Journal of Anatolian Geography

Abstract

Araplar Gorge is located in Ezine district of Çanakkale province and is an epigenic valley with a length of 8 km and a maximum width of 750 m at the valley floor. This gorge which has the character of a junction gorge connecting the middle and lower reaches of the valley carved by the Karamenderes Stream originating from the Mount Ida, is an important wetland. Araplar Gorge is both a cultural place with the ruins of ancient settlements and tumuli on its slopes, mythological natural environment elements and an important ecological environment in terms of biodiversity. Despite the presence of these important historical and natural features of the gorge, the wetland is at high risk due to some negative human activities. In fact, the morphological structure destroyed by the quarries opened on the slopes of the gorge and the resulting dust pollution, spraying and uncontrolled water withdrawals in agricultural production, disadvantageous situations created by some engineering structures on the natural flow of water and aquatic organisms, water pollution reflected in high salinity and electrical conductivity values in water analysis values, create a great ecological risk on the wetland. Elimination of these risk factors on the wetland or minimization of their negative outputs as much as possible is only possible if the Araplar Gorge Wetland attains a protection status appropriate to its own environmental characteristics. This should be achieved through sustainable management in which the cultural, historical, ecological, morphological and ecotourism components of the wetland are handled with a holistic approach in which public and local stakeholders are included in the system.