General assessment of the wetlands in Turkiye

This study makes a general assessment of Turkiye's wetlands. The extent to which the wetlands within the borders of Turkiye, which is considered as 'water poor' against the concept of water scarcity, which has become a global problem, are evaluated, how they are categorized based on criteria and the measures to be taken are examined. At the same time, the criteria of wetlands in the world were examined. Wetlands were classified according to the internationally recognized Ramsar Convention. For the evaluation of the wetlands in Turkiye, the National Wetland Inventory Management Information System (SAYBIS), which is the database of the General Directorate of Nature Conservation and National Parks under the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, and the data obtained by identifying the water surfaces with the software of the General Directorate of Mapping were utilized. Wetlands in Turkiye were categorized according to criteria such as size, elevation, environment, water chemistry, distribution to hydrological basins and precipitation amount, and a general evaluation was made. According to SAYBIS, the total area of 2 594 wetlands is 1 491 936 ha. 48% of these areas are natural wetlands. Although the distribution of total wetlands according to elevation levels is close to each other, natural wetlands are directly related to elevation and artificial wetlands are inversely related. 40% of natural wetlands are smaller than 1 ha. pH value and biological oxygen demand are inversely proportional to the elevation of wetlands. When the wetlands in 26 hydrological basins in Turkiye are compared to the area of the basins, the average wetland area in all basins varies between 1% and 5%. In order to leave a healthy and vibrant world to future generations, protecting and maintaining our wetlands should be a high priority. Conservation efforts require cooperation between governments, local communities, civil society organizations and individuals.