Assessment of the Turkey-France-Switzerland project on the fight against the risks of avalanches

Abstract

After two very snowy winters had taken well over five hundred lives, Turkey made the decision to build a long term avalanche mitigation program with France and Switzerland as partners. The main object of this program was to shift from a resettlement policy to a preventive policy. The program lasted 3 years, with two main parts : avalanche forecasting using meteorological monitoring and avalanche mapping and zoning based on GIS. To make the program more realistic and more concrete, it was carried out as a pilot project in a rather large region, located along the Black Sea. The program brought forth very positive scientific and technical results thanks to the quality of the Turkish team that was set up in Ankara. Its practical implementation will be carried on by Turkey, building on the new groundwork legal and practical procedures that contribute to natural hazard mitigation, taking advantage of the rapid evolution of the country.