SUSTAINABILITY, cilt.17, sa.8, 2025 (SCI-Expanded)
Uncontrolled land use causes serious problems for ecosystems. Sustainable development and proper land use require planning that takes into account natural and cultural characteristics. In the Ser & ccedil;eme Basin of Erzurum, the aim is to determine the most suitable land use by considering seven different land uses: pasture, meadow, agriculture, forest, conservation areas, tourism-recreation, and settlement. Ecological suitability maps were created for these seven land use types, and these maps were overlaid. The optimum land use map was generated as a result of overlaying maps supported by Geographic Information Systems (ArcGIS 10.8). When evaluating the study area based on land use types, it was found that 15.46% is suitable for meadow, 2.92% is suitable for conservation areas, 42.65% is suitable for pasture, 32.31% is suitable for forest, 4.07% is suitable for agriculture, 1.62% is suitable for tourism and recreation, and 0.96% is suitable for settlement.