Biodiversity signifies a healthy environment and the ability of ecosystems to sustain their life support processes that provide the fundamental basis for human welfare. During the last century, climate change, pollution, and excessive and unsustainable use of natural resources have damaged biodiversity so severely that this situation now threatens human life. Biodiversity is comprised of three components that are among the important parameters of sustainable development:

Genetic Diversity: Genetic diversity can be defined as biochemical packets that define the physical and biochemical characteristics of life and are passed on by heredity. Genetic diversity is measured by gene differences within a certain species, population, variety, sub-species, or race. These differences enable, for example, people to raise livestock and grow agricultural products, or a certain species to adapt to the changing conditions in the wild.

Species Diversity: A group of organisms with genetic similarities may interbreed, and out of this process fertile living creatures are generated which are called species. Species diversity is usually measured by total number of species within geographic boundaries.

Ecosystem Diversity: An ecosystem is composed of plants and animals, as well as abiotic materials such as soil, water, air, and minerals. The communities of living creatures have highly complicated functional relations among themselves and with their environments. Through these relations, the mechanisms of basic ecological processes such as water circulation, soil formation, and energy flow are generated. These processes supply the support systems necessary for the species communities and thus create a critical interdependency. In a sense, this interdependency is the phenomenon upon which the entire sustainable development approach rests.

Despite increasing environmental problems, Turkey is among one of the very few countries that retained most of its natural structure. There are still many species that forcibly survive through special artificial means in other countries which are found living in their wild and native forms in Anatolia. Turkey has cultural practices, a land-tenure system, institutions for managing biological resources. This diversity and the Turkish people must interact in a way, which will conserve, replenish, and improve on the biotic wealth.

Although the term "biodiversity" is relatively new to policy-makers, scientists have been warning of a global crisis for some time and have ranked the decline of biodiversity as one of the most serious global environmental threats now facing humanity. As a result of human activities, ecosystems, species and genetic diversity are being eroded much faster than natural rates. Today species extinction is thought to be between 1,000 and 10,000 times more rapid than before this era of human environmental impact. This accelerating decline in diversity threatens the ecological, economic, spiritual and cultural benefits that we currently derive from the Earth's living resources.

Turkey contains a diversity of ecosystems; including features ranging from Mediterranean coastal zone to snow capped mountains, deep valleys to towering peaks, fertile alluvial plains to bare rocky slopes. These ecosystem mosaics harbor thousands of plant and animal species, their races and populations, many of which are endemic. Found within are different community types and habitat mosaics that have been formed with blends of many different species. Further complicated interactions and intricate ecological processes among the species and their living and non-living environments have been in progress, in every community through thousands of years of successional stages.

Years prior to the Earth Summit at Rio de Janeiro in 1992, the depletion of biodiversity was recognized as a grave concern requiring co-ordinated international effort if losses were to be stemmed. The Earth Summit became a deadline for which a global agreement might be reached, and negotiations began in the late 1980s under the guidance of the United Nations Environmental Program. It resulted in important global agreements including the Convention on Biological Diversity signed in Rio, and to which Turkey is now a Party.

One hundred and fifty-six governments, including Turkey, made a statement at the Earth Summit in which they accepted the responsibility for conserving the full diversity of plant, animal, and microbial life within their borders, to use biological resources sustainably and to seek the equitable sharing of benefits from biological diversity. The Convention builds on the concept of sustainable development, which is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

The Convention conveys an understanding of the relationship between human activity and the natural world and the need to sustain living organisms, genetic diversity and the integrity of ecosystems. Implementation of the Convention will require a significant change in the ways we use and manage our natural resources. It requires a co-operative, cross-sectoral approach, based on partnerships, within and among nations. Ratification of the Biodiversity Convention provided a new starting point for recognizing the importance of biodiversity and addressing the issues surrounding it in Turkey.

General Information on Biological Diversity in Turkey
Turkey, bridging Europe, Asia and Africa, surrounded from 3 sides with seas of different ecological characteristics, with altitudes ranging from sea level to above 5000 meters resulting in a variety of climatic conditions through the country, has a biological wealth incomparable to any of the neighboring countries. The ecosystem mosaic of several different ecological characteristics provides nesting and breeding areas for thousands of fauna and flora species and their populations. Another factor that increases this wealth is that, two of the four migratory routes of West Palaearctic Region pass above Turkey.

There have been above11000 plant species identified in Turkey, 3000 of those being endemic species. It is estimated that animal species are around 80000. Turkish nature also constitutes centers of origin and diversity of genetic resources.

 Turkey is at the crossroads of two important Vavilovian gene centers: -The Mediterranean and the Near East- each important for the origin of field crops as well as horticultural plants. Some of the cultivated plant species originating in Turkey are Linum, Allium, Hordeum, Secale, Triticum, Avena, Cicer, Lens, Pisum, Vitis, Amygladus, Prunus, Beta, etc. There are 5 "micro-gene centre" in Turkey (Harlan 1951):

Thrace-Aegean Region: bread wheat, durum wheat, Poulardwheat, club wheat, einkorn wheat, lentil chickpea, melon, vetch, lupine, and clover.

Southern-Southeastern Anatolia: emmer wheat, einkorn wheat, Aegilops speltoides, squash, water melon, cucumber, bean, lentil, broad bean, grapevine, and forage plants.

Samsun, Tokat, Amasya: numerous genera and species of fruits, broad bean, bean, lentil, and several forage legumes.

Kayseri and environs: almond, apple, pea, fruit species, grapevine, lentil, chickpea, alfalfa, and sainfoin.

Agri and environs: apple, apricot, cherry, sour cherry, forage legumes and watermelon.

As the importance of these crops is recognized by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, many species and varieties from each of these genera are grown for the Seed Production and Distribution Program. Field crops include wheat, barley, maize, chickpea, lentil, dry bean, sunflower, potato, soybean, groundnut, sesame, tobacco, cotton and sugarbeet, and forage plant species including alafalfa, sorghum, sainfoin and vetches. More than 200 plant species are under this program, and in addition, there are thousands of local varieties, ecotypes and transition forms maintained by farmers from their own sources.

The total number of grain crops developed and registered in Turkey by using native and introduced progenitors in the last thirty years is 256, of which 95 are wheat, 91 corn, 22 barley, 19 rice, 16 sorghum, 11, oats, and 2 rye varieties. The National Seed Program is constantly developing new varieties so that the number of cultivated species and varieties is continuously increasing while “obsolete� varieties, such as cultivated einkorn, and emmer, bitter vetch, and lupin disappear from lack of use.

Horticultural crops are numerous with an estimate of 50 vegetable genera being produced with an estimated 100 varieties grown and distributed. This includes tomato, pepper, eggplant, lettuce, cabbage, radish, onion, squash, cucumber, melon, watermelon, bean, pumpkin, pea, spinach, carrot, broad bean, leek, garden rocket, purslane, fennel, cauliflower, parsley, bean and gherkin. By adding the local varieties and those obtained from seeds from other sources, the total number of vegetable varieties grown in the country is estimated to at 200.

Varietal richness is observed also in fruit production. There are probably 80 of the estimated 138 species of fruit grown in Turkey, and the number is increasing with the introduction of some tropical and subtropical fruits such as avocado and kiwi. Varieties of fruits and nuts found in Turkey include: apple, pear, quince, cherry, sour cherry, apricot, peach, fig, pomegranate, mulberry, almond, hazelnut, walnut and pistachio.

Viticulture also takes an important place in Turkish agriculture. Anatolia is the gene centre of grapevines (Vitis vinifera L.) where wild vines (Vitis silvestris) are also found.

The flora of Turkey is very rich in medicinal and aromatic plants where the rate of endemism is high. Some important genus that are used for medicinal and aromatic purposes are Delphnium, Digitalis, Gypsophillia, Helychrysum, Leucojum, Linum, Liqiudambar, Malva, Matricaria, Mentha, Nigella, Orchidaceae ssp., Origanum, Pimpinella, Rosa, Salvia, Sideritis, Teucrium and Thymus.

Ornamental plants for indoor and outdoor use, and natural bulb flowers are grown and marketed. Cut flowers are also grown and include carnations, roses, and gladiola. Production of arum, chrysanthemum, hyacinths, lilies, narcissus, and cyclamen is increasing.