Gallipoli is Green Again Thanks for Reforestation

Saturday, May 24 2008 @ 10:01 AM Central Daylight Time

It has been fourteen years passed since a forest fire in the Gallipoli Historical National Park on the Gallipoli Peninsula on July 25, 1994 that devastated the forest. The fire was only brought under control after 57 hours of heroic efforts on the part of firefighters.
Efforts to reforest a fire-stricken area on the Gallipoli Peninsula have proven fruitful as trees have begun growing successfully on 90 percent of the affected area.


As noted by officials from the Canakkale Forest Directorate, Gallipoli Historical National Park, located along the European side of the Dardanelles, not only contains traces of the tragic Battle of Gallipoli, but also hosts a number of plant and animal species.
In 1973, 33,000 hectares of the peninsula were set aside as a national park area by the Forestry Ministry. But the forest fire in 1994 destroyed the 4,049 hectares of the forest area.

The forest fire, which was reportedly sparked by a fire started by a shepherd to cook corn, was especially tragic because Canakkale Forestry Director Talat Goktepe, who was personally directing the firefighting efforts, died while saving five fire fighters.
Following the fire, Istanbul University’s Forestry Faculty launched a project in 1994 to reforest the fire-devastated area. Under the project, about 3.7 million saplings were planted across an area measuring 3,632 hectares. These dedicated efforts have helped the region regain its former green beauty.

The Gallipoli Peninsula is visited by hundreds of thousands of Turkish citizens and foreign tourists every year as it contains historical war sites as well as the natural beauties of the Gulf of Saros.