Page 75 - Çevre Şehir ve İklim Dergisi İngilizce - Özel Sayı

Günay Erpul - Özden Görücü - Atila Gül - Yusuf Güneş
Reşat Akgöz - Kenan İnce - Ünal Satı Yilmaz

Global climate change is highly influential on the management practices of
nature-based managed ecosystems (agriculture, forest and pasture). Apart from
energy, manufacturing industry, buildings, transport, waste, agriculture, ozone
depleting substances and fluorinated greenhouse gases, another important
sector in climate change mitigation policies is the Land Use, Land-Use Change
and Forestry (LULUCF) sector. The targets of LULUCF, as a sector, are clearly
expressed as conserving biological diversity, reducing carbon emissions and
combating climate change. In this respect, the LULUCF sector is critically
important as it has the potential to provide carbon sequestration in achieving
the net zero target. Within this framework, great efforts are paid to afforestation
and rehabilitation projects and erosion control activities in Türkiye.
All these activities are implemented to mitigate the adverse impacts
of climate change, and they are also developed within an innovative land
management framework targeting resilient ecosystems that will be one
of the key elements of the national green transformation. Thus, it is aimed
to demonstrate the highest level of adaptation and mitigation potential of
ecosystems in combating climate change.
The undesirable impacts of climate change such as ‘desertification, land
degradation and drought’ threaten human welfare by negatively affecting
the provision of ecosystem services. In this context, SLM policies have
been developed to mitigate the impacts of these problems and conserve
biodiversity (Figure 2).
SLM approaches to reduce erosion severity and improve land productivity
are divided into four main categories: management, cultural, vegetative and
structural measures. Management measures guide land use through legal
regulations and strategic plans. Cultural measures include the adoption of
sustainable techniques in agricultural and forestry practices. Vegetative
measures manage and improve vegetation cover. Structural measures include
physical infrastructure projects such as terracing and water harvesting. These
integrated approaches offer effective solutions to combat erosion and
maintain long-term ecosystem health.
SLM is an important tool for achieving the Land Degradation Neutrality
(LDN) target and enhancing adaptation to climate change. Thus, with the help
of pre-determined or planned actions in combating climate change, CF aims
to neutralize land degradation and improve ecosystem services by integrating
with SLM.
In Türkiye, various projects and programmes are implemented to combat
desertification and erosion. According to LDN-DSS (Land Degradation
Neutrality- Decision Support System) data, the lands that are degraded and
at risk of degradation offer a great potential for CF. In these lands, sustainable

62 Journal of Environment, Urban and Climate