Sustainable Development in the Eastern Black Sea Mountains: Present State and Perspectives - Sustainable Development in Mountain Regions: Southeastern Europe - page 222

18.4 The Project Achievements
18.4.1 Accessibility and Mountain Development
There is a common belief that underdeveloped regions with major accessibility
problems have insufficient resources for development. However, social and eco-
nomic development in these regions can be realized through proper planning and
resource management (Somuncu and Inci, 2004 ). The DOKAP Project focusing
on social and economic development through protection of biodiversity in northern
Turkey is a good example.
The DOKAP region is served by only one east-west artery road along the coast,
and north-south lateral access capacity was limited. An important element of the
basic strategy for the Eastern Black Sea regional development is to strengthen the
main transport and communication infrastructure. In particular for the transporta-
tion system, a multi-modal artery network was developed. The Eastern Black Sea
Highway Project with 542 km was completed. The total cost of the project is esti-
mated to be US $4.2 billion. The existing east-west artery along the coast was
strengthened as a backbone axis, from which links to other areas of the DOKAP
region and neighbouring regions and countries could be extended. Some sec-
tions of the existing coastal highway were improved with lane expansion, minor
realignment, and re-surfacing. Also, the north-south lateral access capacity was
expanded.
Village and yayla (Yayla: a temporary settlement in mountain pastures; plural:
yaylas) roads are an extremely important part of the rural infrastructure services
both in terms of meeting the social needs of the people living in the rural areas and
in terms of transporting the agricultural products to the market in time. In the scope
of DOKAP project asphalt roads and bridges have been constructed. Consequently,
more easy accessibility to mountainous areas is possible in the region. Therefore,
rural tourism has developed in the region. If a mountain community or region wishes
to encourage flows of visitors, not only attractiveness, but also relatively easy access
is usually necessary. Improved accessibility by road, air, and/or rail may include
either new technologies or improvement of existing routes. These may contribute to
either intentional or unintentional tourism (Price et al., 1997 ).
18.4.2 Tourism and Mountain Development
Tourism has become a primary source of revenue for many mountain areas, pro-
viding a rare opportunity for mountain people to participate directly in the global
economy. There are many opportunities for the development of tourism in moun-
tain regions. Tourism offers a great variety of opportunities. Tourist activities
include swimming, walking, visiting cities and national parks, skiing, snowboard-
ing, bird-watching, diving, and a number of sports including bungee-jumping,
river-rafting, paragliding, and mountaineering - just to mention a few. Many activ-
ities are specific to mountain areas, which provide a variety of natural and cultural
settings. Mountains are highly diverse. Climatic zones are condensed over distances