SAPLINGS PLANTED IN BURNT AREAS IN MUDANYA
Minister Pakdemirli attended sapling planting ceremony in Mudanya, Bursa Province of Turkey. During the forest fire occurred in August 11, more than 30 hectares of area was damaged in Mudanya.
Minister expressed that forested lands are under the protection of current laws and there is no possibility to use or allocate burnt areas for any other purpose.
Highlights from the statement of Mr. Pakdemirli are as follows:
"The officials of the countries that I visited always repeat that Turkey is the best country of the world to combat forest fires. And they ask for transferring the know-how of Turkey. I am replying that it is not important to be the best country in combating forest fires. Forest assets are the joint assets of every citizen living in the world. We are ready to give all kinds of support for forest fires. We are working hard to reduce response time to fires to 10 minutes together with the efforts of forestry personnel.
CITIZENS SHOULD HAVE A CHANCE TO LIVE WITHIN THE FORESTS
Minister said "Our citizens should have a chance to live within the forested lands by attaching great importance to protect forest assets. Government takes every precaution to protect forests, but the important thing is to protect forest assets by people. We should increase awareness in this regard. Response time to fires should be minimized, on the other hand, the key issue is to prevent forest fires. Turkey has a forest fire center which can be a model for other countries. We are pleased to introduce this center to press members and relevant authorities in the next days.
WE ARE REACHING OUR TARGETS
Turkey is among the countries that increase it forest assets.
Turkey is expecting to cover 30 percent of its surface land with forests in 2023. A sapling is being planted for every living person in the world. The target is to plant 7 billion saplings in 2023.
Minister also gave information about the activities following the forest fire in Mudanya. "Some people speculated that burnt area would be opened for building construction. Forest lands are protected under the laws. And there is no possibility to use such areas for any other purpose. We are carrying out activities for the afforestation of the burnt areas. Almost 8 thousand 700 trees were burnt due to forest fire, and today, we have planted almost 47 thousand saplings in 36 hectares of land. I would like to state that "the one who loves his/her country so much is the person who serves his/her country with maximum capacity."