Page 201 - Çevre Şehir ve İklim Dergisi İngilizce - Özel Sayı

Bilgi Sarihan - Ramazan Acar Çakır
Aydın Uzun

In regions of Central Anatolia, Southeastern Anatolia, and Eastern Anatolia,
where drought is severely felt, agricultural and pasture lands located in some
local areas (such as Iğdır-Aralık) are turning into wasteland. In arid and semi-
arid areas, like agricultural lands, degraded pasture lands that are far from
sustainable land management have also lost their ability to prevent wind
erosion (Tekeli, 2005). The dryness of the area and the lack of vegetation,
especially in pasture lands, lead to insufficient grassland-pasture biomass
and a loss of resistance to severe wind erosion and sand-dust storm events.
These soils, where soil conservation has not been achieved, are on the
verge of desertification due to extreme drought and human impact (such as
inappropriate land use, overgrazing, etc.). For example, until the initiation
of green belt afforestation efforts in the Iğdır-Aralık region in 2004, desert
conditions prevailed due to the extremely hot and dry climate (with an
average annual temperature of 12.9°C, average annual precipitation of 244.2
mm, evaporation of 1252.9 mm, and relative humidity of 44%); in addition,
the degradation of the natural vegetation, specifically the Ephedra Distachya,
which plays a key role in combating wind erosion and desertification, due to
human-induced damage, significantly contributed to the situation (Figure 7).
In fact, although 82% of the 13,542 hectares of land affected by wind erosion
is designated as pasture land, the area is far from exhibiting the characteristics
of a functioning pasture.

Figure 7: 2004: In Iğdır – Aralık, the unseasonal, unplanned, and excessive grazing
on pastures (left), and human-induced destruction of the area’s natural
vegetation for fuel (right) (Iğdır Provincial Directorate of Environment
and Forestry Archive, 2010).
However, it has been observed that the Ephedra distachya, a deep-rooted
and drought-resistant shrub, when not destroyed, can spread its canopy up
to 3-4 meters, covering the soil surface and preventing the movement of sand
against the wind (Figure 8).

188 Journal of Environment, Urban and Climate