Save the spirit of Belgrade Forest! - Publikationen

Belgrade Forest, to the north of Istanbul’s European coast, covers approximately 5300 hectares with mostly broadleaf trees. Recent archaeological excavations in Yenikapı confirm that the Forest dates back 8500 years; it has been serving Istanbul’s public throughout the city’s history. First used for its water sources, Belgrade Forest was later used for firewood and construction materials.
After Suleiman the Magnificent’s expedition to Belgrade in 1521, Serbians from Belgrade were settled in the area, which was then known as Belgrade Village; they also gave the name to Belgrade Forest. During and after that period, seven aqueducts were built, making Belgrade Forest Istanbul’s most important water source.

In the imperial order dated 1907 and signed by the “Minister of the Private Treasury of the Ottoman Sultan” (Nazır-ı Hazine-î Hassa) it states that, “the forests in the environs of Istanbul should be protected for both the welfare of the people and the beauty of the city.”

Istanbul’s northern forests of mostly white oak and chestnut trees were also important sources for construction materials. Recent archaeological excavations in Yenikapı revealed that all the piers in the Harbor of Eleutherios (later known as the Harbor of Theodosius) and all of the ships built particularly between the 9th and 11th centuries were made of white oak and chestnut tree timber. It is likely that this wood was sourced from the Belgrade Forest. Some imperial orders also mention lumber from forests in Üsküdar and Alemdağ.
In the early Republic era, preservation works were undertaken because of the forest’s important function as a water source. On November 2, 1953, the Forest was designated a “Protection Forest” in Decree No. 2073 by the Council of Ministers. After this date, 3000 hectares of the Forest which had been a picnic area was downgraded to a “Natural Park”
Population increases and the proliferation of housing developments within city limits meant that the Metropolitan and County Municipalities could not meet the city’s needs for green spaces. Belgrade Forest, which had been protected, was turned into picnic areas meter by meter, as it continued to function as a water source and educational area. In recent years, its function as a picnic area has become more prominent as it is no longer used as it once was as a water source.

The Importance of Belgrade Forest
Belgrade Forest is very important for a number of reasons:

• It’s location at the intersection of three large phytogeographical areas - the Mediterranean, the Black Sea, and Iran-Turan. It is on one of the most important plant migration paths during periods of great climate change. The Forest is also home to 450 plant species, one quarter of which are ligneous, and has the qualities of a natural arboretum and botanical garden.
• Located to the north of Istanbul, a city of almost 15 million and growing, the Forest cleans the city’s air with strong Black Sea winds with the oxygen it produces.
• Despite all polluting factors and the excessive increase in population it is still an important source of water.
• It serves Istanbulites as one of the most important everyday leisure and entertainment spaces.
• It is located on one of the few bird migration paths in the world, giving the birds the opportunity to rest during long migrations.

Problems with water in Belgrade Forest
Three of the most important water basins on the European side of Istanbul are in Sazlıdere, Alibeyköy, and Kağıthane. These three water basins are expanding by absorbing the rivulet tributaries of the Sazlıdere, Alibeyköy, and Kağıthane rivers, shelter the most important green spaces of Istanbul where the northern forest waters drain. The Forest, located at the northern-most point of the Kağıthane rivulet, is the best-preserved forest in the Kağıthane basin. This green swath running through the history of the city continues to bring water to Istanbul through its seven historic aqueducts.1

Belgrade Forest was Istanbul’s most important water source from the Roman and Byzantine eras up to the Ottoman era and into the 1990s. As Istanbul rose in importance during the Ottoman era, aqueducts were built to transport water into the city. From 1554 to 1839, water from the aqueducts was carried to Taksim Square; from there it was distributed around the city. Gradual population increase in the city led to the forests losing its function as a water source; it is still in danger of pollution due to the high numbers of visitors it receives.

Another problem is the haphazard draining of underground reservoirs that have or have not been properly inspected. In the past, water was tapped from 80-100m below the surface; now, due to excessive water removal, the water level has dropped to 200m underground. The excessive draining of water and the water level dropping to greater depths will harm the forest in the long term. The dieback in predominantly older or weaker trees in dry periods has increased primarily because of lack of water, and secondarily due to pests like insects and fungi. The Belgrade Forest gives us abundant examples of this phenomenon.

Wildlife problems in Belgrade Forest
Belgrade Forest is an important wildlife reserve sheltering some of Turkey’s threatened species. Nine of the 21 confirmed mammal species are designated protected by the Ministry of Forestry and Water Affairs, while the rest are considered threatened.2

Wildlife in Belgrade Forest faces the following problems: (E., Hızal et al, 2013.)

1. Stray and wandering dogs damage wildlife to a great extent. Unfortunately, a significant number of domestic dogs are released into the forest and the canine population continues to grow. These dogs, which also occasionally attack people, pose one of the greatest threats to small animals such as squirrels and birds because they are left to fend for themselves against this new threat.
2. Certain forestry policies lead to the cutting down of dead or hollow trees and this damages the habitat of some mammals.
3. Poaching.
4. Increasing traffic density. Vehicle traffic increases from May to September on Sundays in particular causing damage and intense noise pollution.
5. Off-roading and motorcross.
6. Picnicking in areas that are not designated as such.
7. There are also many other negative factors such as grazing, unlicensed butchering, water wells, and the breaking up of wildlife areas by wire fencing.

A project intending to study the movements of wild animals captured poaching and other damaging activities clearly on night vision cameras.3

Recreation and related problems in Belgrade Forest
Belgrade Forest is one of the most important recreational areas in Istanbul available to the public. Belgrade Forest’s registry data shows us the following:

• During December, January, and February the number of visitors declines and the Forest receives an average of 40,000 visitors a month.
• During April, May, and June the number of visitors increases and the Forest has an average of 100,000 visitors a month.
• There are approximately 800,000 registered visitors who visit the Forest annually.
• The number of unregistered and unregulated entries is estimated at around 400,000.
• With the growing importance the public places on physical activity, the Forest has seen an increase in pursuits such as cycling and orienteering since 2002.4

Legal designations and their likely effects
Despite having been a protected area during the Ottoman era, negligence and damage during World War I lead to weakened protection measures in later periods when the Forest suffered fires, intense lumbering, and sustained great damage. During the early years of the Republic, Belgrade Forest was protected once again and its uses were more controlled. On November 2, 1953, Decree No. 2073 of the Council of Ministers put the Forest under official protection once more; the first picnic areas were designated in 1957. The National Parks Law of 1983 has been implemented very quickly, with areas of the Forest reclassified as a “nature park” and 300 hectares being converted into picnic areas.

The creation of nature parks creates the risk of construction. The “Regulations Relating to Plans for Protected Areas” published in the Official Gazette No. 28242 on March 23, 2012 by the Ministry of Environment and Urban Planning, a nature park is defined as “suitable environs for people’s leisure and entertainment within an integral landscape with flora and fauna.” Even though the definition mentions fauna and being integral with the landscape, areas within the bounds of a forest are completely deprived of any meaning. Even if the wildlife is there to begin with, with the increased numbers of visitors to a nature park, their habitat will surely be destroyed.

Article 22 of the by-law on National Parks published in the Official Gazette No. 19309 of December 12, 1986 states:
As a condition to be in the public interest and in accordance with permission that may be granted to a real person or legal entities to build touristic buildings and facilities in the national and nature parks located outside the boundaries of touristic regions, areas and centers, by the Ministry of Finance and Customs, by obtaining approval from the Ministry.
The entrepreneur can prepare a project under the guidance of the grounds the Ministry determines with the conditions stated in the existent plans for the area in question. The entrepreneur can demand the establishment of usufruct from the Ministry with the condition of obtaining permission from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.
The duration of the usufruct established on behalf of real persons or legal entities resulting in such permission may not exceed forty-nine years at the end of which all the facilities shall be, in their integrity, transferred to the Treasury.

Within one month of the establishment of usufruct of the annunciation to the entrepreneur by the Ministry the notarized written contract in compliance with the example provided by the Ministry will be given to the Ministry. Following this, the area permitted to be built upon is delivered to the entrepreneur by the Ministry with written proceedings exclusive to the entrepreneur. The entrepreneur is responsible for complying with the conditions promised to the Ministry.

The extension of the period of established usufruct is implemented in compliance with the provisions of Articles 8 and 9 of this Law.
A careful read of this article of law leads us to a clear understanding of the real risk of construction in areas designated as nature parks within Belgrade Forest.

What can be done to help Belgrade Forest?
These suggestions could be used to solve the problems already listed above; all that is needed is the desire and the willpower:

1. Belgrade Forest’s “nature park” designation should be reversed completely and the “reserve forest” status applied in 1953 should be put back into effect. In short, the pre-existing legal situation should be upheld.
2. Picnic activities should be kept at a moderate level. The vehicle and human traffic in the months of heavy months like May and June should be reduced. The entry of vehicles and people into the Forest, other than the designated picnic areas, should be disallowed.
3. The public should be educated not to abandon domestic dogs in the Forest and the existing stray dogs should be gathered and transported to rehabilitation centers.
4. The increase in the number of upturned trees and soil areas with excessive human traffic should be rezoned into picnic areas, and the areas used as picnic areas should be rotated over time.
5. The protective measures to be put into place for Belgrade Forest should be announced in the media and society should be made aware of these important issues.
6. The damage that the third bridge project and the linking roads that will be built alongside it will cause to the Forest is obvious. This massive project, which is not included in the long-term structural plans for Istanbul, should be immediately aborted.
7. If the project is not aborted, linking roads inside and around Belgrade Forest should not be built. The entire periphery of the Forest should be encased and traffic should be monitored strictly so that as it is surrounded by construction work it doesn’t transform into an artificial “Belgrade Park.”
8. The water facilities within the Forest should be removed so that the Forest can be inherited by future generations and sustain its livelihood.
9. The management of some of the areas reserved as nature park has been delegated to district municipalities. This should be fully reversed and the picnic areas should be managed as “picnic areas” under the control of the Regional Directorate of Forestry. The status of “picnic area” is already under the consideration of the General Directorate of Forestry, which is responsible for its full protection, care and development.
10. Suitable areas of forest should only be opened to public use during daytimes and construction of all other proposed facilities should be disallowed. The existing picnic areas should be opened on a rotation basis. Altervative picnic areas should be created in districts such as Çiftalan, Ağaçlı, Göktürk and Kemerburgaz.

Endnotes

1 Şengönül, K., Serengil, Y., 2013.
2 Hızal, E., Arslangündoğdu, Z., Inan, M., 2013.
3 E.,Hızal et al, 2013.
4 Kaptanoğlu, A.Y.Ç as referenced in 1918 Uzun, A., Kaptanoğlu, A.Y.Ç., 2013.

Bibliography

• Şengönül, K., Serengil, Y., (2013) “Belgrad Ormanı Su Kaynakları ve Sorunları” (The Water Sources of Belgrade Forest and Related Problems), Belgrad Ormanı Sorunları ve Çözüm Yolları (Problems Regarding Belgrade Forest and Their Solutions), ÇEKÜL. ISBN: 978-605-63831-0-6, p.p: 108-121.
• Hızal, E., Arslangündoğdu, Z., Inan, M., (2013), “Belgrad Ormanı’nın Memeli Hayvan Türleri ve Habitat Sorunları” (Mammal Species in Belgrade Forest and their Habitat Problems), Belgrad Ormanı Sorunları ve Çözüm Yolları (Problems Regarding Belgrade Forest and Their Solutions), ÇEKÜL, ISBN: 978-605-63831-0-6, p.p: 94-107.
• Uzun, A., Kaptanoğlu, A.Y.Ç., (2013) “Belgrad Ormanı’nın Rekreasyonel Kullanımı ve Sorunları” (The Recreational Use of Belgrade Forest and Related Problems), Belgrad Ormanı Sorunları ve Çözüm Yolları (Problems Regarding the Belgrade Forest and Their Solutions), ÇEKÜL, ISBN: 978-605-63831-0-6, p.p: 122-150.
  “Osmanlı Ormancılığı ile Ilgili Belgeler” (Documents Regarding Ottoman Forestry), vol. I, 1999, T.C. Orman Bakanlığı Yayınları (Ministry of Forestry Publications of the Republic of Turkey), Publication No: 094, Ankara.
• “Osmanlı Ormancılığı ile Ilgili Belgeler” (Documents Regarding Ottoman Forestry), vol. II-III, 2003, T.C. Orman Bakanlığı Yayınları (Ministry of Forestry Publications of the Republic of Turkey), Publication No: 216 & 217, Ankara.
  Tolunay, D., Karaöz, M. Ö., Akkemik, Ü., (2013). “Belgrad Ormanı’nın Doğal Ekosistemleri ve Mevcut Tehditler” (The Natural Ecosystem of Belgrade Forest and Existing Threats), Belgrad Ormanı Sorunları ve Çözüm Yolları (Problems Regarding Belgrade Forest and Their Solutions), ÇEKÜL, ISBN: 978-605-63831-0-6, p.p: 54-92.

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Prof. Dr. Ünal Akkemik
A professor in Istanbul University’s Forestry Faculty, Forest Botanic Department, Akkemik conducts studies on plant morphology and identification, fossil plants, tree trunk circles as well as history of climate, archeological excavations and wood diagnosis. He is Head of the Forest Botanic Department, Head of Forest Engineering Department and a Member of the Faculty Board.