INTRODUCTION  

Starting with the Neolithic age, people began to clear forests to obtain open land for settlement and for pastures. As human population rapidly increased since the 18th century, pressures on forestlands also increased, leading to scarcity of natural resources. The concept of sustainability, as the level of timber harvest allowable from the forest, was first introduced into forestry practices as early as the 9th century. In addition to wood products and direct economic inputs, non-monetary assets related to ecological value of forests have been increasingly recognized in the second half of the 20th century (Yaltirik and Akesen, 1997). Forests have been a major feature of planet Earth ever since trees evolved from smaller plants more than 300 million years ago. Today, 29.6 percent of the world's land area is covered by forest. The area of forest cover has changed over time as climate changed, as ice ages came and went, and more recently as the human population cleared large areas of forest for food production.

During the rise of civilization, 40 percent of the forest cover that existed 5,000 years ago has been converted to farms and cities. Most of this deforestation has occurred during the past 200 years to grow the food for a rapidly rising population.

Between 1980 and 1990 there was a net loss of 130 million hectares (325 million acres), or three percent of the world's total forestland. Between 1990 and 2000, the net loss of forest dropped to 90 million hectares (225 million acres), or 2.3 percent of the total area of forest.

The net loss in forest cover in recent decades is a result of high rates of deforestation in the tropical developing countries, mainly due to clearing for agriculture to feed a growing population. There has actually been a net increase in forest cover in the developed countries, including the U. S., during this period. Unfortunately the rate of deforestation in the developing countries is far higher than the rate of reforestation in the developed countries (Skov & Landskab, 2003).

Yet, forests worldwide are being threatened by several factors, to the extent to impair our life-support systems, and to damage earth's biodiversity.

In spite of adequate application of scientific and technical forestry measures especially in the northern hemisphere, certain parts of the earth are losing forests and forest lands at alarming rates. As stated by Rodgers (1997), global forest loss and forest degradation are rapidly increasing since the 1850s. Estimated loss within the period of 1850-1980 was 15% of the world's forests and woodlands, in Asia being 43%. In the 1980-1985 period forest was lost at an annual rate of 0.6%. Since 1985 it has almost doubled to 18.5 million ha or 1.0% per annum. In the tropics alone 15.4 million ha of forests are lost each year (Kathleen A. Dwire and J. Boone Kauffman, 2003)

Over the past few years, forested areas have decreased all over the world in result of fire, farming, illegal cutting and uncontrolled use of land in the developing countries, as well as due to the further industrialization of the developed countries. Environmental problems are increasing, necessary measures have not been taken in time and the destruction of tropical rain forests has not been stopped.

These developments are observed almost all over Turkey, and especially in the Istanbul area where the population has increased to 12 million in the last few years (Yaltirik and Akesen, 1997). Within Turkey, Istanbul is one of the most intensive locations of cultural, commercial and manufacturing activity. This has caused increasing population level in the city. Urbanization is a globally used development indicator. The higher the level of urbanizations, the more developed the population (Ref: 14). Major changes in society have led to a call for structural changes in forestry. The role of urbanization in the change of forestry should not be overlooked. Large parts of the world have become highly urbanized and the majority of the world's population now lives in cities and towns.  Although some forests have been under the direct influence of cities and towns for ages (Skov&Landskab2003). Istanbul is a rapidly growing city whose urban structure and socio-economic characteristics are constantly evolving. Residential preferences of the population are continually adapting to its changing conditions (Dökmeci and Berköz, 1999). Because of urbanization, Istanbul has many urban problems and faces significant population pressure. Like many other large metropolitan areas, Istanbul’s metropolitan area is experiencing urban sprawl, loss of natural vegetation and open space, and a general decline in the spatial extent and connectivity of its forests. Other issues that are caused by rapid urbanization in the metropolitan area include the following:

·        Settlement and housing problems. Overnight houses called Gece Kondus put up quickly without proper planning permissions. These gecekondus are built without obeying building codes,

·        Environmental problems (air pollution, water pollution, sea pollution and noise pollution),

·        Infrastructure demands,

·        Administrative and planning problems,

·        Social and economic problems,

·        Loss of natural and historical heritage.

The 5512km² of land area in Istanbul serves many different functions. Residential, industrial, recreational, agricultural, and forest areas, commercial, institutional and military sites all make up the land use of Istanbul. In spite of the presence of 10 million people in Istanbul the distribution of residential, commercial and institutional uses occupy a small area compared to spaces dedicated to forests and water resources. There are indications however that the distribution of these uses could likely change over the next 20 years depending on population growth (Greater municipality, 1995). So the aim of this study is to show the relationship between the urbanization and forest fires in Istanbul.