Landscaping character analysis in the Upper Aras basin

The evolving civilization and the increasing population cause the increase of the pressure on the environment. Increasing environmental pressures are decreasing the human quality of life. Raising the standards of living requires that the environment be planned in a sustainable way. Basins, which are important element of the environment, play an important role in serving people's water, housing and basic nutrients needs. At the same time, basins due to their rich natural resources have been important settlements of human beings throughout history. It is aimed in the present study the to determine of landscape character areas and types of Aras Basin within the city of Erzurum boundaries, to fulfill the sanctions of the European Landscape Convention (APS), which our country is a counterparty, and to ensure the sustainability of the landscape. In accordance with this purpose, Landscape Character Analysis (PCA) method has been used. In this method, natural and cultural data have been digitized in computer environment and evaluated with the help of Geographic Information Systems (GIS).As a result of evaluation, 14 different landscape character areas have been determined and 384 different landscape character types have been identified based on these character areas. The determined landscape character areas and types have been confirmed by repeated field studies and maps have been obtained. In accordance with the results obtained, the study should be defined as a base and a source of data in the baseline application, management and development policies for the future.