A proposal of reconstruction upon nature park – forest recreation area concepts and nature park identification criterias in the example of Belgrad Forest

A proposal of reconstruction upon nature park – forest recreation area concepts and nature park identification criterias in the example of Belgrad Forest Abstract :  It is observed that there is a huge confusion about the terms “nature park” and “forest recration area in Turkey”. This study aims to define main qualitative differences between nature parks and forest recreation areas and by this way to enlight nature parks allocation criteria. For this study, nine nature parks and two forest recreation areas in Belgrad Forest in Istanbul are selected as example areas. An expert interview was designed to determine nature parks allocation criteria objectively and applied to 140 experts on protected areas. Furthermore reports from IUCN and nature park examples from different parts of the world were investigated. Based on the results of the interview “Definition Criteria of the Nature Parks and Evaluation Chart” was created. Example areas were analyzed by using this chart and by conservation thresholds method and recreational resources planning model. The results show that there is no significant difference between example nature parks and forest recreation areas. The most important issue about the selected nature parks that these areas are too small to include nature parks specifications. Detailed explanations for each example areas were written in the study. At last a nature park definition suitable to apply for Turkey’s conditions was developed. Keywords:  Protect areas, nature park, recration area, conservation threshold, recreational potantial analysis Tabiat parki – mesire yeri (orman ici dinlenme yeri) kavramlari ve tabiat parki belirleme kriterleri uzerine yeniden yapilandirma onerisi: Belgrad Ormani ornegi Ozet:  Turkiye’de tabiat parki kavrami ile mesire yeri kavrami arasinda uygulama acisindan buyuk bir kargasanin oldugu gozlenmektedir. Bu calisma tabiat parklari ile mesire yerleri arasindaki temel niteliksel ayrimlari ortaya koymak ve bu yolla tabiat parki ayirma kriterlerine aciklik getirmek amaciyla gerceklestirilmistir. Calisma icin Istanbul Belgrad Ormani’ndaki dokuz adet tabiat parki ile iki adet mesire yeri ornek alan olarak secilmistir. Tabiat parki ayirma kriterlerinin objektif bicimde saptanabilmesi icin bir uzman anketi tasarlanmis ve anket korunan alanlar konusunda uzman 140 kisiye uygulanmistir. Ayrica IUCN tarafindan gerceklestirilen calismalar ile dunyanin cesitli bolgelerinden tabiat parki ornekleri mercek altina alinmistir. Anket sonuclarina dayanilarak “Tabiat Parki Tespit Kriterleri ve Degerlendirme Tablosu” olusturulmustur. Ornek olarak secilen alanlar bir yandan bu tablo yardimiyla diger yandan da koruma esikleri ve rekreasyon potansiyel sentezi ile analiz edilmistir. Elde edilen sonuclar secilen ornek alanlarda tabiat parki ve mesire yerleri arasinda anlamli farkliliklarin olmadigini ortaya koymustur. Secilen tabiat parklarinda gozlenen en onemli sorun alanlarin tabiat parki ozelliklerini barindiramayacak kadar kucuk olmasidir. Calismada her bir ornek alan icin detayli aciklamalar yapilmistir. Son olarak Turkiye sartlarinda uygulanmasi mumkun olan bir tabiat parki tanimi gelistirilmistir. Anahtar Kelimeler:  Korunan alanlar, tabiat parki, mesire yeri, koruma esikleri, rekreasyon sentezi, puantaj matrisi Received (Gelis):  22.05.2016 -  Revised (Duzeltme):  25.07.2016 - Accepted (Kabul):  07.09.2016 Cite (Atif):  Tekin, H., Erdonmez, C., Erdomez, I.M.O., Aktas, N.K., Gurbey, A.P.B., Oztoprak, O., 2017. A proposal of reconstruction upon nature park – forest recreation area concepts and nature park identification criterias in the example of Belgrad Forest.  Journal of the Faculty of Forestry Istanbul University  67(2): xx-xx. DOI: 10.17099/jffiu.xxxxx