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FOREST MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEM (FORMIS) AN APPLICATION OF GIS IN THE FORESTRY IN TURKEY
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Güänül Toz
Department of Photogrammetry, IstanbulTechnical University, Istanbul, Turkey
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Feyza Akyiiz
Department of Photogrammetry, Istanbul University, Istanbul, Turkey
Msc. Eng. Hayati Tastan
General Command of Mapping, Ankara, Turkey
Abstract :
To make better decision, to improve productivity, to save time, money and man power in forest
management activities, required are dynamic both locational and descriptive inventory data,
rather geographic information. Conventional maps and forest inventories on papers are lack of
meeting these requirements which are not static and subjected to change rapidlly. As for the
Computer Aided Design/Drafting/Display (CAD) and Data Base Management (DBM) systems, their
capabilities are confined in manupulation of locational or descriptive data, respectively. Meeting
all the requirements in forest management activities, a GIS is the only system to be chosen, since
it is able to manupulate locational and clescriptive data as well as the relationships between
them dynamicaly.
In this paper, GIS activities and Forestry in Turkey are briefly discussed and then terminology
andtheor.ytical concepts on GIS, Forest Management and the link between them are reviewed. An
Example of a regional plot-based forest inventory (Forest serie of Büyükdüz in Turkey) integrated
in a GIS, namely FORMIS (Forest Management Information System) (an application software written
in Sinple Macro Language of the PC Arc/Info software package) is also presented.
KEY WORDS : GIS, Forest, Managment, Information
1- Introduction
The importance of a GIS has not known
widely in Turkey although some activietes in
different agencies has already been initiated but
not completed yet. On the other hand forest mana-
gement activities in Turkey back to 1924 and has
made considerable progress since then using aerial
photographs and satelite imagery but not a GIS.
The primary aim of this study is to show up the
importance of a GIS for forest management activi-
ties clarifying basic ad hoc aspects and to set
up a pilot project on the design and implemen-
tation of a Forest Management Information system
via a GIS software package.
Determining the problems which are likely to be
encountered during the pilot project of a
forest Management Information system with the
purpose of taking necessary precautions in advan-
ce before getting started a project and making a
contribution to the studies-espacially in appli-
cation fields of GIS in Turkey are composing
the secondary objectives of this study. Although
the application software FORMIS is limited to
some ex tent when all the activities in the
forest management are taken into account, our
startpoint was the belief that it is always pre-
ferable to begin with a small limited but functi-
oning GIS than a large one which never works.
2- GIS Activities in Turkey
GIS activities in Turkey originally started
as a pilot project to design a Multi Product
Geogrophic Database in General Command of Mapping
using the Structured Systems Analysis and Design
Method (SSADM) in 1990 (Sarbanoglu, 1990) but not
completed yet. A GIS application software, namely
AKBIS (Information system of Ayazaÿa Campus of
the Istanbul Technical University) developed
and implemented as a pilot project in 1991 (Tastan
1991) A City Information System project has been
initiate; for the Istanbul Municipality whereas:.
all the City coverage in IGDS format have already
been acquired using analytical stereo plotters.
Although a number of universities (e.g. Istanbul-
Technical University, Yildiz University, Midcle
East Technical University), public institutions
(e.g. Istanbul Technical University), public
institutions (e.g. General Command of Mapping,
General Directorate of Land Register and Cadastre)
and private agencies (e.g. ISLEM GIS Ltd. MNG
Ltd.) are involved in GIS activities, there hasn't
been any concrete cooperation yet.
3- Forest Management Activities in Turkey
According to the law issued in 1924, accepted is
the principle to manage all the forest in Turkey
by use of management plans. It is in 1946 that
the forest management plans for Turkey were
completed, being the base to the inventory and.
Statistics of the national forestry. Having been
signed an agreement (in 1955) between the General
Directorate of Forestry and General Command of
Mapping authorized to take aerial photos in Turkey,
forest management plans were made via combined
inventory methods using 1: 20000 scale éerial
photos and statistical techniques. Between 1965
and 1972 forest management plans covering all the
forest areas (20 million hectares) in Turkey were
completed and applicated. Between 1975 and 1989,
applications and revisions of forest management
plans were carried out for 11.155 million hectare
forest areas. (Eraslan, 1971)
4- Teorotical Concepts on GIS, Forest Management
And the link between them
4- l- Definition of a GIS
A Geographic Information System (GIS) is a
compound of geographic data, computer hardware
software, personnel designed to collect, storage,
manage, query, analize and present large volume of
spatial data and associated attributes in order to
allow the users to make better decision, to improve
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