“Disaster Relief for Wildfires in 2021 in Turkey”

Date: January 2022

Theme: Disaster Response, Humanitarian Aid, Tackling Socioeconomic Inequalitie

During disasters and epidemic times, which occur in a time-limited manner, preparedness with the high resistance ensures that the intervention process in the field is carried out in the most smooth way. In 2021 Turkey wildfires; it started in Manavgat, Antalya on July 28, 2021 and have spread to many cities of Turkey. As of September 2021, 8 people lost their lives in forest fires in 53 provinces, most of which were in the Mediterranean, Aegean, Marmara, Western Black Sea and Southeastern Anatolia Regions, while hundreds of thousands of hectares of forests and settlements were turned into ashes and thousands of animals died, with a great increase compared to previous years. Due to the disaster, a total of 132 wildfires have affected 36 different provinces in Turkey that started on 28.07.2021 in the Mediterranean and Aegean regions of Turkey. The main provinces that have been affected are Antalya, Adana, Mersin, Muğla and Osmaniye.

After the fires, which are described as the biggest forest fires in the history of the Republic of Turkey, government institutions and many NGOs quickly started working in the region within the framework of their fields of expertise. A field study assessment was conducted by Needs Map right after the wildfires in the areas that were affected and since then, we have been working to rebuild the lives of our citizens living there. Through the support from EBRD; we have used these funds for recovering and replacing the damaged barns, cattles, sheeps, goats and beehives where needed. We have also supported the production and development of livelihoods that are obligatory transformed due to new conditions and change in the ecological resources, by capacity building and digitalisation training online and face-to-face to local producers, entrepreneurs and cooperatives by implementing an online learning system to be able to reach more people. Additionally, support has been provided for the production and development of livelihoods that have been forcibly transformed due to new conditions and changes in ecological resources, through online and face-to-face capacity building and digitalization trainings for local producers, entrepreneurs, and cooperatives.