Protected areas are one the most important nature conservation landscapes and during the last few decades, the importance of natural areas have been considered as a priority for lifestyle preferences of people around the world. Karatepe Aslantaş National Park is one of the examples for these protected areas in Turkey, however; there have been limited studies focusing on the preservation and development of a socioeconomic plan for the aforementioned national park. Therefore, this study aims to develop planning and management priorities of Karatepe Aslantaş National Park and determine tourism potential towards future-oriented conservation. In this regard, a SWOT analysis was performed to develop sustainable planning and design proposals. To determine the historical transformation of a protected area and its surroundings, Land use/land cover-change (LUCC) detection was performed using Landsat 7 ETM and Landsat TIRS/OLI satellites images of the study area for the years 1990 and 2018. The results showed that in 1990, the mixed forest class dominated the study area (2376.6 ha), likewise, it was the most effective land cover class in 2018 (2178.14 ha). Agricultural land with natural vegetation class occupied the second largest area for both 1990 and 2018 with 1264.72 ha and 880.13 ha, respectively. A marked decrease was found for the transitional woodland/shrubs cover (565.8 ha in 1990 to 330.35 ha in 2018). Among the all land use classes, the highest percentage of change was found for broad-leaved forest cover at 200% between 1990 and 2018, while the lowest percentage of change occurred to water bodies with 8.82% in the same time frame. Regarding the findings, management proposals have been developed to conserve the protected area considering its tourism potential and archeological heritage values. Therefore, it is recommended that the lack of planning and management strategies needs to be fulfilled as a legal commitment by government agencies.

The purpose of this study is to indicate and analyse the factors that affect the decision of the Prespa bean producers to implement Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) in their farmlands. Additionally, the social characteristics of the producers are analyzed in order to obtain a broader picture. To achieve the above objectives, a logit model was applied as well as descriptive statistics for the analysis of the personal and social characteristics of farmers. The research was conducted in the Florina Prefecture of Western Macedonia through questionnaires that were filled in during personal interviews with the producers. The results of the research showed that growing PGI (Protected Geographical Indication) products, attending training seminars, the educational level of the producers, the earned income, the communication and information by an agricultural engineer affect significantly the decision of the producers to apply Good Agricultural Practices.