Planning Principles of Grazing Management in Goat Breeding in Massive Forest Fire Areas (Case Study: Manavgat Forest Enterprise)

Abstract

Turkey's forest area is approximately 23.1 million ha, covering 29.44% of the country's surface area. About 20 thousand villages and 7 million forest villagers live in these areasThe vital activities of forest villagers, whose main livelihood is agriculture and animal husbandry, face severe damage from forest fires. The "Regulation on Procedures and Principles on Animal Grazing in the Forests and in the Grassland, Plateau, and Winter-Passage," published by the General Directorate of Forestry (GDoF), has been entered into force in 2012. According to this regulation, the areas where grazing is prohibited and allowed are specified. According to the GDoF of Forestry, sheep and cattle are grazed systematically in forest areas in 53.1% of our country's forest areas. However, it is still being determined what kind of grazing system will be implemented for forest villagers since all areas around the forest villages are burned in massive forest fires. The study aims to determine the principles of grazing plan and management for the forest villages of Antalya province Manavgat district after the great forest fire. The original data of the study area consists of fire data in the Manavgat district, forest management plan data, and forest village data damaged by fire at various levels. Considering these data, The principles of planning on how to use approaches such as suitability analysis, SWOT and RWOT analysis, and Logit model for functional grazing management and planning of goat breeders have been determined. The most critical problem forest villagers face after the massive forest fires are the complete restriction of sustainable goat breeding. It is necessary to decide on a new grazing plan, and management approaches for such areas to maintain life practices despite legal regulations. This study established a new grazing plan, management opportunities, and principles.