The Climate Change and Forest Ecosystem Services Workshop, organized within the scope of the "Ecosystem Services for Social Cohesion in the Istanbul Regional Directorate of Forestry" Project carried out under the European Union's Climate Change Adaptation Grant Programme, started on November 26, 2024, at the Lüleburgaz Yıldızları Women's Academy Türkan Saylan Hall. The second leg of the workshop continues in Istanbul. The event was attended by Özgür Balcı, Head of the Ecosystem Services Department from the General Directorate of Forestry, Ahmet Şekercan, Branch Manager of the Ecosystem Services Assessment Department, İlyas Özdemir and Erdal Şahan, Deputy Regional Directors of Istanbul Forestry, Mahmut Ferhatoğlu, Ecosystem Services Branch Manager, İkram Çelik, Forest Fire Fighting Branch Manager, Yıldıray Lise, Deputy General Manager of the Nature Conservation Centre, and the project team.
The meeting began with opening speeches emphasizing the importance of the project for the Istanbul region and the impacts of climate change on the forest ecosystem. Afterwards, an informative presentation was made about the activities carried out and planned work within the scope of the project. This presentation covered; focus group meetings held, training activities, the spatial database created through participatory mapping methods for ecosystem services, and modeling studies. The training programs organized at Atatürk Arboretum aimed at increasing social resilience, the project's second main activity, and visits made to forest management directorates were also mentioned.
Within the scope of the workshop, a "Regional Sensitivity Assessments" session was held where the vulnerabilities of forest ecosystem services within the framework of climate change were evaluated. Subsequently, group work was conducted under the heading "Strategy Proposals and Nature-Based Solutions," where nature-based solution proposals for climate change adaptation were discussed, and strategic approaches were determined. The workshop concluded with an evaluation session following participant group presentations and discussions.
