Forest road network density and planning: Current status in Türkiye and global comparisons

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Hatay T. Y.

Anadolu Orman Araştırmaları Dergisi, cilt.2026, sa.13, ss.1-12, 2026 (TRDizin)

Özet

Background and Aims Forest road networks are a prerequisite for sustainable forest management. Despite sustained investment since the 1960s, no continuous national series has distinguished between the road categories reported in Turkish official statistics. This study compiles such a series for 1998–2025, establishes which categories can defensibly be counted as network additions, and interprets the resulting density values against international benchmarks and harvesting system requirements. Methods Official General Directorate of Forestry (GDF) statistics were compiled for 1998–2025, covering the five road categories reported under the GDF construction program. Nominal road density was calculated as total road length divided by total forest area (m/ha). A targeted literature search in Web of Science, Scopus and TRDizin identified country-level density values for comparison. Results Türkiye's classified forest road network expanded from 129,483 to 181,403 km between 1998 and 2025, and the total GDF-constructed network from 150,069 to 231,303 km. Nominal density rose from 7.30 to 9.90 m/ha between 1999 and 2025; including village and other public roads through forest, as last reported for 2022, gives 13.25 m/ha. Construction accelerated between 2019 and 2022, driven by tractor roads, whose cumulative length reached six times its 1998 baseline, before declining sharply. Across 24 countries, Türkiye fell below most Central and Alpine European countries (approximately 15–45 m/ha). Conclusion Current density remains well below the twenty m/ha planning benchmark and international reference values. Closing this gap efficiently requires a shift from construction-focused approaches toward functional, optimization-driven network planning that accounts for terrain conditions and harvesting system requirements.