Historic Landscape Characterization in Protected Areas; A Case Study Kazdagı National Park

Landscapes, whose characters are the result of the action and interaction of natural and/or human factors, are dynamic. Proper understanding of today’s landscapes is only possible through the knowledge of their historical dimension, in other words, changes that have occurred in time-slices or time-depth. Historic Landscape Characterization (HLC) is an approach to the management and understanding the present historic environment as a product of past changes and as the basis for future change. HLC was applied to Kazdagi National Park which has very important ecosystems in terms of the future of Turkey especially Asia and Europe. In this research, Kazdagi National Park Historic Landscape Character Types were mapped and relevant attributes were assigned them in 127 years of time depth with ArcGIS 10.1 software. HLC which was completed on the computer has been confirmed by field study and ‘Direction of change’, ‘Rarity’, ‘Vulnerability’ analysis was carried out. Finally, the relevant assessments were made in order to contribute protection, management and planning of National Park.