The indicator is a state indicator, and it is important to have an accurate knowledge of the general distribution of land cover in order to balance land use planning with monitoring of current and potential developments in this area and to limit the pressure of activities such as urbanization and industrialization on natural areas.

Under the CORINE (Coordination of Information on the Environment - Environmental Information Order) program on land cover, which is one of the land management projects of the European Union, CORINE projects were implemented in Turkey in 1990, 2000, 2006, 2012 and 2018.

According to CORINE data of 2018, the share of artificial land in Turkey is percent 1.94, while agricultural land is percent 42.26, forest and semi-natural land is percent 50.31, wetlands are percent 0.51, and water bodies are percent 4.98.

Whileforests and semi-naturallands inTurkeyhave decreased by 1,550,586 ha between 1990 and 2018, all other lands have increased, such as artificial lands by 602,640 ha, agricultural lands by 596,041 ha, water bodies by 1,258,936 ha, and wetlands by 157,479 ha. Growing population, urbanization and industrialization are factors that put pressure on agricultural lands and natural areas.

Looking at the situation in the EU-28 countries, forests and other wooded land accounted for more than one-third (percent 37.8) of the total area of the EU-28 in 2015, while cultivated land (percent 22.2) and pastureland (percent 20.7) accounted for more than one-fifth of the total area. Shrubs covered percent 7.1 of the total area. Artificial land accounted for percent 4.2 of the EU-28 total area, bare land for percent 3.3, water areas for percent 3.0, and wetlands for percent 1.7 ^[58].

GRAPH 97- LAND USE BY YEARS (1990-2018)

Source: http://corinecbs.tarimorman.gov.tr/corine