FOREST IN THE WATER
The Flooded Forest at Lake Acarlar in Sakarya is not only a phenomenon rarely encountered in the world but, with its rare bird species and aquatic plants, a unique oasis for nature buffs.
I magine a forest, a forest of familiar elm, willow, mountain alder and ash. But a forest whose roots stand submerged in water all year round. A forest Imagine a forest, a forest of familiar elm, willow, mountain alder and ash. But a forest whose roots stand submerged in water all year round. A forest where birds large and small sing in branches that reach up to the sky. Imagine a lake from which tall trees rise, with velvet ducks, pochard (Aythya ferina) and great crested grepes (Podiceps cristatus) wading among them. This is a flooded forest, the flooded forest of Lake Acarlar, a natural formation rarely encountered in the world. A lake whose bottom is covered with dense forest. A ‘flooded forest’ is ‘a forest that either exists all year round or forms at certain times of the year in lakes and swamps with a high water table’.
The Lake Acarlar Flooded Forest in Adapazarı province is located almost 6 kilometers west of the point where the Sakarya River empties into the Black Sea. Bounded by the townships of Karasu on the east and Kaynarca on the west, Acarlar. with an area of 23 square kilometers, is Turkey’s largest single patch of flooded forest. The water level of the flooded forest, which is fed by the Kaynarca (Yırtmaç) River from the southwest and the Kancalar (Terzioğlu) from the south and from their smaller tributaries, ranges between 1 and 5 meters over the year depending on rainfall and seasonal weather conditions. Runoff from the flooded forest empties into the mouth of the Sakarya River through the Okçudere.
