THE ROLE OF PHOTOGRAMMETRY AND REMOTE SENSING ON 
DETERMINING THE FOREST BOUNDARIES AND UNAUTHORIZED BUILDINGS 
IN TURKEY 
(A SAMPLE AREA: BEYKOZ (ISTANBUL)) 
Dr. Erdal KOKTURK', Asosc. Prof. Dr. Erol KOKTURK * 
'Beykoz Municipality, Istanbul-Turkey; erdalkokturk@yahoo.com 
*Kocaeli University, Karamürsel MYO, Izmit-Turkey; erolkokturk@superonline.com 
Session: PS ThS 19 
KEY WORDS: Forests, Urbanization, Squatter and Unauthorized Buildings, Cadastre and Registered Record, Forestry 
Cadastre, Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing 
ABSTRACT: 
The 2694 (201,992.96 km?) of Turkey's land area is (769,604 km?) covered by forests. It has been possible to determine the 
boundaries of 4/5 of the forests of Turkey in 66 years by forest cadastre which was introduced in 1937. But only 1/4 of the 
demarcated area could be registered into the land registry. Forests are occupied by unauthorized buildings and squatters as a 
result of creeping operations. Betweeen the years of 1937 and 2003, an area of 4734.19 km? has been reassigned as nonforest 
area because of loosing its forest characteristics. The advantages of remote sensing and photogrammetry technologies have 
not been taken sufficiently in forestry cadastral works. 
In this paper, the size of forest plunder is analyzed by associating it with the evolution of urbanization in the course of time. 
In this context, the matters concerning forestry demarcation and problems in forestry cadastre, and the activities causing 
unauthorized housing and illegal forestry usage are dicussed. Furthermore, the role of remote sensing and photogrammetry in 
determining forest boundaries in Turkey,both on land and by forestry cadastral maps, is examined. 
The forests located in the north of istanbul, which is a very large city, serve as the lungs of the city. Especially after the recent 
earthquake experienced in “MARMARA” Region, the pressure on forests has increased because of the jeopardy created by 
the descending ground. In this study, Beykoz, which is one of the 32 townships of istanbul Province and located in the north 
of the city with 313km? of. area, 80 96 of which is covered by forests, has been chosen as a sample area, and the condition of 
forests in this region has been analyzed. 
1. INTRODUCTION 
In Turkey, the “forestry cadastre” works and “ownership 
cadastre” works are carried out by different institutions 
and by using different technical (map production) 
standards. 
The forestry cadastre, defined as “demarcation of forests 
and their registration into the land registry in the name of 
‘state’ as a public property”, is carried out in Turkey by 
forestry cadastral committees formed by five members 
appointed by the Ministry of Environment and Forestry. 
These committees functioning in subordination to the 
General Directorate of Forestry perform their works in 
accordance with the Forestry Law No. 6831 dated 1956 
and the Implementation Regulation dated 11 April 1990. 
The reason why the forestry cadastre is carried out 
separately from the ownership cadastre carried out 
pursuant to the Cadastre Law No. 3402 dated 1987 in line 
with the principles set forth in the Turkish Civil Code, is 
explained on the grounds that “determining whether or 
not an area is qualified as a forest land requires special 
expertise” (Decision of the General Board of Law of 
Supreme Court of Appeals, dated 30 September 1981). 
On the grounds of this opinion, the General Directorate of 
Land registration and Cadastre responsible for carrying 
out the ownership cadastre, as well as the map 
engineering services have been excluded in carrying out 
the forestry cadastral works, and all works have been 
realized under the guidance of forest engineers. 
Consequently, the forestry cadastral works have not been 
successful. 
In this paper, the reasons of not being successful in 
demarcation of forests and their invasion by unauthorized 
buildings have been studied by aerial photographs and 
photogrammetric data belonging to the township of 
Beykoz located within Istanbul Province. 
2. SURVEYING TECHNIQUES USED IN TURKEY 
IN FORESTRY DEMARCATION 
In forestry cadastral works in Turkey, priority has been 
given to using the ground surveying methods (Regulation 
2/B, Article 48). Although the Forestry Law No. 6831 
stipulates that the aerial photographs required in forestry 
demarcation should be taken or cause to be taken by the 
   
    
  
  
  
  
  
   
  
   
  
  
  
  
  
   
  
  
  
  
  
   
  
  
  
   
  
  
  
  
   
  
  
  
  
   
  
  
  
   
   
    
  
   
   
  
  
  
   
  
   
   
  
   
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