Ecological corridors and clusters for environmental master plan and environmental management studies of Istanbul

Abstract

One of the driving forces for the sustainable development of a sub-region, region or a country is the effective development of environmental masterplans and environmental management plans. These studies are complementary to sustainable policies in order to ensure effective executive implementation of such plans and management proposals. These guiding studies have naturally to be in line with scientific knowledge, given natural areas are finite and human-kind's impact is profound. Therefore landscape ecology and ecologically based studies are becoming increasingly important. This study examines ways of looking at Istanbul, the biggest metropolis of Turkey, in terms of its ecological clusters and corridors and current environmental master plans and management plans.