For the Future: Sustainable Wildlife Reserve Management in Turkey

Abstract

Wildlife management is particularly necessary in today’s world. In recent years, various groups and many individuals interested in the management of wildlife resources have recognized a need for reform in wildlife resources and management. Nowadays, sustainable management of wildlife is one of the most popular topics in every country. Sustainable wildlife management is an essential tool to conserve certain biodiversity and is vital for maintaining and enhancing ecosystem services. Wildlife areas are the important biodiversity areas of Turkey, and they host many endangered plant and animal species. The fact that these important wildlife areas can’t be managed properly will cause important problems not only for Turkey but also for World biodiversity. In this study, it was aimed to examine the main problems of wildlife resource management in Turkey and to provide solution suggestions. The most important problem in wildlife areas is the lack of qualified wildlife personnel; in other words, the inappropriate management of wildlife resources. Besides that, the ineffective legislation and organization, lack of qualified guarding teams, inability of preventing poaching, non-scientifically planned areas, non-scientific limitation on wildlife reserve, identification of unsuitable areas for target species, residential areas, agricultural lands, grazing activities, forestry activities, predators, stray dogs, and the lack of inventory and recording system are the other important problems of wildlife resource management.