Takdirden korumaya: Validebağ Korusu'nda biyoçeşitlilik algıları, doğayla bağ kurma ve duygusal tepkiler üzerine fenomenolojik bir araştırma

This thesis examines how Validebağ Grove, a relatively unstructured and biodiverse urban green space in Istanbul, shapes visitors' experiences of nature connectedness, emotional well-being, and engagement in the preservation efforts. A phenomenological approach is employed and in participant selection purposive, snowball, and convenience sampling methods are used to ensure a diversity of perspectives are reflected. Based on nineteen semi-structured in-depth interviews with regular visitors, the study highlights multiple intersecting themes. Participants described the grove as a sanctuary from urban stress, where unstructured terrain and encounters with biodiversity fostered psychological restoration, emotional resilience, and a sense of autonomy. In addition to being a source for aesthetic joy and wonder, biodiversity also emerged as a catalyst for ethical concern, care, and stewardship. Emotional responses to ecological degradation-especially eco-anxiety, grief, and anger- were widely reported and often coped through strategies such as nature exposure, humor, and selective engagement. Although many participants expressed deep attachment to the grove, engagement in the ongoing preservation movement was ranged from symbolic support to sustained resistance. Engagement was shaped by ethical values, social bonds, and structural constraints such as safety concerns, economic precarity, political disillusionment, and generational differences. These findings contribute to environmental justice discourse by showing how inequalities affect not only access to green spaces but also the ability to participate in grassroots movements. Ultimately, Validebağ Grove emerges as both a site of collective meaning-making and a contested urban common—an ecological refuge under threat and a space where emotional, ethical, and political dimensions of environmentalism converge.