The June edition of Wildfire Magazine is out, and with it, a feature on Turkey: WILDFIRE IN TURKEY: Fire management challenges at an ancient crossroads of nature & culture.
The article explores Turkey’s history of fire management and its approach to tackling today’s global issues, from changing land use to climate change. A big part of that approach includes international collaboration, such as the exchange of best practices and the sharing of research between Turkey and the U.S.
In October 2018, USDA Forest Service scientists Dr. Sharon Hood (RMRS) and Dr. Kevin Ryan (retired) joined Turkish scientists at the Anatolian Forest Research Institute, located in Antalya, Turkey, to exchange information on forest ecology and forest fire research activities. Over nine days, participants discussed everything from the current practices, challenges, and ecological effects of prescribed fire to post-fire tree mortality modeling.
Turkey’s embrace of research-based practices has helped the Turkish General Directorate of Forestry, called Orman Genel Müdürlüğü, to reduce its average time from fire detection to initial attack from 40 minutes in 2003 to 14 minutes in 2018. The U.S. Forest Service, meanwhile, has extended its network of colleagues and gained valuable insights from the approach Turkish scientists and managers take toward common problems.