| Eastern Anatolia Watershed Rehabilitation Project
Bahri Cevik, Mahmut Cetin
,Gursel Kusek
Abstract Turkey is one of the countries severely subjected to erosion. It is estimated that over 600 million tons of soil per year are lost to the seas and lakes by erosion. The Eastern Anatolia Watershed Rehabiliation Project has been developed as a result of an agreement between the World Bank and the government of Turkey signed in 1993 with the objective of conservation and development of vegetative structure and water resources, prevention of erosion, rehabilitation of rangeland and improvement of living conditions of the villagers over the middle basin of the Euphrates River. In Elazig, Malatya, and Adiyaman provinces 54 micro-catchments will be used as experimental sites over the next six years. From the environmental point of view, the purpose of the project is to achieve sustainable protection and development of the soil and water resources. From the socioeconomic view point, the purpose is to involve the local communities in the project activities, thus increasing rural income by developing various income generating activities. |
