Page 293 - 7. State Of Environment Report Of Türkiye

National Parks are defined as “Scientifically and aesthetically, nationally and internationally rare
natural and cultural resource values and nature pieces with conservation, recreation and tou-
rism areas”. As of 2023, there are 48 National Parks in Türkiye (Table 95). National Parks are of
great importance in terms of protecting biological diversity in forest, steppe, wetland and coas-
tal ecosystems.

When the “National Parks Law” came into force in 1983, the term “nature pieces” was used alon-
gside the term “forests”, allowing the law to be applied to areas other than forests that required
protection. Since the main purpose is to protect nature, the term “Natural Reserve” has also
been added to the law. Natural Reserve are defined as “nature pieces that contain outstanding
examples of ecosystems, species and natural events that are on the verge of extinction and are
important in terms of science and education, and that require absolute protection and are reser-
ved for use only for scientific and educational purposes.” As of 2023, there are 31 Natural Reserve.

Natural parks are defined as natural parts with vegetation and wildlife features, suitable for pub-
lic recreation and entertainment within the integrity of the landscape. There are 204 Nature
Parks declared for this purpose in Türkiye as of 2015, 208 as of 2016, 247 as of 2020 and 266 as
of 2023.

Table 96 National Parks of Türkiye (MoAF, 2024)
NO PROVINCE NATIONAL PARK NAME SURFACE AREA ANNOUNCEMENT
(Decare) YEAR

1 Yozgat Yozgat Pine Grove 5,173 05.02.1958
2 Osmaniye Karatepe-Aslantaş 4,143 29.05.1958
3 Ankara Soğuksu 1,186 19.02.1959

4 Balıkesir Bird Paradise 17,058 27.07.1959
5 Bursa Uludağ 13,024 20.09.1961
6 Bolu Yedigöller 1,623 29.04.1965
7 Aydın Dilek Peninsula- B. Menderes D. 27,598 19.05.1966

8 Manisa Spil Mountain 6,801 22.04.1968
9 Isparta Kızıldağ 80,200 09.05.1969
10 Antalya Güllük Mountain-Termessos 6,670 03.11.1970
11 Isparta Kovada Lake 6,551 03.11.1970

12 Tunceli Munzur Valley 42,674 21.12.1971
13 Antalya Beydağları Coast 31,166 16.03.1972
14 Antalya Köprülü Canyon 47,473 12.12.1973
15 Kastamonu Ilgaz Mountain 1,118 02.06.1976

16 Afyon Commander-in-Chief T MP 34,834 08.11.1981
17 Trabzon Altindere Valley 4,468 09.09.1987
18 Çorum Boğazköy-Alacahöyük 2,600 21.09.1988
19 Adıyaman Nemrut Mountain 13,827 07.12.1988

20 Konya Beyşehir Lake 82,157 11.01.1993

292