Mapping protected areas by gis method: A case study of izmir city, ÇeŞme district (turkey)

In Turkey, in order to protect nature, there are strategies and categories depending on differences between local environmental conditions as in many countries in the world. The term of “protected environments”, is also supported by laws as in other countries around the world. Natural protected environments are divided into the following three categories “Critical Environments under the Protection of Law” (SAPUL), “Natural Protected Environments with Qualifications” and “Sustainable Protection and Controlled Usage Environments”, according to the resolution Conditions of Protection and Use of Natural Protected Environments, dated 2017, of Turkish Republic Ministry of Environment and Urban Planning. A map of Natural Protected Environments has been generated as a result of evaluation of 81 polygons which have been specified as natural protected environment borders by the Protection Commission of the Turkish Republic Ministry of Environment and Urban Planning, the strategy for determining (SAPUL) is approached as this article’s subject. According to this strategy, in Çeşme (Izmir/Turkey) district, 20 polygons were specified to belong to the categories (SAPUL) among 81 polygons based on the terms and definition of the resolution of Izmir City and Çeşme district. Borders of natural protected environments, which were specified by the protection commission of the Turkish Republic Ministry of Environment and Urban Planning, each polygon is generated based on up-to-date land use information, have been formed based on the visuals taken from İKONOS satellite in 2017. The natural areas that carry the status of SAPUL were specified based on the specifications of the landscape and criteria of landscape assessment as the “use of the land”, “live natural landscape”, “historical landscape”, Hereat, each polygon has been evaluated and mapped according to their specifications of landscape. Primarily, sample map has been created by using quantitative evaluation, which is supported by geographical information system (GIS). It is thought that this strategy will be useful for the resolutions that will be taken by the Committee on Conservation of Cultural Assets in Turkey in the Ministry of Environment and Urban Planning. © 2020, ALÖKI Kft., Budapest, Hungary