Falih Rıfkı Atay Nature Park


Falih Rıfkı Atay Nature Park is a nature park located in Sarıyer district of Istanbul Province, Turkey.
Situated northwest of Bahçeköy neighborhood of Sarıyer and next to the Neşet Suyu Nature Park, it covers an area of. It was established in 2011, and is one of the nine nature parks inside the Belgrad Forest. The protected area is named in honor of journalist, writer and politician Falih Rıfkı Atay.
Serbs who were taken prisoners of war at the Siege of Belgrade by Ottoman sultan Suleiman the Magnificent, were brought to Istanbul and settled in a village, which used to lie within the park boundaries. The nature park contains the ruins of a church, which is a protected historic building and was registered as cultural heritage in November 1999.
The nature park offers outdoor recreational activities such as hiking, cycling and picnicing for visitors on daily basis. There are playgrounds for children. Admission is charged for visitors and vehicles and an open-air restaurant serves the visitors.

Ecosystem

The nature park has rich flora and fauna.
Flora
The park is the habitat for diverse species of plant. The main trees present are oak and hornbeam. Other deciduous trees include sessile oak, kasnak oak and shrubs are blackberry, butcher's-broom, tree heath and bay laurel. Some uncommon trees include silver linden and oriental beech. Anatolian catbrier, aubrietia, wild strawberry and catnip are some of the flowering plants found in the nature park.
Fauna
Mainly observed fauna of the nature park are porcupines, squirrels, turtles, magpies, crows, woodpeckers, sparrows and finches. Across the nature park, there is a deer farm.