Acarlar Floodplain Forest is a floodplain forest located in Sakarya Province, northwestern Turkey. It is a combination of seaside, lagoon, dunes and forest.
Location and access
Situated between Karasu and Kaynarca north of Sakarya on the coast of Black Sea, it is Turkey's biggest and only mono-bloc floodplain forest. Its distance to Karasu is around and to Sakarya around. Around the area, there are five villages of Karasu district and three of Kaynarca district. At a distance of from Black Sea, the floodplain forest stretches over long at a width of. The lagoon is accessible on the road İhsaniye-Denizköy.
Floodplain
The area is a typical lagoon, an inundated coastal terrain formed by separation from the sea by sandy barrier. Situated on the district border of Karasu-Kaynarca, and about far from the sea, the lagoon covers extending parallel to the coast. It can be up to around deep. The land, which emerges due to dried-up floodplain during the summer months, is used by villagers for agriculture. The floodplain is bordered in the north by -high dunes at Black Sea, and in the south by low hills of height in average. Excess water over flood stage flows into Okçu Creek, which joins Sakarya River in distance in the east.
Background
On June 25, 1998, Acarlar Floodplain Forest was registered as a protected natural area by the Committee on Conservation of Cultural and Natural Assets in Bursa on its all coverage of . The lagoon's area decreased about 40%,, after the discharge stream Okçu Creek was widened and turned into a canal by the local authority for soil and water in 1971. To protect pheasant and water birds, a partial area covering was registered a wildlife conservation area in 1976 that is the only one of its sort in Sakarya Province. It was enlarged to in 2004, and its status was improved to wildlife development area. The area was designated as a wetland of special importance in accordance with Ramsar Convention on April 2, 2009.
Ecosystem
Acarlar Floodplain Forest is habitat for some endemic flora and faına. The area is particularly a breeding and overwintering place for migratory birds.
Flora
The aquatic plant water violet is endemic to Acarlar Floodplain. The rare plant species loddon lily or summer snowflake, which is used for treatment of polio, is traded by the villagers of Kaynarca. The floodplain is habitat for more than 150 tree species. It is surrounded by forests of mainly common ash. Widespread trees in the forest area are common alder, willow, common beech and elm.
Waste water from the eight villages around the floodplain may flow into the lagoon. The excessive use of fertilizer and pesticides in agriculture around the area increases the chemical inlet. Efforts are made to clear a piece of land around for doing agriculture. Illegal logging and poaching has to be prevented. The water flow from the lagoon to Sakarya needs to be monitored, and any hindrance has to be removed. The area experience dense visitor traffic after its opening to tourism. Motorboat tours on the lagoon has to be banned as it harm the migratory birds during their brooding period. In February 2015, the province governor of Sakarya forbid boating on the coastal sea, the lagoon and the canals by any type of watercraft including pedalo. By November 2015, an environmental disaster occurred when one of the feeder streams to the floodplain was contaminated carrying red-colored foamed water. It was reported that fish died and the crop planted by villagers got poisoned. The localDirectorate of Forest and Water Management set a drone into service in 2016 to fight poachers by monitoring the protected area from the air.
