Acarlar Floodplain Forest
| Acarlar Floodplain Forest Acarlar Gölü Longozu |
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Acarlar Floodplain Forest.
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| Location | Turkey |
| Coordinates | 41°07′44″N 30°26′14″E / 41.12889°N 30.43722°ECoordinates: 41°07′44″N 30°26′14″E / 41.12889°N 30.43722°E |
Acarlar Floodplain Forest (Turkish: Acarlar Gölü Longozu) is a floodplain forest located in Sakarya Province, northwestern Turkey. It is a combination of seaside, lagoon, dunes and forest.
Situated between Karasu and Kaynarca north of Sakarya on the coast of Black Sea, it is Turkey's biggest and only mono-bloc floodplain forest. Its distance to Karasu is around 26 km (16 mi) and to Sakarya around 50 km (31 mi). Around the area, there are five villages of Karasu district and three of Kaynarca district.
At a distance of 2 km (1.2 mi) from Black Sea, the floodplain forest stretches over 12 km (7.5 mi) long at a width of 1.0–1.5 km (0.62–0.93 mi).
The lagoon is accessible on the road İhsaniye-Denizköy.
The area is a typical lagoon, an inundated coastal terrain formed by separation from the sea by sandy barrier. Situated on the district border of Karasu-Kaynarca, and about 700 m (2,300 ft) far from the sea, the lagoon covers 1,562 ha (3,860 acres) extending parallel to the coast. It can be up to around 1.50 m (4.9 ft) deep. The land, which emerges due to dried-up floodplain during the summer months, is used by villagers for agriculture.
The floodplain is bordered in the north by 30–25 m (98–82 ft)-high dunes at Black Sea, and in the south by low hills of 100 m (330 ft) height in average. Excess water over flood stage flows into Okçu Creek, which joins Sakarya River in 6 km (3.7 mi) distance in the east.
On June 25, 1998, Acarlar Floodplain Forest was registered as a protected natural area by the Committee on Conservation of Cultural and Natural Assets in Bursa on its all coverage of 2,800 ha (6,900 acres). The lagoon's area decreased about 40%, 9,443 km2 (3,646 sq mi), after the discharge stream Okçu Creek was widened and turned into a canal by the local authority for soil and water in 1971. To protect pheasant and water birds, a partial area covering 1,576 ha (3,890 acres) was registered a wildlife conservation area in 1976 that is the only one of its sort in Sakarya Province. It was enlarged to 2,517 ha (6,220 acres) in 2004, and its status was improved to wildlife development area. The area was designated as a wetland of special importance in accordance with Ramsar Convention on April 2, 2009.
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