EFFECTS OF URBANISATION AND HUMAN ACTIVITIES ON BASIN ECOSYSTEM: SAPANCA LAKE BASIN

Abstract

Rapid population growth and urbanisation in urban areas cause unhealthy development and construction of urban areas, thus the citizens need for nature is increasing. This need, however, increases the demand for rural areas in the near surroundings of the city and leads to rapid urbanisation, degradation and depletion of these resources. Natural resources such as forest areas, agricultural lands, water resources are at the top of the changing and consumed resources due to urbanisation effect. In this research, land use and land use change of the Sapanca Lake Basin, which is one of the most important lake basins of Turkey, were investigated. Sapanca Lake Basin has changed rapidly over the last 20 years. Until the beginning of the 1990s, the basin was dominated by the rural character, but today, urban activities have been more intensively in this basin. The basin attracts a high amount of population due to the second housing and various tourism activities. Sapanca Lake Basin is under the pressure of settlement according to the results obtained from analysis of spatial change. The watershed, which has lost its fertile agricultural lands at first, faces the destruction of forest areas today. This process will increase rapidly if necessary precautions, measures and legal arrangements are not made. In this context, an integrated watershed management plan for the watershed needs to be established and applied immediately.