Turkey leads in environmental degradation

Aycan Karadağ

Eleven media organisations from Europe, including The Guardian and Le Monde, have come together for the Green to Grey project, carried out in collaboration with the Norwegian Institute for Nature Research (NINA).

Combining satellite imagery and artificial intelligence, this study investigated the loss of nature and agricultural land in Europe between 2018 and 2023. The project revealed that approximately 9,000 square kilometres of nature and agricultural land across the continent had been converted into industrial, mining and construction projects over six years. Turkey ranked first in Europe in terms of nature and agricultural land loss. According to the Turkish leg of the study conducted by The Black Sea team, approximately 1,860 square kilometres of natural and agricultural land in the country was converted into concrete and asphalt between 2018 and 2023. This is an area larger than Istanbul's Asian side. These figures show that the destruction of nature in Turkey has become not only an ecological crisis but also a class crisis.

CONNECTED TO ORGANISED INDUSTRIAL ZONES

Of the 20 critical cases examined in the study, 11 were found to be directly linked to Organised Industrial Zone (OSB) projects. Hundreds of hectares of agricultural land in Turkey have become non-usable due to OSB expandments. According to Green to Grey data, approximately 40% of nature loss across Europe was due to housing and urban expansion, 22% to transport and logistics infrastructure, and 2% to energy projects. In Turkey, OSB expandments were found to be most concentrated in the Marmara, Aegean and Central Anatolia regions; fertile agricultural land around Konya, Manisa, Bursa and Tekirdağ has been converted into factories and industrial facilities. This growth model has meant impoverishment rather than development for the local population.

The Black Sea's ‘Sapanca's Bungalow Madness’ report revealed the extent of construction carried out under the guise of nature tourism. According to satellite images and municipal data, approximately three thousand bungalows and villas were built around Lake Sapanca between 2018 and 2023. The majority of these structures were erected on plots designated as forest or agricultural land in the zoning plan. During the construction period, tree cutting increased, water source flow decreased, and erosion increased. While the local community's access to the forest and lake area was restricted, the region's biodiversity declined significantly.

Note: This article is translated from the original article titled Ülke doğa kaybında lider, published in BirGün newspaper on October , 2025.