ANKARA, May 30, 2024—The Government of Türkiye and the World Bank have launched the $400 million Türkiye Climate Resilient Forests Project aimed at enhancing the country's ability to protect its forests and people from wildfires.
Türkiye faces various climate change impacts such as floods, wildfires, storms, and landslides. In 2021, severe wildfires devastated southern and western regions, burning coastal forestland eight times larger than average annual fires. These fires resulted in fatalities and evacuations, causing significant environmental, public health, economic impacts on sectors including timber industry, tourism, hunting, mining, beekeeping, and livestock.
The Türkiye Climate Resilient Forests Project aims to bolster wildfire management in 14 high-risk provinces where around 20 million people reside. Bekir Karacabey, Director General of the General Directorate of Forestry under the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry of Türkiye stated: "In the face of escalating wildfires that tragically claimed lives in 2021... As we embark on the Türkiye Climate Resilient Forests Project in partnership with the World Bank... Together with the World Bank and our stakeholders... ensuring the well-being of our people."
The project will implement integrated fire management strategies for wildfire suppression and prevention while restoring landscapes affected by wildfires. It is expected to reduce vulnerability to climate change by conserving biodiversity and ecosystem services while reducing CO2 emissions. The initiative also aims to support rural communities' livelihoods impacted by recent earthquakes.
Humberto Lopez, World Bank Country Director for Türkiye remarked: “Today marks a crucial step forward in our commitment to safeguarding communities and ecosystems... We are proud to have launched this transformative initiative in record time..."
The World Bank has been a consistent partner for Türkiye in disaster risk management against climate change impacts. The project aligns with Türkiye's Country Partnership Framework for 2024-2028 and complements other ongoing initiatives like the $135 million Turkey Resilient Landscape Integration Project (TULIP) promoting resilient landscape integration and the $449 million Türkiye Earthquake, Floods and Wildfires Emergency Reconstruction Project supporting municipal-level resilience.