Landscape planning and rural development focused with ecotourism in Ugursuyu and Aksu watersheds

Areas of study are Ugursuyu and Aksuwatersheds, which have a surface area of 639 square kilometers and are located within the boundaries of No.13 Western Black Sea Watershed. The basic purposes of the study arecombining natural, cultural and social data, developing ecotourism-centered rural development strategies after analyses and syntheses, making landscape planning decisions and developing an ecotourism management model for the ecosystems within the landscapes of the study area. In the study, a three-step method was implemented. In the first step, an inventory and database were formed regarding the area. In the second step, by combining environmental corridor method, ecotourism opportunities spectrum method and cultural landscape analysis within the scope of compliance analyses, the ecotourism potential of the area was set forth and settlement units were evaluated. In this context, a visual landscape analysis was conducted based on both expert and user evaluations. Controlled classification process was implemented to the satellite images of both watersheds from years of 1999 and 2008 in order to determine the alteration in the landscape pattern.The alterations that had occurred in the study area were interpreted under the title of landscape functions within the context of spot-corridor-matrix theory. Besides, a stakeholder analysis was held and interpreted in order to execute the collaborative ecotourism planning. In the last step, as a result of related analyses and evaluations, a landscape plan was prepared for the project area, strategies were developed and a proposal for an ecotourism centered rural developmentmodel was submitted. It was determined that the settlement units with high ecotourism potentiality and cultural landscape value in Ugursuyu and Aksuwatersheds were located on the ecotourism corridors which were determined as per linear corridor method and that these areas also have high-value visual landscape quality. According to the visual evolution by tourists, it was concluded that hydroelectric power plants, landslide areas, hazelnut groves etc. cause a decline in the satisfaction of tourists, while presence of superstructure causes an increase in the same. Situations due to temporal change in the land cover were evaluated and the area was ecologically evaluated within the scope of habitat function analyses. Landscape plan and strategies were established as a result of the evaluation of all methods that had been used. Based on these syntheses, some strategies regarding ecotourism were developed and ecotourism execution and advisory board and its duties were defined in the ecotourism plan of Uğursuyu and Aksu watersheds. In conclusion, it was determined that the ecotourism centered rural development projects which are shaped and defined by landscape planning approachesare important in terms of ensuring sustainability in natural resource management.