Turkish Foundation for Prevention of Erosion, Afforestation and Protection of Natural Assets (TEMA)
Middle East Technical University (METU)

The primary objective of the Lower Caucasian Forests Gap Analysis is to identify the flora and fauna not represented in the areas currently under protection or covered by biodiversity management and to propose areas eligible for legal protection and development of habitats in the light of those data to be obtained.

Gaps, which could be bridged through changes to land management policies or creation of new conservation areas in the region, will be identified as a result of the Gap Analysis. A distribution of the vertebrate, butterfly species, and the existing vegetation will be used as the representatives of biodiversity to carry out the activities within the framework of the project. Ecological processes and human impacts will also be taken into consideration in developing the project approach.

The project will help a variety of NGOs to improve their institutional capabilities, gain a new perspective on conservation of nature, and strengthen their relations with other national NGOs and public agencies. Aside from that, relationships developing between researchers will assume importance.

Public agencies and NGOs will widely be involved in the activities and cooperate with each other. Exchange of information and development of action plans will ensure sustainability of the project and pave the way for its implementation in other regions. Depending on the outputs of the project, the Ministry of Environment and Forestry may revise the forest management plans, which it has drawn up in the light of efficient conservation and management systems, in terms of conservation areas, their boundaries, and major ecological areas.

The activities under the project are expected to be completed in April 2006.

The project will be carried out by TEMA in conjunction with the Middle East Technical University (METU). TEMA may retain local universities, national and local NGOs, and suppliers as subcontractors.

TEMA was founded by Hayrettin Karaca, the founder of Karaca Arboretum and a UN Environment Prize laurate, and Nihat Gokyigit, a founding shareholder of Tekfen Holding, on September 11, 1992. Guided by its vision to act as a NGO spearheading efforts aimed at protection of natural assets based on the principle of sustainable life on earth, intends to ensure that the public is well informed and assumes an active role to attain the following objectives with a view to maintaining social harmony resulting from land:

ODTÜ was initially established as the “Middle East High Technology Institute” on November 15, 1956 with the objective of contributing to development of Turkey and the Middle Eastern countries. It is the objective of the Middle East Technical University to ensure that knowledge is used for achieving advancement of our society and the whole mankind in social, cultural, economic, scientific, and technological fields and it has embraced the principle of providing education, research, and social services matching international standards.

The Middle East Technical University, which has achived many breakthroughs in the Turkish higher education system and pioneered modern education, used a small building owned by the Civil Servants Retirement Fund at Mudafaa Avenue in Kizilay, Ankara and some makeshift buildings adjacent to the TBMM as its facilities before moving to its present campus, which was the first of its kind in Turkey, in 1963. Science, Social Studies, Informatics, Applied Mathematics, and Marine Sciences institutes, which form a part of the ODTU, offer 67 postgraduate programs. The Marine Sciences Institute is based in Erdemli, Icel.

Endemic plants, large mammals, songbirds, butterflies, habitats, and areas with importance in terms of ecological processes

The project will cover the eastern and southeastern parts of Artvin, Ardahan, some parts of Kars, and the northeastern part of Erzurum.