R ecently, T u rk ey has gone th rough of rap id econom ic, social an d cu ltu ral changes. A revolutionary transform ation from a ru ra l econom y into an industrial society has taken place. In d u strial developm ents and the rap id grow th in population caused a greai im pact upon the use of n atu ra l resources and increased the necessity of conservation and expansion o f forests. A bout ten million people, called "forest villagers", ab o u t one sixth of the total population, live w ithin, o r adjacent to, the forests in T urkey. As a result of the economical and social conditions they have a negative effect on the forests (inıpro p er cutting, clearing land for crops, forest fire). I t is estim ated th at they are responsibie for the destruction of about 2 0 0 0 0 hectares forest land annually. A ccording to the estim ations of the F orestry G eneral P lan a 6.2 million m-3 defîcit in ındustrial wood supply is expected in 2009. A significant problem encountered in the conservation of vegetation and soil in T urkey originates from the inadequacy in the delineation of boundaries between private lands an d forest owned by the state. Since the cad astral surveys of forests are incom plete, soil conservation, an d afforestation projects are hindered. Neverfheless, the forestry policy in Turkey helps to develop long and short term Solutions to the problems concerning wood protitaction, soil and vegetation conservation, and afforestation.