Munzur Vadisi

Munzur Valley National Park was declared on 21 December 1971 across the provinces of Tunceli and Erzincan, in eastern Anatolia, and protects some 420 km². It is usually cited as the largest national park in Turkey.

It protects the valley of the river Munzur and the mountains that frame it, in the historic region of Dersim, a territory of rugged relief, limestone canyons, karst springs and woods of oak and juniper. The river rises from a group of springs at the foot of the mountain and keeps cold, clean water along its whole course.

Its botanical value is exceptional: more than a thousand plant species have been catalogued in the park, with several dozen endemics found only in the massif, which places it among the areas of greatest floristic richness in Turkey. The wildlife includes Anatolian wild goat, brown bear, wolf and a trout endemic to the river. The park is also a territory of great cultural and religious significance for the Alevi population of Dersim, with sacred springs and places. Its conservation has been the object of prolonged conflict over the hydroelectric projects on the Munzur and its tributaries, contested for years by local people and environmental organisations.