reports in ECOLOGY category

Wildfires in southwestern Turkey force evacuations, highway closure

Wildfires in southwestern Turkey force evacuations, highway closure

Several homes were evacuated in Muğla and the Fethiye-Antalya highway has been closed after a wildfire erupted in the morning. It was followed by other fires across several cities including Balıkesir and Antalya.

İrfan Kovankaya

İstanbul’s historic plane trees are dying from an irreversible disease

İstanbul’s historic plane trees are dying from an irreversible disease

As a deadly fungus claims the city's centuries-old plane trees, experts say the loss reflects a broader challenge in protecting İstanbul's urban ecosystem.

27 July 2026 Irfan Kovankaya

Lara Villalón & Alba Cambeiro

Galician communities take on the challenge of revitalizing woodlands to fight wildfires

Galician communities take on the challenge of revitalizing woodlands to fight wildfires

Neighbors have collective ownership of woodlands in north-west Spain and are organizing to find alternatives to wildfires and forest abandonment.

25 July 2026 Lara Villalón,Alba Cambeiro

‘No invasion’: Expert dismisses social media fuss over large grasshopper sightings in İstanbul

‘No invasion’: Expert dismisses social media fuss over large grasshopper sightings in İstanbul

"Social media creates the impression of a major infestation, but that is not the case," says Dr. Ergün Bacak as grasshopper sightings increase expecially in rural parts of İstanbul.

Çanakkale coal power plant expanding despite zero coal target

Çanakkale coal power plant expanding despite zero coal target

Environmental groups say the expansion project will effectively translate into a new power plant in the region.

1 July 2026 Hikmet Adal

Lack of green spaces exacerbates heatwave impact in İstanbul's low-income areas

Lack of green spaces exacerbates heatwave impact in İstanbul's low-income areas

Women, children, the elderly, and stray animals living and working in impoverished districts are more severely affected by extreme heat.

29 June 2026 Ecenaz Kaya

Europe heatwave bypasses Turkey: Critical lessons for July and August

Europe heatwave bypasses Turkey: Critical lessons for July and August

Europe is sounding the red alert at 40 degrees, but here in Turkey, we don’t make such a fuss about temperatures of 46–47 degrees. Is all of this exaggerated?

Prosecutor demands prison sentence for Akbelen activist Esra Işık

Prosecutor demands prison sentence for Akbelen activist Esra Işık

Işık previously spent 42 days in pretrial detention due to protesting an official delegation for exploration.

22 June 2026 Hikmet Adal

Turkey's plastic waste imports from EU countries hit record high in 2025

Turkey's plastic waste imports from EU countries hit record high in 2025

The country continues to be Europe's top plastic waste importer, having received more than 500,000 tons of waste last year, according to Greenpeace.

Massive ghost net removed from sea off İstanbul

Massive ghost net removed from sea off İstanbul

Many sea creautures died after being trapped in the nets for a long time while some were rescued.

Turkey’s transportation emissions raise alarm ahead of COP31

Turkey’s transportation emissions raise alarm ahead of COP31

In Turkey, the transportation sector ranks second in total emissions behind the energy sector, accounting for about 25% of the country’s total.

Rare sperm whale sighting off Hatay coast

Rare sperm whale sighting off Hatay coast

Divers noticed the whale and recorded it with their phones.

Venomous compass jellyfish spotted off northwestern Turkey coasts

Venomous compass jellyfish spotted off northwestern Turkey coasts

According to an expert, the increase in the visibility of compass jellyfish should viewed alongside pollution, overfishing, and the disruption of ecological balance

25 May 2026 Yakup Önal

Persistent draught despite heavy rainfall: Turkey’s new climate reality

Persistent draught despite heavy rainfall: Turkey’s new climate reality

Forest ecosystems are entering the new fire season under water stress, despite annual regional rainfall. In other words, the risk does not start from scratch every summer; the accumulated hydrological stress from previous years carries over into new fire seasons.

The Black Sea’s 30-year waste knot

The Black Sea’s 30-year waste knot

Threee district mayors in the region reflected on the solid waste problem that has been growing for many years as an unnoticed environmental disaster.

16 May 2026 Filiz Gazi

Akbelen land defender Esra Işık released after 41 days in detention

Akbelen land defender Esra Işık released after 41 days in detention

Işık was detained during a protest against a delegation that arrived in the Akbelen Forest area to conduct inspections for planned expropriations.

Floodgates at Keban Dam on Euphrates opened for first time in six years

Floodgates at Keban Dam on Euphrates opened for first time in six years

Increased rainfall since early March has significantly raised dam occupancy rates at across Turkey.

High court stays expropriation of land for coal mines near Akbelen Forest

High court stays expropriation of land for coal mines near Akbelen Forest

Turkey's top administrative court stayed a presidential order for the urgent expropriation of lands for coal mining to feed power plants in the region, which has been the site of a years-long resistance.

7 May 2026 Hikmet Adal

Sivas biogas plant pollutes agricultural lands and pastures, says MP

Sivas biogas plant pollutes agricultural lands and pastures, says MP

The plant has recently become the subject of numerous complaints from local residents and farmers.

Rare black stork spotted in Bartın

Rare black stork spotted in Bartın

Nature conservation personnel recorded the bird while it was feeding.

Akbelen Forest activist Esra Işık kept in custody after first hearing

Akbelen Forest activist Esra Işık kept in custody after first hearing

Locals have been resisting the expansion of mining projects around the Akbelen forest for years.

Tuğçe Yılmaz

Three community dogs living in Kadıköy for years taken to shelter

Three community dogs living in Kadıköy for years taken to shelter

The dogs need to be adopted to get out of the shelter.

20 April 2026 Tuğçe Yılmaz

Turkey ranks first in Europe for fatal landslides

Turkey ranks first in Europe for fatal landslides

The vast majority of landslides occur in environments transformed by human activity.

Ağrı sees highest winter precipitation in 66 years

Ağrı sees highest winter precipitation in 66 years

"Our animals are inside, we have not been able to take them to the plateaus yet. We are still burning stoves," a farmer said.

Aren Yıldırım

Locals challenge geothermal energy projects in Muş and Bingöl over threats to livelihood

Locals challenge geothermal energy projects in Muş and Bingöl over threats to livelihood

"They want to depopulate and turn the entire area between the two districts into a desert. They are forcing people to migrate. Hundreds of thousands of living beings live in the region," says a local resident.

3 April 2026 Aren Yıldırım

MP files motion to investigate shale oil impacts in Diyarbakır

MP files motion to investigate shale oil impacts in Diyarbakır

Serhat Eren highlighted that nearly 350,000 decares of agricultural land were lost over the last 5 years in the region due to shale oil and gas exploration activities.

Melisa Elçin Özçelikel

'We stand against the outlaws of the sea'

'We stand against the outlaws of the sea'

Goldman Prize-winning marine conservationist Zafer Kızılkaya in Geneva: "We are not activists. We are activists at sea"

23 March 2026 Melisa Elçin Özçelikel

UN report highlights severe air pollution in Turkey

UN report highlights severe air pollution in Turkey

“The UN Rapporteur’s findings for Turkey align with the assessments of our platform. Air pollution in our country is at a crisis level," says an expert.

Stork Yaren reunites with fisherman friend for 15th year in Bursa 'stork village'

Stork Yaren reunites with fisherman friend for 15th year in Bursa 'stork village'

Yaren the stork landed on Adem Yılmaz’s boat once again, continuing their annual reunion after migration.

27 February 2026

Climate crisis at the table, market regime in the fields

Climate crisis at the table, market regime in the fields

Agriculture is more than a form of production; it is a way of forming relationships: collective harvests, the culture of mutual aid, communal fields… All of these are on the brink of disappearing. Solidarity-based production relations have been dismantled.

14 February 2026 Kenan Kahya

Berk H. Topaktaş

Road built through olive groves in protected coastal zone in Antalya

Road built through olive groves in protected coastal zone in Antalya

“There are olive groves here that belong to locals from Kaş. But this road was not built so that locals could access their groves and harvest olives more easily when the time comes. It was given to a company," said a local environmental activist.

12 February 2026 Berk H. Topaktaş

Waste: the class face of the ecological crisis

Waste: the class face of the ecological crisis

In Turkey, the amount of plastic waste per capita has reached 128 kilograms per year.

7 February 2026 Kenan Kahya

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