Page 217 - Çevre Şehir ve İklim Dergisi İngilizce - Özel Sayı

Bilgi Sarihan - Ramazan Acar Çakır
Aydın Uzun

• Soil tillage should be carried out in feasible areas after conducting a
structural risk assessment of the soil cover from an ecosystem perspective.
• The timing of planting and sowing should be well adjusted (saplings
are planted during late autumn or early spring when sufficient rainfall
has occurred).
• The application of water harvesting techniques (such as soil tillage,
terracing, small catchment areas/negarim, semi-circular embankments
(moon terraces), contour ridges, and small water retention basins)
helps prevent the loss of rainfall through surface runoff in arid areas,
ensuring that water is retained on the site and stored underground
through infiltration) (Figures 16-17).
Negarim micro-catchments, which can harvest rainwater at a rate of 15-90%, are
small-scale structures in the shape of squares, enclosed by low soil embankments.
The planting of plants is carried out at the rainwater collection point of the slope (at
the tip of the ‘V’ shape in the lower part of the slope). Negarim, which is preferred
in areas with much lower rainfall and can be applied on various slopes, is considered
suitable for use on slopes of up to 5%. Moon terraces, when supported with stone
materials, can be used on slopes up to 50% (Örs, 2011).

Figure 16: 2024: Ankara, Polatlı Artillery Barracks Military Area; micro catch-
ment-negarim (left), moon terrace (right) (From the writer’s own archive, 2024).

Figure 17: 2020: Pasture-type terrace (left; Karaman, Ayrancı), 2023: Contour ter-
races (right; Konya, Çumra, Adakale) (From the writer’s own archive).
204 Journal of Environment, Urban and Climate