Türkiye on Friday marked National Forestation Day, which was declared by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in 2019. Erdoğan, who plants a sapling on Nov. 11 every year, missed the national events this year but joined other country leaders thousands of kilometers away this time.

Erdoğan and leaders of Turkic states planted saplings in Uzbekistan’s Samarkand, where they came together for the 9th Organization of Turkic States (OTS) summit.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry organized nationwide planting events under the theme of "Breath for the Century of Türkiye," in line with the government’s ambitious vision for development. The first edition of the event in 2019 was named "Breath for the Future" as the country strives to expand its forests at a time of climate change.

The main event was attended by Vice President Fuat Oktay and Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Vahit Kirişçi in Ankara. Erdoğan joined the event via video link.

At the same spot, about 100,000 saplings were planted in an area covering 2,023 square meters (21,775 square feet) representing the centenary of the Republic of Türkiye, in the logo's shape of the "Century of Türkiye." Similar-shaped prospective forests were also planted in other provinces. Friday’s drive aims to plant of 4 million saplings in 1,023 locations in 81 provinces.

This year again, the forestation drive was expanded to other countries. OTS states, including Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan and Hungary, symbolically planted seven saplings each, representing the number of OTS members.

Since 2019,13.8 million saplings have been planted on National Forestation days. The country also broke a world record for the highest number of saplings planted in one hour, when some 3,000 people planted 303,150 saplings in the central city of Çorum in the first edition of the day. In 2020, 4.5 million saplings were planted and last year, another 5.2 million saplings were planted across the country.

The Forest Resources Assessment (FRA) published by the United Nations every fifth year ranked Türkiye's forest assets 46th in 2015, but they later rose to 27th in 2020.

Speaking at the planting ceremony in the capital Ankara, Vice President Fuat Oktay said some 600 million saplings will be planted by the end of the year. He stated that Türkiye also started allocating a new budget for forests and sustainable nature that now stands at more than $538 million (TL 10 billion).

Minister Kirişçi said at the ceremony that Türkiye ranks first in Europe and fourth in the world in tree planting work. He said their work complements Türkiye’s green development revolution and 2053 net-zero emission goal.

He pointed out that they increased the size of forested areas since 2002 by 2.3 million hectares (5.6 million acres), to 23.1 million hectares. "In the 1970s, we were losing 500 million cubic meters of soil to erosion annually and today, we managed to decrease it to 154 million cubic meters and we will decrease it further. We cannot afford to lose soil," the minister said.

Amid a construction boom and concerns over global warming, Türkiye has ramped up efforts to preserve and further expand its forests. It is also pursuing a campaign to boost the production of saplings and increase revenue from forestry products, namely fruit and honey production, for villagers. Thousands of forests have been planted in rural areas to generate extra income for farmers.

In line with the government's action plan, the mass planting of trees and the improvement of pastures are also among the measures being taken against erosion and desertification. Massive pieces of land turn into deserts every year because of poor irrigation. According to officials, Türkiye is among the countries that are most affected by the increase in non-arable lands and climate change, as it lies in a geographically challenging location sandwiched between different climates.

Türkiye also grapples with fires threatening its forests, particularly in the summer. So far, about 1,800 forest fires have been reported in the country, compared to 2,800 between January and early October 2021. In terms of forest fires and disasters related to climate change, 2021 was one of the worst years in recent history, both for Türkiye and the world. The risk is likely to linger in the future, experts warn, citing the prevailing fallout from climate change.

Last year, 2,793 forest fires were reported, however, most of them, as was the case in the past, broke out during summer. Most of the huge fires were reported in Antalya and Muğla, two southern provinces on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea. The deadly blazes claimed at least eight lives. The wildfires prompted a nationwide mobilization to help the burned-down villages and triggered a debate on the country’s response to such catastrophes.

The forest fires that erupted in over 500 locations in two provinces lasted for days, the longest for 15 days, causing the evacuation of villages in Manavgat, the worst-hit district in Antalya. It also caused evacuations from Bodrum and Marmaris, two popular vacation destinations in the neighboring Muğla province.