Editing Reforestation (section)

==== Turkey ====
Of the country's 78&nbsp;million hectares of land in total, the [[Ministry Of Agriculture And Forestry (Turkey)|Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry]] aims to increase [[:Category:Forests of Turkey|Turkey's forest cover]] to 30% by 2023.<ref>{{cite news |date=21 March 2018 |title=Turkey goes greener with new afforestation campaign |work=Daily Sabah |url=https://www.dailysabah.com/turkey/2018/03/22/turkey-goes-greener-with-new-afforestation-campaign}}</ref>

Four thousand years ago, [[Anatolia]] was 60% to 70% forested.<ref name="Colak">{{cite journal |last1=Colak and Rotherham |date=2006 |title=A Review of the Forest Vegetation of Turkey: Its Status Past and Present and Its Future Conservation |url=https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/64d0/bb39fb92969a5e65770e69ab71cca70cc44d.pdf |url-status=dead |journal=Biology and Environment: Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy |volume=106 B |pages=343–354 |doi=10.3318/BIOE.2006.106.3.343 |s2cid=46955795 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180914132343/https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/64d0/bb39fb92969a5e65770e69ab71cca70cc44d.pdf |archive-date=2018-09-14 |number=3}}</ref> Although the [[flora of Turkey]] remains more biodiverse than many European countries, deforestation occurred during both prehistoric<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Willcox |first1=G. H. |date=1974 |title=A History of Deforestation as Indicated by Charcoal Analysis of Four Sites in Eastern Anatolia |journal=Anatolian Studies |volume=24 |pages=117–133 |doi=10.2307/3642603 |jstor=3642603 |s2cid=131664221}}</ref> and historic times, including the [[Ancient Rome|Roman]]<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Hughes |first1=J.D. |date=2010 |title=Ancient Deforestation Revisited |journal=Journal of the History of Biology |volume=44 |issue=1 |pages=43–57 |doi=10.1007/s10739-010-9247-3 |pmid=20669043 |s2cid=24975334}}</ref> and [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]]<ref>{{cite web |title=Conference Review: "Environmental History of the Ottoman Empire and Turkey", University of Hamburg, 27-28 October 2017 |url=https://networks.h-net.org/node/19397/discussions/1065869/conference-review-environmental-history-ottoman-empire-and-turkey |website=H Net}}</ref> periods.

Since the first forest code of 1937, the official government definition of 'forest' has varied.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Lund |first1=H. Gyde |date=2014 |title=What Is a Forest? Definitions Do Make a Difference an Example from Turkey |url=http://dergipark.gov.tr/download/article-file/59831 |url-status=dead |journal=Avrasya Terim Dergisi |volume=2 |issue=1 |pages=1–8 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180914132353/http://dergipark.gov.tr/download/article-file/59831 |archive-date=2018-09-14 |access-date=2018-09-14}}</ref> According to the current definition, 21&nbsp;million hectares are forested, an increase of about 1&nbsp;million hectares over the past thirty years, but only about half is 'productive'.<ref>{{cite web |title=Turkey Forests |url=https://www.ogm.gov.tr/lang/en/Pages/Forests/TurkeyForests.aspx |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180914132446/https://www.ogm.gov.tr/lang/en/Pages/Forests/TurkeyForests.aspx |archive-date=14 September 2018 |access-date=14 September 2018 |website=General Directorate of Forestry}}</ref> However, according to the United Nations [[Food and Agriculture Organization]] definition of forest,<ref>{{cite web |title=Global Forest Resources Assessment 2015: Country Report: Turkey |url=http://www.fao.org/3/a-az358e.pdf |publisher=[[FAO]]}}</ref> about 12&nbsp;million hectares was forested in 2015,<ref>{{cite web |title=Global Forest Resources Assessment 2015 Desk Reference |url=http://www.fao.org/3/a-i4808e.pdf |publisher=[[FAO]]}}</ref> about 15% of the land surface.{{Update inline|date=May 2021}}

The amount of [[greenhouse gas emissions by Turkey]] removed by forests is very uncertain.<ref name=":3">Turkish Greenhouse Gas Inventory report (2019), [https://unfccc.int/sites/default/files/resource/tur-2019-nir-13apr19.zip zip file]</ref>{{rp|489}}{{As of|2019}}, however, a new assessment is being made with the help of satellites and new soil measurements and better information should be available by 2020.<ref name=":3" /> According to the [[World Resources Institute]] "Atlas of Forest Landscape Restoration Opportunities", 50&nbsp;million hectares are potential forest land, a similar area to the ancient Anatolian forest mentioned above.<ref>{{cite web |title=Atlas of Forest Landscape Restoration Opportunities |url=http://www.wri.org/applications/maps/flr-atlas/# |access-date=14 September 2018 |publisher=World Resources Institute}}</ref> This could help limit [[climate change in Turkey]]. To help preserve the [[Turkey#Biodiversity|biodiversity of Turkey]], more sustainable forestry has been suggested.<ref name="Colak" /> Improved [[rangeland management]] is also needed.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Gökbulak |first1=Ferhat |last2=Erdoğan |first2=Betül Uygur |last3=Yıldırım |first3=Hasan Tezcan |last4=Özçelik |first4=Mehmet S. |date=2018-07-20 |title=Causes of land degradation and rehabilitation efforts of rangelands in Turkey |url=https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/pub/forestist/396995 |journal=Forestist |language=en |volume=68 |issue=2 |pages=106–113}}{{Dead link|date=October 2019|bot=InternetArchiveBot|fix-attempted=yes}}</ref>

National Forestation Day is on 11 November but, according to the agriculture and forestry [[trade union]], although volunteers planted a record number of trees in 2019, most had died by 2020 in part due to lack of rainfall.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Kent |first=Sami |date=2020-01-30 |title=Most of 11m trees planted in Turkish project 'may be dead' |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jan/30/most-of-11m-trees-planted-in-turkish-project-may-be-dead |access-date=2020-01-30 |issn=0261-3077}}</ref>