Turkey - Ayvalık Industrial Landscape

Ayvalık is a province of Balıkesir, which is located in north-western Turkey, and bordered by Burhaniye in the north, Dikili in the south and Bergama in the east. Ayvalık, which is located in the western edge of an inner sea created by Anatolia and Lesbos in the northern Aegean Sea, is a unity composed of a collection of 22 islands, the biggest of which is Cunda/Alibey, and hills, coves, bays, peninsulas and straits formed by this natural structure. This natural structure that can be traced in the islands and coastline created an inner sea between Ayvalık and Cunda Island, which in turn made Ayvalık a protected natural harbour. The geographical settings of Ayvalık, which is defined by the sea in the west, is surrounded with Kaz Mountains (average altitude: 1774m) and Gömeç plain; Altınova province in the south; and Madra Mt. (1200m) that stretches from the north-east to the south-east in an arch form in the east. This unique geography where Aegean Sea meets the mainland and which is defined by Kaz Mountains in the north and Madra Mt. in the east is covered with olive groves and rich in terrestrial and marine species1 and hosts species endemic2 to the northern Aegean region. Olive-Groves: “Olive-groves” a component of the natural character of Ayvalık cover almost 41.3% of the region and constitute the natural background and main source of the industrial landscape. Olive groves, which cover almost 13.200 ha, are composed of more than 2 million olive trees and are the main component of this natural environment. The olive tree originates from the wild olive (olea oleaster) which existed as local specie among other continental species and was domesticated and converted to genetically endemic specie