International Workshop on
Urbanisation, Land Use, Land Degradation and
Environment (ULE-2009)
Denizli, Turkey, 28 SEPTEMBER - 01 OCTOBER 2009
Land mainly refers to geographic locations and has
historically been the cause of much conflict and dispute. Land reform programmes,
which are designed to redistribute possession and use of geographic land, are
often the cause of great controversies since times immemorial. Land also refers
to natural resources, river and water masses and mineral desposits, and
conflicts over their use have contributed to many civil wars and continually
remains a topic of concern between many nations and localities. Further, the
land use and land management practices have a major impact on natural resources
including water, soil, nutrients and plants, and the living beings. For
instance, water bodies in a region that has been deforested or has eroded will
have different water quality than those in areas that are forested. Land use
information can be used to develop solutions for natural resource management
issues such as salinity and water quality.
Environmental pollution is defined as the addition of any
substance or form of energy to the environment at a rate faster than the
environment can accommodate it by dispersion, decomposition, recycling or
storage in some harmless form. Such pollution, especially in urban areas, is one
of the biggest challenges the world faces today affecting us economically,
physically and everyday of our lives. Water pollution is the contamination of
streams, lakes, underground water and larger water masses by substances that are
harmful to living being. Impure water kills plants and animals. It also causes
humans to fall sick. Land pollution is similar to that of water. It is the
contamination of land with hazardous waste like garbage and other waste
materials that do not belong to the land, pesticides, herbicides, oil spills,
petroleum products, etc. Many of these items are consumed by plants and animals
and then when the next consumer feeds on either the plant or the animal, it
piles up and contaminates the body. Thermal and heat pollution is a cause of
greenhouse effect and global warming. Thus any type of pollution affects the
abiotic - non-living - and biotic living - components of life, which disturbs
the ecological balance and thereby leads to a variety of detrimental conditions.
Urbanization is the physical growth of urban areas as a
result of population migration from rural areas to an existing urban area. The
outcome is a change in population density and pressure on administration
services. In the developing and developed countries, the expansion of urban
areas and infrastructure is encroaching on productive land and natural habitats.
Land degradation affects the earth's arability. Besides natural causes, land
degradation occurs where there is a deficiency in land use planning or in its
orderly execution, or the existence of financial or legal incentives leading to
the wrong land use decisions, or one-sided central planning leading to
over-utilization of the land resources, for instance for immediate production at
all costs. This often results in misery for large segments of the local
population and destruction of valuable ecosystem. Such narrow approaches should
be replaced by using integrated and holistic techniques for the planning and
management of land resources. This would ensure the long-term quality of the
land for human use, the prevention or resolution of social conflicts related to
land use, and the conservation of ecosystems of high biodiversity.
Land is a part of our culture and society, and provides a distinctive networking
in the community. Planning a viable land use programme requires an appreciation
of the historical past, as well as an analysis of the environment in which it is
supposed to operate, including its public and its stakeholders. This workshop is
therefore highly topical and aims at promoting scientist-to-scientist contacts,
interactions, exchanges and sharing of information on various aspects of the
land and its use, urbanization and environment.
In order to deliberate on the importance of the subject, the Centre for Science
and Technology of the Non-Aligned and Other Developing Countries (NAM S&T
Centre) organized a 4 days international workshop at Denizli, Turkey on 'Urbanisation,
Land use, Land Degradation and Environment', jointly with the Pamukkale
University and TÜBİTAK, the Turkish Scientific and Technological Research
Council.
The Inaugural Session held in the auditorium of Pamukkale University was started
with the Welcome Remarks by Prof. Fazıl Necdet Ardıç, Rector / President,
Pamukkale University, which were followed by an Introduction to the Workshop by
Prof. Arun P. Kulshreshtha, Director, NAM S&T Centre highlighting the background
of the workshop, the role being played by the Centre in promoting South-South
cooperation in various scientific areas and specifically in context with
environmental issues including land degradation, and ongoing and prospective
dynamic partnership of Turkey with the Centre. H.E. Nihat Zeybekçi, Mayor of
Denizli and Prof. Dr. Ömer Z. Cebeci, Vice President, TÜBİTAK addressed the
audience followed by the Inaugural Speech by H.E. Yavuz Erkmen, Governor of
Denizli.
In the afternoon session on the inaugural day invited key note lectures covering
a variety of scientific topics related to the workshop were given by Prof. Arun
P. Kulshreshtha, Director, NAM S&T Centre, New Delhi; Prof. Münir Öztürk from
Ege University, Bornova-Izmir, Turkey; Prof. Ahmet Mermut from Saskatchewan
University, Canada; Prof. M. Ajmal Khan form Karachi University, Pakistan; Prof.
Vincenzo Belgiorno from Salerno University, Italy; and Dr. Süreyya Meriç-Pagano
affiliated with the universities of Napoli and Salerno in Italy,.
From the next day onwards, the venue of the workshop for the technical sessions
was shifted to the Richmond Pamukkale Thermal Hotel. About 240 experts,
academicians, professionals and university students from 20 countries including
the host country Turkey attended the workshop. There were 25 overseas
participants from Argentina [Prof. Maria Virginia Luna, Associate Professor in
Plant Physiology & Head Natural Sciences Department, Universidad Nacional de Rio
Cuarto, and Senior Researcher (CONICET)]; Bulgaria [Dr. Anely M. Nedelcheva,
Assistant Professor, Department of Botany, Sofia University]; Canada [Prof.
Ahmet R. Mermut, Department of Soil Science, Saskatchewan University]; Cyprus
[Dr. Salih Gücel, Assistant Professor, Environmental Sciences Institute, Near
East University, Northern Cyprus]; Egypt [Dr. Wafik Noseir, Environmental
Engineering Consultant, AUC, Cairo]; Indonesia [Mrs. Dwi Susilaningsih, Senior
Researcher, Biotechnology Research Center, Indonesian Institute of Sciences.
Bagor]; Iran [Prof. Gholamreza Zehtabian, General Director of Academic Affairs,
University of Tehran; Mr. Mehran Kiani Rad, Faculty member, Biotechnology
Department, IROST, Tehran; and Prof. Mohammad Kafi, Head, Agronomy Department,
Faculty of Agriculture, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad]; Ireland [Dr. Patrick
S.M. Dunlop, Research Fellow, Nanotechology and Integrated Bio-Engineering
Centre NIBEC University of Ulster]; Italy [Prof. Vincenzo Belgiorno, Salerno
University and Dr. Süreyya Meriç-Pagano from the Universities of Napoli and
Salerno]; Kenya [Ms. Joyce Wanjiru Ngure, Chief Research Officer, Ministry of
Higher Education, Science and Technology, Directorate of Research Management and
Development]; Mauritius [Mrs. Cecily Cyparsade, Environment Officer, Ministry of
Environment and National Development Unit, Port Louis]; Myanmar [Dr. May Thae Su
Moe, Associate Professor, Department of Technical and Vocational Education,
Ministry of Science & Technology]; Pakistan [Prof. M. Ajmal Khan, Department of
Botany, Karachi University, Karachi and Prof. M. Anwar Baig, Institute of
Geographic Information System (IGIS), National University of Sciences &
Technology (NUST), Islamabad]; South Africa [Mr. Lulama L. Sombalo, Researcher,
Agricultural Research Council, ARC-ISCW, Pretoria]; Sri Lanka [Mr. M.A.K.
Munasinghe, Research Officer, Natural Resources Management Centre, Department of
Agriculture, Peradeniya]; Syria [Er. Chadi Badra, Head of Division of Combat
Desertification, Ministry of State for External Affairs, Damascus]; Tanzania
[Dr. Dugushilu Mafunda, Principal Research Officer, Commission for Science and
Technology of Tanzania, Dar-es-salaam]; U.K. [Ms. Shahina A. Ghazanfar, Head,
Temperate Regional Team, Herbarium, Library, Archives & Art, Royal Botanic
Gardens, Kew, Richmond, Surrey and Dr. Cathy McCullagh, The Robert Gordon
University, Aberdeen, Scotland]; and Vietnam [Ms. Ngo Thi Loan, Vice Head of
Project Department, Centre for Regional Research and Development, Ministry of
Science and Technology (MOST), Hanoi; and Mrs. Luu Nam Phuong, Officer,
Department of International Cooperation, Ministry of Science and Technology
(MOST), Hanoi].
The overall programme of the workshop was organized in three parallel Technical
Sessions and a joint Concluding Session. In these technical sessions, two were
primarily for the Turkish speakers and audience. One session however was
exclusively for the English speaking audience comprising the foreign delegates
sponsored by the NAM S&T Centre and some other Turkish and foreign speakers. The
papers presented in this session were on 'Paradox of Halophytes Utilization as
Biofuel Resources and Land sustainability' by Prof. Mohammad Kafi; 'Country
Status Report for Mauritius' by Mrs. Cecily Cyparsade; 'Computation of Urban
Heat Island created due to Changes in Land Cover and Land Use Case Study of Twin
Cities of Pakistan' by Dr. M. Anwar Baig; 'Urbanisation, Land use, Land
Degradation and Environment in Myanmar' by Dr. May Thae Su Moe; 'Green House
Gases Emission from Cement Manufacturing Industry and Mitigation Measures' by
Dr. Dugushilu Mafunda; 'Evaluation of Sustainable Urban Agriculture in India for
Applicability in Zwilitsha Township, Eastern Cape, South Africa' by Mr. Lulama
Ludumo Sombalo; 'Land Degradation in Sri Lanka and Its Mitigation' by Mr. M. A.
K. Munasinghe; 'Soil Protection Techniques from Erosion in the Sloping Areas of
Vietnam' by Ms. Ngo Thi Loan; 'Global Environmental Information System' by Dr.
Wafik Noseir; 'Effects of Continuous Thermophilic and Mesophilic Treatments on
Maturity of Corncob Compost and Reducing of Composting Time' by Mr. Mehran Kiani
Rad; 'Land Use in Kenya' by Ms. Joyce Wanjiru Ngure; 'Characterizing and
Screening Oil Degrading Microbes for Land and Beach Reclamation in Indonesia' by
Dr. Dwi Susilaningsih; 'The Case of Desertification in Syria' by Mr. Er.Chadi
Badra; and 'Urban Ecology of Edirne-Turkey' by Dr. Salih Gücel. A special
invited talk on 'Halophytes Potential of Cash Crops using Saline Resources' was
given by Prof. Ajmal Khan and Prof. Arun P. Kulshreshtha made a presentation on
'the NAM S&T Centre and Its Role in South-South Collaboration in Science and
Technology'.
The papers presented by Turkish participants in this session
were on 'Watershed Rehabilitation Projects' by Dr. Serpil Erkmen of the Turkish
Ministry of Environment and Forestry; on 'Integrating Environment into Land-Use
Planning Through Strategic Environmental Assessment: A Case Study on Environment
Plans in Turkey' by Dr. S. Sinem Ozyurt; on 'Extractable Boron in
Naturally-Occurring High Boron Soils Around Bigadic Mining Area' by Dr. M.
Serdal Sakçali, Assistant Professor and Chairperson, Biology Department, Fatih
University, Istanbul; on 'Long-term Planning and Governance Concerns in Disaster
Risk Mitigation and Sustainable Land Use Management: Lessons for City of Denizli'
by Dr. Pınar Savaş Yavuzçehre of Pamukkale University; on 'Socio-Economic
Effects of Irregular Settlement and Industrialization on Land Use: The Research
of Kahramanmaras Urban Area' by Mehmet Pinar Yilmaz of Pamukkale University; and
on 'Water Network Leak Detection and Pressure Managment in Denizli' by Mr. Ümit
Cantűrk of Denizli Municipality.
In addition to the above, there were poster presentations by
the Turkish and overseas scientist.
The concluding part of the session with foreign participants was devoted mainly
to the discussion on Pamukkale Recommendations on Land Use, Land Degradation and
Environment.
The participants were taken on a field trip to Pamukkale
Hieropolis and hills with geothermal activity and they also visited en route the
city of Buldan with traditional Turkish hospitality and cuisine.
The participants thanked the organizers of the workshop, in particular, Prof.
Fazıl Necdet Ardıç, Rector / President, Associate Professors Ali Çelik, Ali
Ramazan Alan, Hüseyin Selçuk and Ebru Dulekgurgen and their colleagues at the
Pamukkale University; Prof. Ömer Z. Cebeci and Prof. Omer Anlagan, Vice
Presidents of TÜBİTAK; Prof. Münir Öztürk from Ege University, Bornova-Izmir;
and Prof Arun P. Kulshreshtha, Director, NAM S&T Centre and his colleagues Mr.
M. Bandyopadhyay and Ms. Debanjana Dey, and unanimously hoped that more similar
events will be held in future with a focus on South-South cooperation.
