The Çukurova University Botanical Garden

1. General information

Location and description of the intervention

City or FUA

Adana (FUA)

Region

Europe

Native title of the NBS intervention

Ali Nihat Gökyiğit Botanik Bahçesi

Short description of the intervention

The Çukurova University Botanical Garden was initiated in 1972 by the Department for Landscape Architecture to protect and conserve the rich native and non-native biodiversity of the region for future generations (Ref. 5,9). Its establishment responds to the lack of Botanical Gardens in Türkiye despite the country's great diversity. The Garden also wants to offer protection for increasingly threatened species in the face of rapid and uncontrolled urbanization (Ref. 5,9). Being located close to two Deltas and an important agricultural region, the collection also aims to include a great number of wetland and agricultural species, drawing public attention to the importance of these ecosystems (Ref. 6). As such, the University invites every school in Adana to visit and participate in its ongoing educational activities and primary school children are offered hands-on gardening programmes (Ref. 1,2). Furthermore, visitors can immerse themselves and learn about various vegetation zones, including endemic maquis, where stairs, walking paths and information boards have been installed (Ref. 4). The University maintains research activities in the Botanical Garden and in on site laboratories, which regularly host interns (Ref. 4). To ensure the stready supply of plant material for landscaping and education, nurseries have been set up and in 2020 a 250 m² medicinal and aromatic plant greenhouse was added where students of the Faculty of Agriculture are trained and endemic species grown (Ref. 9,10).

Website of the intervention

https://botanik.cu.edu.tr/cu/collections/palm-garden#

Principal problems

Environmental Degradation

Biodiversity loss

Land use and Socio-economic change

Rapid urbanization

Health, Well-being and Social cohesion

Disconnection from nature

Implementation area characterization

Climate

Temperate ( Humid subtropical, Hot-summer Mediterranean, Warm-summer Mediterranean, Warm-temperate with dry winter)

Ecosystem

Temperate forests

Mediterranean forests

Coastal wetlands

Address

Çukurova Üniversitesi
Ali Nihat Gökyiğit Botanik Bahçesi
01790 Turkey/
Türkiye

Location

The NBS is situated in an area, with clear delineation of boundaries and a specific shape (polygon). The NBS project can also have more than one area location (more than one polygon, situated close by).

Area boundary (map-based)

NBS area image

Source of NBS area image

https://www.ecology.gen.tr/botanic-gardens/109-the-%C3%A7ukurova-university-botanical-garden,-turkey.html

Total area

809371.00m²

NBS area

809371.00m²

Area description

Periurban (both urban and rural environments are present)

Freshwater landscape (e.g. river, lake)

Cropland

Type of area before implementation of the NBS

Public Greenspace Area

Timeline of intervention

Start date of the intervention (planning process)

pre-1990

Start date of intervention (implementation process)

pre-1990

End date of the intervention

pre-1990

Present stage of the intervention

Completed

2. Objectives of the intervention

Objectives of the intervention

Goals of the intervention

Goal 1: Increase human-nature interactions (Ref. 5)
Goal 2: Steward and protect biological resources and habitats (Ref. 5&6):
Goal 2.1.: Create a collection of wild ancestral forms of today's cultivated plants, whose homeland is Anatolia and Mesompotamia (Ref. 5)
Goal 2.2.: Create a rich collection of tropical and sub-tropical plant species (Ref. 6)
Goal 2.3.: Creating a rich wetland plant collection given the nearby areas such as Göksu Delta and Çukurova Delta (Ref. 6)
Goal 2.4.: Create a rich collection of economic plants due to the national importance of the region for agriculture (Ref. 6)
Goal 2.5.: To protect and provide a habitat for animals, which are rapidly becoming extinct and whose habitats are threatend by irregular urbanization, hunting and pesticides (Ref. 6)
Goal 2.5.: Intergenerational justice (provision of these resources/ knowlegde for future generations) (Ref. 5)
Goal 3: Disseminate and create knowledge (Ref. 5,6)
Goal 4: Raise public awareness (Ref. 6)
Goal 4.1.: To introduce the importance and functions of wetlands to the public (Ref. 6)

Key Priorities

Biodiversity (conservation and/or restoration)

Social Justice and community

Sustainability challenge(s) addressed

Green space, habitats and biodiversity (SDG 15)

Green space creation and/or management

Habitat and biodiversity conservation

Cultural heritage and cultural diversity

Preservation of natural heritage

Protection of historic and cultural landscape/infrastructure

Social justice, cohesion and equity (SDG 10)

Environmental education

Economic development and employment (SDG 8)

Economic development: agriculture

Tourism support

Sustainable consumption and production (SDG 12)

Sustainable production

Habitats and biodiversity conservation: What types of conservation goals are / were defined for the NBS intervention?

Species-focused

Ecosystem-focused

Habitats and biodiversity conservation: What activities are implemented to realize the conservation goals and targets?

Protect and enhance urban habitats

Preserve and strengthen existing habitats and ecosystems

Create new habitats

Reduce negative impacts and avoid the alteration/damage of ecosystem

Protect species

Undertake specific measures to protect species

Undertake specific measures to protect native species

Undertake specific measures to protect endangered species

Undertake specific measures to protect valued species

Manage biological resources for conservation and sustainable use

Raise public awareness

Public engagement

Create and use scientific knowledge for conservation

Implementation activities and NBS focus

Implementation activities

Goal 1,3: To improve accessibility into the vegetation for visitors, stairs and walking paths were created using 350-meter-long wooden train rail sleepers. Also, educational material is provided along the path, which informs about native and non-native species and vegetation types. Visitors have the opportunity to learn how to calculate the age of trees since trunk sections of different tree species in the area are installed. (Ref. 4)
Goal 2: The formation of the botanical garden started in 1973-1978 when the university started corresponding with foreign countries and collecting a variety of plant seeds (native/non-native) which were successfully planted. (Ref. 9)
In 1994, an advisory committee was formed to develop new strategies and policies. Also, a planning and project team from the Department of Landscape Architecture was organized, and a Master Plan was drawn in accordance with natural, edaphic and climatic conditions.
From there, the collection grew, and now there are 6 different collections of terrestrial vegetation types (Native Maquis, Oak, Coniferous Plants, Rock Garden, Plam Garden, Medicinal and Aromatic Plants). Many species are cultivated in on site greenhouses and nurseries. (Ref. 9)
Under the maintenance of the University, the entire area is protected.
Goal 3,4: Different programmes with primary and secondary schools in Adana have been initiated where children plant their own vegetables or participate in educational events in the Botanical Garden. (Ref.1)

Type of NBS project

Maintenance and management of urban nature

Maintenance or upgrade of exisiting green spaces (e.g. parks)

Ecological restoration of ecosystems

Restoration and protection of ecosystems (including water ecosystems)

Protection of natural ecosystems

Protecton and enhancement of wetlands (other types than peatlands and mangroves, e.g. seagrass)

Expansion of protected areas

Habitat conservation

Creating nature reserves, wildlife sanctuaries, or biodiversity hotspots to conserve unique ecosystems

Knowledge creation and awareness raising

Educational and awareness raising programs

Scientific research of biodiversity or ecosystems

3. NBS domains, ES and scale

NBS domain and interventions

Ecological domain(s) where the NBS intervention(s) is/are implemented

Blue infrastructure

Coastal wetland, mangroves and salt marshes

Parks and urban forests

Botanical gardens

Amenities offered by the NBS

Educational or biodiversity trails

Educational and research amenities (nature protection centre, monitoring stations)

Complementing infrastructure (bathrooms, café)

Other

Please specify other amenities offered by the NBS

Greenhouse / Plant Nursery, Offices, Laboratories, Library, Herbarium

Design elements for well-being

Visual elements (e.g., expansive views, scenic views, natural light, diverse vegetation)

Olfactory elements (e.g., floral scents, earthy smells)

Tactile elements (e.g., natural materials like wood or stone, exposure to sunlight)

Services

Expected ecosystem services delivered

Provisioning services

Food for human consumption (crops, vegetables)

Medicinal resources

Habitat and supporting services

Habitats for species

Maintenance of genetic diversity

Cultural services

Tourism

Intellectual interactions (scientific and / or educational)

Physical and experiential interactions with plants and animals

Social and community interactions

Scale

Spatial scale

Micro-scale: District/neighbourhood level

Beneficiaries

Demographics in implementation area

strudents/unknown

Socio-economic profile of the area

Unknown

Communities vulnerable to environmental hazards or climate change impacts

Unknown

Non-government actors

Researchers, university

Primary Beneficiaries

Public sector institution (e.g. school or hospital)

Researchers/University

Citizens or community groups

Young people and children

Specify primary beneficiaries

"Primary school students, who plant in a special area created in the botanical garden of our university" (Ref. 1)
"The purpose of this protocol is to ensure the visits of [...] all schools in the province of Adana" (Ref. 2)
"Students from relevant faculties and vocational schools are accepted to Çukurova University Ali Nihat Gökyiğit Botanical Garden [for an internship]" (Ref. 3)
"In order for our visitors to see the maquis vegetation more closely, stairs and walking paths were created" (Ref. 4)

Marginalized groups

Unknown

Other beneficiaries

Local wildlife (e.g., birds, pollinators)

Native plant vegetation

Endangered species (flora and fauna)

Natural habitats (e.g. wetland, forests, coastal areas)

Ecosystem services (e.g. improved air quality, water purification)

4. Governance and financing

Governance

Governance arrangements

Co-governance with government and non-government actors

Please specify the roles of the specific government and non-government actor groups involved in the initiative

"Early initiatives for a botanical garden at Çukurova University took place in 1972. Some activities, such as corresponding with some foreign countries, were carried out by the Department of Landscape Architecture between 1973-1978." (Ref. 9)
"At the same time a planning and project team with 6 members mainly from the Department of Landscape Architecture was organized and a Master Plan was drawn in accordance with natural, edaphic and climatic conditions and the needs and interest of the public." (Ref. 9)
National Government listed in source 7

Key actors - initiating organization

Researchers/university

Key actors - Other stakeholders involved (besides initiating actors)

National government

Participatory methods/forms of stakeholder involvement (all stakeholders)

Dissemination of information and education

Joint implementation (e.g. tree planting)

Uncommon actors ("Missing actors")

Schools

Land owners

No information found

Policy drivers

NBS intervention implemented in response to a Regional Directive/Strategy

NBS intervention implemented in response to a national regulations/strategy/plan

NBS intervention implemented in response to a local regulation/strategy/plan

Mandatory or voluntary intervention

Voluntary (spontaneous)

Please specify other type of voluntary intervention

Educational and conservation purposes

Enablers & Barriers

Type of enablers

Unknown

Governace and decison-making instruments

Unknown

Arrangements for governance cooperation

Formal coordination mechanisms to oversee project implementation and decision-making (e.g., multi-stakeholder steering committees, working groups)

Barriers

unknown

Financing

Total cost

Unknown

Please specify total cost (EUR)

unknown

What is/was the Cost/Budget (EUR) of the NBS or green infrastructure elements?

unknown

Source(s) of funding

Unknown

Type of fund(s) used

Unknown

Non-financial contribution

Yes

Who provided the non-financial contribution?

Other

Please specify other source of non-financial contribution

-" corresponding with some foreign countries" (Ref. 10)
- persons affiliated with the university (Ref. 10)

Type of non-financial contribution

Provision of labour

Provision of expertise

Co-finance for NBS

Unknown

Entrepreneurship opportunities

Unknown

Business models

Green education model

Green heritage model

Which of the involved actors was motivated by this model?

Public actor (e.g. municipality)

5. Evaluation and learning

Impacts, benefits

Environmental impacts

Water management and blue areas

Enhanced protection and restoration of coastal and marine ecosystems

Expected enhanced protection and restoration of coastal and marine ecosystems

Green space and habitat

Increased green space area

Achieved increased green space area

Increase in protected green space areas

Achieved increase in protected green space areas

Increased number of protection areas

Achieved increased number of protection areas

Increased conservation or restoration of ecosystems

Achieved increased conservation or restoration of ecosystems

Reduced biodiversity loss

Achieved reduced biodiversity loss

Increased number of species present

Achieved increased number of species present

Increased presence and recovery of wild species

Achieved increased presence and recovery of wild species

Increased protection of threatened species

Achieved increased protection of threatened species

Description of environmental benefits

-Enhanced protection and restoration of coastal and marine ecosystems: "Creating a rich wetland plant collection" (Ref. 6)
-Increased green space area: "After collecting a variety of plant seeds from different countries and also from the mainland, some successful results were obtained with some outdoor plants [...] which gave impetus for the development of a botanic garden." (Ref. 9)
-Increase in protected green space areas: "Ali Nihat Gökyi§it Botanical Garden has the great advantage of having a native remnant of maquis vegetation which has been protected as de facto for nearly 40 years, by means of the establishment of the area as a university campus." (Ref. 8)
-Increased conservation or restoration of ecosystems: "In addition to the thematic gardens, an area reserved for the botanical garden includes large native vegetation remnants including maquis vegetation (60 ha.) comprising a variety of habitat types suitable for terrestrial flora and fauna. " (Ref. 8)
-Reduced biodiversity loss: "This site hosts over 180 species of vascular plants including herbs" (Ref. 8)
-Increased number of species present: "This site hosts over 180 species of vascular plants including herbs" (Ref. 8)
-Increased presence and recovery of wild species: "According to the records of the night-vision camera traps and observations; 6 reptile species, 30 avian species and 8 mammal species use this site as a nesting and breeding area." (Ref. 8)
-Increased protection of threatened species: "Our botanical garden is home to many invertebrate species, as well as a vertebrate fauna [...].To protect and provide a habitat for these animals, which are rapidly becoming extinct. (Ref. 6)

Environmental impact indicators

Total number of vascular plant species protected or introduced

~ 500

Total number of bird species re-introduced, rediscovered or monitored

Total area of protected or secured natural areas (in ha)

~80

Other indicators

6 reptile species and 8 mammal species breed here

Economic impacts

Generation of other type of work opportunities (e.g. voluntary, work for rehabilitation)

Achieved generation of other type of work opportunities (e.g. voluntary, work for rehabilitation)

Increase in agricultural production (for profit or not)

Achieved increase in agricultural production (for profit or not)

Description of economic benefits

-Generation of other type of work opportunities (e.g. voluntary, work for rehabilitation): "Students from relevant faculties and vocational schools are accepted to Çukurova University Ali Nihat Gökyiğit Botanical Garden [for Internship Training] (Ref. 7)
-Increase in agricultural production (for profit or not): "create a rich collection of economic plants since the Botanical Garden is located in Çukurova, one of the important agricultural centers of our country" (Ref. 6), "Primary school students, who plant in a special area of 200 decares [...] witness the vegetables and fruits such as tomatoes, peppers, strawberries, beans and parsley from field to table" (Ref. 1)

Social and cultural impact indicators

Surface area of accessible green spaces (in ha)

80.9

Total area of recreational green space created or restored (in ha)

min. 40

Number of participants in outdoor activities or exercise programs in green spaces

Every school in Adana

Number of environmental education programs, workshops, outreach activities (eg. in schools, community centers, public spaces)

Internship Programe, Child Gardens, Nature Education for Schools, University Courses

Area allocated for sustainable food production (ha)

Evidence for use of assessment

Presence of an assessment, evaluation and/or monitoring process

Yes

Actors involved in the assessment, monitoring or evaluation of NBS impacts

Researchers/university

Presence of indicators used in reporting

Yes

Type of indicators

Input indicators

Outcome indicators

Presence of monitoring/evaluation reports

Yes

Link to monitoring/evaluation reports

https://www.bgci.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/6GBGC%20Proceedings.pdf

Availability of a web-based monitoring tool

No evidence in public records

Use of GIS in mapping impacts

No evidence in public records

Cost-benefit analysis

Unknown

Transparency

Unknown

Justice

Community satisfaction

Unknown

Description of locals satisfaction with the project

unknown

Trade-offs & Negative impacts

Ecosystems and biodiversity

Introducing of non-native species

Measures to prevent gentrification or displacement

Unknown

High-quality & Transformative NBS

Multiple impacts delivery (climate, biodiversity, just community)

Goal setting and impacts delivery

No, project goals were not set, and benefits were not delivered in all 3 key areas.

Long-term perspective

Yes

Cost-effective solutions

Unknown

Equitable impacts

C. Unknown

Transformative capacity

Ecological change (e.g. ecosystem functions and their distribution)

Magnitude of change

Incremental: shallow; that is, mostly maintaining business-as-usual approaches to adaptation

Application of lessons learned

Unknown

Perception of Environmental Change

Unknown

6. Sources

References

Ç. Ü. Ali Nihat Gökyiğit Botanik Bahçesi (n.d.). Çocuk Bahçıvanlar. Accessed on August 30, 2024, [Source link] [Archive];

Ç. Ü. Ali Nihat Gökyiğit Botanik Bahçesi (n.d.). Doğa Eğitimi. Accessed on August 30, 2024, [Source link] [Archive];

Ç. Ü. Ali Nihat Gökyiğit Botanik Bahçesi (n.d.). Staj Eğitimi. Accessed on August 30, 2024, [Source link] [Archive];

Ç. Ü. Ali Nihat Gökyiğit Botanik Bahçesi (n.d.). Doğal Akdeniz Vadisi. Accessed on August 30, 2024, [Source link] [Archive];

Ç. Ü. Ali Nihat Gökyiğit Botanik Bahçesi (n.d.). Misyonumuz. Accessed on August 30, 2024, [Source link] [Archive];

Ç. Ü. Ali Nihat Gökyiğit Botanik Bahçesi (n.d.). Vizyonumuz. Accessed on August 30, 2024, [Source link] [Archive];

BGCI (n.d.). Çukurova University Ali Nihat Gökyi?it Botanical Garden. Accessed on August 30, 2024, [Source link] [Archive];

Çakan, H., Kavak, S., Karata, Y. (2017). Management and modelling of native maquis vegetation as wildlife sanctuary in Çukurova University Ali Nihat Gökyigit Botanical Garden (Çuangbg) (Adana/Turkey). Geneve: BGCI, p. 10 Accessed on August 30, 2024, [Source link] [Archive];

Gultekin. E. (n.d.). The Çukurova University Botanical Garden, Turkey . ecology.gen.tr, Accessed on August 30, 2024, [Source link] [Archive];

10.

Çözümleri, S. (n.d.). Medical Aromatic Plant Cultivation Greenhouse- Adana. Accessed on September 16, 2024, [Source link] [Archive];

Comments and notes

Comments

i am not sure if the area i mapped actually corresponds to the extend of the botanical garden

Public Images

Medical Aromatic Plant Growing Greenhouse

https://www.resifsera.com/en/projects/medical-aromatic-plant-cultivation-greenhouse-adana

Walking Paths lined with Plots

https://botanik.cu.edu.tr/cu/photo-galery

Educational Trail through native maquis vegetation

https://botanik.cu.edu.tr/cu/photo-galery