Kirazlıbent Nature Park


Kirazlıbent Nature Park is a nature park located in the Eyüp district of Istanbul Province, Turkey.
Kirazlıbent Nature Park is situated inside the Belgrad Forest in Eyüp. It is about in distance west of Bahçeköy and east of Kemerburgaz. The area was declared a nature park by the Ministry of Environment and Forest in 2011, and is one of the nine nature parks inside the Belgrad Forest. It covers an area of about. The protected area is named after the dam Kirazlıbent, which was built by the Ottoman sultan Mahmud II at the Kirazlı Creek in 1818.
The nature park offers outdoor recreation activities such as hiking, cycling and picnicing for visitors on daily basis. There are playgrounds for children. Admission is charged for visitors and vehicles.

Ecosystem

; Flora
The plants found in the forest area of the nature park are sessile oak, Kasnak oak, sweet chestnut, hornbeam, black pine, oriental beech, common ivy,, butcher's-broom and tree heath.
;Fauna
Animals observed in the nature park are the mammals red deer, red fox, wild boar, golden jackal, porcupine, squirrel, the reptile tortoise and the bird species goldfinch, passer and magpie.