Lessons from Turkey

Integrated Approaches to Land and Water Management

Global Perspectives onWatershed Management

First generation (1970s and 80s): top down, engineered solutions, little consultation

Second generation (1990s): community participation, local involvement, working from menus of options

…. What’s the next generation?

Experience in Turkey

Eastern Anatolia Watershed Rehabilitation Project, now closed, was a classic second generation project which had significant positive impacts.

Poverty and Forests in Turkey

Second project (Anatolia Watershed Rehabilitation Project) was a second generation ‘plus’ project

….. What was the ‘plus’?

Significant differences from the previous project

1. Institutions: widened involvement of public sector institutions (MEF and MARA: TÜGEM,OGM, ORKÖY, KKGM, AGM, SPAs, and CYGM)

Significant differences from the previous project

2. Very strong focus on service delivery: to poor communities in upland catchments

Significant differences from the previous project

3. Linkages: between upstream and downstream interests Upstream interests:

jobs, income generation, access to resources (forests, pastures, irrigation) [High poverty rates]

Significant differences from the previous project

3. Linkages: between upstream and downstream interests Downstream

interests: livestock improvement, manure management, crop productivity [Lower poverty rates]

Adding to the menu of options

Capitalizing on local interests in animal health and hygiene

Introducing integrating manure management systems which return compost to crops/pastures

Reducing and controlling water pollution into the Black Sea

Reducing nitrate levels in groundwater

Manure management measures

Some lessons

Centrality of community institutions in decision making

Organizing multiple government institutions to focus on service delivery in poor communities (convening power of the Bank)

Impact of introducing marginal technical improvements for managing manure

Animal hygiene Local hygiene Nitrate pollution reduction Access to composted manure

What about climate change?

Warming is already evident (3ºC over last 50 years in western Mediterranean)

Winter precipitation since 1950 has decreased by about 20 percent

Projected impacts on Turkey of global 2ºC temperature rise include: changes in seasonal rainfall more dry days per year outcome will have impacts on agriculture

Changes in seasonal rainfall

Increase in the number of dry days

The challenges

Scaling up: 65 percent of total rural land is degraded. Current operation is a ‘micro-pilot,’ covering 28 microcatchments. As many as 2000 could use similar treatment

Poor understanding of impacts on hydrology – increasingly critical to have this understanding as climate change impacts are felt

Medium term challenge of mitigating climate change impacts