Turkish Foundation for Combating Soil Erosion

Description

TEMA, the Turkish Foundation for Combating Soil Erosion, is a non-governmental organisation working on reforestation and the protection of natural habitats in Turkey.

It was founded in 1992 by Hayrettin Karaca and Nihat Gökyiğit, and has grown into Turkey’s leading environmental NGO with a large body of voluntary members. Its work spans afforestation, rural development, environmental education and advocacy on land use, climate, energy, mining and water policy. It also pursues legal cases in defence of the environment.

The foundation runs long-running projects such as the Oak Project, which aims to create oak forests across a million hectares of Turkish land in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, and the Memory Forest programme, which plants commemorative forests on behalf of individuals and institutions. It has also planted trees along a long stretch of the Ankara-Istanbul motorway and undertaken biodiversity projects such as one protecting a wooded area near Bodrum.

TEMA relies on volunteers, donations and a landscaping and gardening business unit that funds its conservation work. It also produces educational materials, environmental reports and transparency publications, and maintains field representatives across Turkey.