Forest engineering education in Turkey and KTU Faculty of Forestry- Forest Engineering Department

Abstract

Forestry education in Turkey started with the forest school established in Istanbul by Tassy in 1857. This school was merged with the mining school in 1880 and the graduates were given the title of "forest engineer" for the first time. In the period of 1893-1910, forestry education was carried out within the body of the agricultural school. In 1910, it regained its independence under the name of "High Forest School". In 1934, the forest school master was transformed into a faculty within the Higher Institute of Agriculture (YZE) (Ankara). In this process, forest engineers work within the framework of the forestry order established within the framework of the provisions of the 1870 forest regulation. With the regulation, state forests are operated within the framework of the permission given to the private sector with a contract. Forest engineers prepare these contracts. They audit the compliance of the transactions with the contract. They calculate the tithe that the state should receive. They do their duty to protect forests. In other words, they are not directly involved in the operation of forests. In return for their duties, they are called "forest inspectors". In 1937, this management order, which led to the destruction of forests, was changed. From this date on, the forests will be operated by the state. However, forest engineers do not know forest management practices. For this reason, the first established forest enterprises were called "exemplary enterprises". These first forest enterprises, which were established, served as in-service training institutions. The Faculty of Forestry, on the other hand, has changed its education programs to include forest management practices. Forest engineers, on the other hand, started to work with the title of "forest regional chief", which is now called "forest operation chief". In 1948, the Higher Agricultural Institute was closed. Faculty of Forestry is affiliated to Istanbul University. Until 1971, forestry (forest engineering) education was carried out only within Istanbul University. In 1971, a new forestry faculty was established within the body of Karadeniz Technical University. After 1992, 10 more forest faculties of the country were opened. Thus, the number of institutions providing forest engineering education increased to 12.