Tens of thousands of Turkish households benefit from Murat River Watershed Rehabilitation Project

Tens of thousands of households in Turkey benefited directly or indirectly from the Murat River Watershed Rehabilitation Project, the country's General Directorate of Forestry (OGM) said.

In a statement on Friday, the OGM said that rehabilitation projects are continuing in order to minimize the risk of floods and drought that may occur due to climate change.

Some 36 basins, 292 villages, 20,850 households and 131,052 citizens benefited from the project that was launched in 2013, it added.

Murat River is located in the country's eastern region.

The statement said that an evaluation meeting was held in Hatay for the Murat River Watershed Rehabilitation Project, whose project period will end at the end of June.

The project aims to ensure sustainable use of vegetation, soil and water resources, rehabilitation of natural resources, sustainable land management, increasing the welfare of the people of the region, providing employment, reducing migration from rural to urban areas, landslide and flood control and improving transportation.

The project, whose main execution is carried out by the OGM, and monitoring is carried out by the General Directorate of Combating Desertification and Erosion, was realized as part of the agreement signed between UN International Fund for Agricultural Development IFAD and the Turkish government, the statement said.