It was one of the worst disasters in the history of the Aegean cities: last summer big forest fires hit the western Turkish province of Izmir. They started on August 18 ravaging the districts of Karabağlar, Menderes and Seferihisar for four days.

Making decisions related to forest conservation is no mean feat. Particularly, when a cost/benefit analysis is combined with integrating social and institutional impact at local and national scale.