Balıkesir uses latest tech to preserve olive trees

ANKARA

A comprehensive effort to safeguard olive trees unfolds in the northwestern province of Balıkesir as approximately 180,000 olive trees in 1,750 parcels of land have been taken under protection by the General Directorate of Foundations after meticulous aerial and ground tracking using the latest technology.

The General Directorate of Foundations has started to track olive groves using aerial and ground measurement techniques. Within this framework, approximately 180,000 olive trees in 1,750 different parcels under the Balıkesir Regional Directorate of Foundations have been taken under protection.

According to the general directorate, in order to determine the number of trees and their geographical location within the parcel boundaries, the trees are monitored from the air with drones equipped with state-of-the-art photogrammetric imaging and LIDAR scanning systems.

At the same time, ground measurement techniques with GNSS and GPS technology are also used. In areas where ground measurement is difficult due to a high density of trees, three-dimensional point cloud data is produced with LIDAR technology and the olive trees in these areas are detected faster and more accurately.

The number of olive trees will be updated and the geographical coordinates of each olive tree will be stored in a database. In the light of the available data, periodic field controls will continue to be carried out.

"The existing olive grove areas were counted. The assessment of olive trees was completed with the latest system technologies. The general directorate is working to keep our olive trees, which we inherited from our ancestors, alive. In addition, we are also adding new olive groves. Lastly, we increased the number of our olive groves with 434 olive and 137 fig trees on 55,000 decares of land in Balıkesir Havran district," General Director of Foundations Sinan Aksu noted.

Addressing the significance of the olive tree, Aksu said, "Considered as a sacred fruit in many religions, olives are mentioned in six verses and many hadiths in our holy book, the Holy Quran. Keeping the olive fruit, which is a source of healing for humanity, alive is our duty in serving humanity. The general directorate will continue to protect olive groves and fig trees and fulfill its responsibilities diligently; we will also continue to expand the olive grove and fig tree areas."

Türkiye's tradition of olive cultivation is officially recognized and included in UNESCO's intangible cultural heritage list with traditional knowledge, skills and methods passed down through generations.