Establishment of permanent labour force for forestry work in Antalya and Bolu Provinces. Turkey, 1966.
A team of workers building an access road, a first essential step in developing forests.
Although one quarter of Turkey's population lives in or near the forests, the number of people permanently employed in forestry work is fractional. The reason for this is that the majority have until now preferred to earn their livelihood by subsistence farming. But, with a gradual decline in food production due to poor crops, the farmers have come to depend more on goats for their livelihood. The goats, however, which are free-ranging and increasing in number, are encroaching on watersheds and threatening destruction of forest lands. It is now necessary to persuade the farmers to switch over to permanent forestry work, for their own benefit as well as for the maintenance of the country's valuable forests. For this they require training which the Turkish government provides at organised forestry camps where they learn the new skills necessary. The Project being assisted by the United Nations/FAO World Food Programme in the Antalya and Bolu Provinces is to provide food as an incentive and ensure a basic diet for about 6,000 workers and their dependents, making a total of 30,000 beneficiaries over a three-year period. The WFP food will be a particular psychological importance during the transitional phase when farmers are reluctant to give up what they still believe to be their most reliable form of livelihood.