ESTIMATION OF THE ECONOMIC VALUE OF CARBON STOCK THROUGH THE INVESTIGATION OF SPATIAL AND TEMPORAL CHANGES IN AK？F？YE FOREST ENTERPRISE LANDS FOR THE 1991-2014 PERIOD

Forests are substantial ecosystems in terms of combating global climate change. Forests create remarkable carbon sinks by storing 80% of the organic carbon in the terrestrial ecosystem and 70% of the organic carbon in the soil. According to the agreements signed by Turkey in various international platforms, it is mandatory to determine and report the carbon storage level and amount of forest ecosystem. In this context, it is necessary to investigate the dynamics of forest structure, to reveal the reasons for the changes in forest ecosystems and to determine the carbon storage capacities of forest ecosystems accurately and consistently. In this research, Akifiye Forest Enterprise Chief attached to the Forest Enterprise Directorate of And？r？n in Kahramanmara？ Regional Directorate of Forestry has been chosen as the study area. When the land use classes derived from the stand map of the study area were examined it was determined that the total forested area increased by 6.8% (1838.8 ha) and non-forest areas decreased by 15% (1396.4 ha). Increase in the forest and the productive forest areas, conversion of coppice forests to the high forests and the increase in the growing stock and incremental values of stands were identified as the reasons for the increase in the total growing stock and incremental increases in the study area. Some economic evaluations have also been made with regard to carbon storage function of forests on the basis of changing growing stock value of forest enterprise for the 1991-2014 periods