Burning forests and burning coal: Turkey’s climate conundrum

In Turkey, climate action is in a state of limbo.

The forest fires that raged across the Mediterranean for the past few weeks have brought levels of devastation to the Southern coast of Turkey not seen in decades. With almost 300 blazes and a total scorched area that is nine times the average of previous years, the blazes initially overwhelmed Turkish firefighters, and offers of support came flooding in from near and far. The heavy toll on local communities was evident to all. Eight lives were lost and tens of thousands were evacuated as the flames approached villages and cities in Antalya, Muğla, Aydın, Isparta and Denizli. The economic impact on the tourism industry in places such as Manavgat, Marmaris and Bodrum only exacerbated the damages inflicted on this coastal paradise by the COVID-19 pandemic and global travel restrictions. The environmental losses were no less heart-rending. In addition to the death of thousands of farm animals and countless trees, the delicate ecosystems that developed around pine forests and olive groves were also decimated. With the destruction of the habitats and ecosystem of the pine honey bees in Muğla, the bees may not return for decades.