Important efforts have been made to increase access of the public to information in general and to environmental information in particular. Annual state of the environment reporting at provincial level has been supplemented by nation-wide reports. Environmental information units formed in government agencies, together with the state of the environment reports and national environmental statistics produced by the Turkish Statistical Institute inform the public about environmental issues. Public participation in the management of protected areas, in rural development and in EIAs procedures have become common and the number of environmental NGOs has increased. Initiatives to raise public environmental awareness, including training courses on environmental issues and environmental information dissemination have been developed for rural communities, the armed forces and prayer leaders.