Camili-Gorgit Nature Conservation Area lies in the Camili basin of Borçka district, in the far northeast of Artvin province, and was declared on 24 March 1998. It covers 499.54 hectares. The directorate makes a large claim for it: the largest natural old-growth forest ecosystems in the broad geography taking in Europe and Central Asia are found here, and every tree in it qualifies as a monument.
The area holds biosphere reserve status, is rich in biodiversity, and serves as a gene conservation basin for the pure Caucasian honeybee. The GEF-II project was carried out on the site as scientific work. What the directorate lists as activities amounts to one thing: the area has potential for scientific tours.
Its species lists are short. Lime, sweet chestnut and oriental spruce are the plants named; sparrowhawk, falcon, buzzard and bear the animals.
Getting there is the hard part. Borçka itself is 32 kilometres from Artvin city. The route it describes runs from Borçka 10.9 kilometres to Aralık village, 4.6 more to Atanoğlu, 29.7 more to Düzenli, then 10.8 kilometres along the Camili road to Efeler village, and a further 8.4 kilometres to the Çamdalı quarter at the northern edge of the conservation area. The nearest airports are Trabzon at 259.4 kilometres and Erzurum at 281.4.
- Designated
- 24.03.1998
When to go
- Climate
- Across Artvin as a whole, monthly mean temperatures run from 2.8 °C in January to 21.3 °C in August; the mean stays between 15 and 25 °C in May, June, July, August and September; rainfall is heaviest in December (87 mm) and lightest in August (29 mm). Long-term means for 1949-2025 from the Turkish State Meteorological Service (MGM).
