Turkey is a mountainous country with many high mountains. Recent estimations show that there are approximately 20.7 million ha of forested area in Turkey, covering 25.8% of the total land area. However, little over half of this forested area is classified as unproductive (51.7%). Artvin is located in the North Eastern Black Sea part of Turkey and is the home of a very rich biological diversity. Forests in Artvin region are in different climatic zones - from temperate climate to continental climate zone - and there are several vegetation zones in the region which ranges from sea level to the altitude of 3500 m. A Scotch pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) plantation, planted in 1996 in the alpine zone in Artvin-Ardanuc region, was investigated. The size of study area was 40 ha and this research was done on 12 sample plots. There were 50 Scotch pine seedlings on each sample plot. Height and root collar diameter of the seedlings were measured. The mean slope was the same (60%) on the sample plots, and the effects of exposure and altitude significantly affected the height and root collar diameter growth of the seedlings (P is less than 0.05). It was determined that increased altitude is associated with decreased height growth and root collar diameter of the seedlings.

Turkey has rich inland water sources, about 200 natural lakes, about 750 artificial lakes or ponds, about 193 reservoirs, 33 rivers and streams of 177,714 km length and 8333 km of coastal strips. Some lagoons covering of 70,000 ha in Aegean and Mediterranean coastal strips are very suitable for aquaculture. The main fish species cultured in Turkey are carp (Cyprinus carpio), rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss), Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar), gilthead sea bream (Sparus aurata), European sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax), bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus), Blackl sea turbot (Pselta maxima), Mediterranean mussel (Mytilus galloprovincialis) and shrimp (Penaeidae spp). Aquaculture production of Turkey has grown steadily over the years from 5,782 t in 1990 to 63,000 t in 1999 and to 79,031 t in 2000. There are 1309 farms in inland water producing approximately 32,466 t of fresh water fish species and 352 farms at sea producing 40,119 t of sea fish species, mainly Gilthead sea bream and European sea bass.