.