The Effect of Wild Mushroom Collection in The Mountains of Strandja on The Economic Development of The People Living in The Region

There is a need for innovative approaches that can accommodate the rural population and manage to keep the rural population in the settlement. At this point, it is important to carry out actions that will adequately meet the living conditions of rural areas and to increase the income levels of rural people. The protection of forests and the maintenance of biological diversity are important in terms of non-wood forest products collected from the forests by the villagers living in that region, and it is very important for the sustainability and economic future of life in the region. In this study, a questionnaire was collected from 130 households living in the region to determine the importance of mushrooms, which grew naturally in the mountains of Strandja and were used for consumption, in terms of family economy and development. The empirical analysis was based on a face-to-face survey of 130 respondents living in villages close to the Strandja Mountains and collecting mushrooms in 2019. The answers given to the questions, which determined the opinions of the participants about the mushrooms growing in nature, were taken with a 5-point Likert scale and factor analysis was performed. Villagers collecting mushrooms could not get the income they wanted from the products they obtained. It was determined that the income of mushroom collectors from mushrooms contributed to their daily needs, but did not make a significant contribution to increasing their welfare level. For this, villagers needed to establish cooperatives and create their own sales points. Since the mushroom collectors used the mushrooms in their diets, the villagers should be trained in mushroom drying and canning to ensure mushroom consumption throughout the year. In the research, it was observed that the local people were aware of the contribution of mushrooms to the economy and that a large part of their food consumption consisted of mushrooms grown in nature and therefore it was important in rural development.