Planning Forest Recreation Services for Urban Dwellers With a Multi- Criteria Approach (a Case of Türkiye)

Abstract

Abstract Due to its geography, Türkiye has recently been exposed to extensive refugee migration and hosts many refugees. In addition, like the rest of the world, it has faced the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic. Alongside these unfavorable situations, life continues, and people's orientation toward the services offered by forests and the planning of services are becoming more and more important every day. For this reason, this study focused on recreation, which is one of the non-wood forest products and services offered in forests in Türkiye. The distribution of national parks, nature parks, and A-, B-, C-, and D-type recreation areas, which are recreational areas in forests, were evaluated by weighted overlay analysis at the provincial level in Türkiye, using criteria such as Gross Domestic Product GDP per capita, number of people per km2, population growth rate, ratio of forest area to overall area, and total forest recreation areas. As a result of the analysis, the provinces were divided into three priority categories. Considering Türkiye's national development policies, different approaches are presented to planners in this study regarding organizing the utilization of forest service’s according to changing needs by evaluating the changing characteristics of the society and the forest structure together.