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On December 13, 2021, the completion ceremony of "Coruh River Watershed Rehabilitation Project" was held in Erzurum.

Around 450 people, including those who worked for this project, villagers from the target area, partner institutions and high-ranking officials from Turkish Government as well as Japanese Embassy and JICA Turkey Office, attended the ceremony.

Seven speakers including General Director of OGM (General Directorate of Forestry), the Chief Representative of JICA Turkey Office, Ambassador of Japan to Ankara and Minister of Agriculture and Forestry made speeches. The speeches mentioned that the project which started in 2011 has been effective in natural resource protection, revitalization of agriculture and livestock breeding, which result in the outflowing population back to the villages and connected the watershed to people's lives.

This project targeted the Coruh River basin in northeastern Turkey. While the area depends on small-scale livestock farming and agriculture, the basin is one of the worst areas in the country in terms of soil degradation due to the progressive destruction of forests, soil that is easily eroded and low agriculture and livestock productivity.

Within the scope of the Coruh River Basin Rehabilitation Project, which is implemented in 13 selected micro-catchments in Artvin, Bayburt and Erzurum; activities were carried out on the protection, rehabilitation and sustainable management of natural resources, improving the livelihood of the villagers and capacity building. The project operated in 162 villages in 13 selected micro-catchments, 7 in Erzurum, 2 in Bayburt, and 4 in Artvin, in an area of 450,000 hectares, where 40 thousand citizens live.