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The negative effects of desertification firstly emerge in ecologically sensitive areas. Thus, prioritizing these areas during rehabilitation and reforestation activities is essential for improving them. The purpose of this study, conducted in several areas outside the forest ecosystem, was to establish a forest ecosystem, to map environmentally sensitive areas (ESAs), and to enable the monitoring of desertification in the future. ESAs were evaluated using the Mediterranean desertification and land-use (MEDALUS) methodology, which includes the quality parameters of soil, vegetation, climate, and management. The research area, located in the town of Askale in Erzurum Province, was previously used as an armory. Those environmental areas of the research field sensitive to desertification were categorized as the Critical (C2) area (5.4 ha; 3.72% of the total area), the Critical (Cl) area (19.6 ha; 13.52%), the Fragile (F3) area (48.5 ha; 33.45%), the Fragile (F2) area (65.6 ha; 45.24%), the Fragile (F1) area (4.8 ha; 3.31%), and the Potential (P) area (1.1 ha; 0.76%). In terms of desertification rates in the research field, critical areas accounted for 17.24% of the total area, fragile areas accounted for 82%, and potential area accounted for 0.76%. The main goals were to determine the resistance to the reclamation processes: identification of environmental areas sensitive to desertification in the study area, and the assessment of the successful planting ratios in the ESAs between 2009 and 2012. Ultimately, 280,302 saplings were planted in the research field. Resistance to the reclamation processes of the sensitivity areas in various subtypes of ESAs increased empirically from 2009 to 2012 (Critical ESAs>Fragile ESAs>Potential ESAs). According to the research results, the identification of ESAs is very important in the determination of which seedling species can be used for successful reclamation in arid and semi-arid areas. The decisive factors in terms of desertification were the soil quality and vegetation quality indices in the research area. In this region, reforestation projects should be implemented to prevent desertification and to reduce ESAs.