Days before COP31, the scope of energy investments in natural protected areas has been expanded. While the path for permitting wind power plant (WPP) and hydroelectric power plant (HEPP) projects in Qualified Natural Protected Areas has been cleared, the 50 megawatt installed power limit for wind power plants has been abolished. The fight against the climate crisis and the carbon neutral target were cited as justification for HEPP investments. Decisions conflicting with nature conservation goals have increased the debate on the future of protected areas.
The meeting date of the decisions, which came into force after being published in the Official Gazette dated 3 November 2026, was recorded as 26 October 2026. The most striking aspect of the regulations was the change of limits on energy investments in Qualified Natural Protected Areas. The changes made on the grounds of renewable energy investments raised the question of how to establish the balance between the protection of natural areas and energy production. The regulation created a picture that contradicts the Ministry's own protection objectives.
While the protection of natural values and the transfer of protected areas to future generations are listed among the main objectives in the Ministry's 2025 Performance Program, the scope of energy investments in areas with special protection status has been expanded with new decisions. The contradiction between the commitment to protect the natural heritage and the practice that allows RES and HEPP projects in protected areas has brought Türkiye's nature conservation policies into question again.
RES PERMIT IN THE MOST SENSITIVE AREAS
One of the most striking topics of the new regulation was the change regarding RES projects in Qualified Natural Protected Areas. The condition in the Ministry's principle decision dated January 5, 2017 that the number of turbines in these areas should not exceed 20 and the installed power should not exceed 50 megawatts has been changed.
With the new decision, the installed power limit of 50 megawatts was abolished and the upper limit of the number of turbines was determined as 18. Thus, the previous limitation on total installed capacity for RES projects to be established in Qualified Natural Protected Areas has been eliminated. In the evaluation of the projects, the natural resource values, ecological integrity and environmental impacts of the area will be taken into account.
Applications for RES investments will be handled in line with conservation zoning plans and the evaluation of the Regional Commissions for the Protection of Natural Assets. However, the removal of the installed capacity limit has raised new questions about the scale of energy investments in areas with natural protection status and their possible effects on the ecosystem.
CLIMATE CRISIS REASON FOR HEPP
The regulation regarding HEPP projects in Qualified Natural Protected Areas also attracted attention. The reasons for the ministry's decision were listed as harmful gases resulting from the use of fossil fuels, greenhouse effect, global warming and climate change. The 2053 carbon neutral target set within the scope of the Paris Agreement, energy supply security and effective use of renewable resources were also cited as the basis for HEPP investments. According to the decision, in order to realize HEPP projects in these areas, an ecosystem evaluation report must be prepared by the relevant departments of universities. Projects may be permitted provided that the measures set out in the report are accepted by the investor, the necessary commitments are taken and conservation plans are created.
Another principle decision covers HEPP projects to be built in Sustainable Protection and Controlled Use Areas. In these areas, ecosystem assessment report and conservation zoning plan requirements were introduced.
THE UNIVERSITY WILL GIVE THE REPORT, THE INVESTOR WILL GIVE THE COMMITMENT
Ecosystem assessment reports to be prepared by universities stand out as an important step in the new regulations. However, in addition to the preparation of reports, investors' commitment to implement the determined measures is also among the conditions of the permit process. This situation brings with it the questions of how the ecological impacts of the projects to be carried out in natural protected areas will be monitored, to what extent the measures determined in the reports will be implemented, and how the inspection will be carried out after the investment. Energy investments, especially in river beds, forested areas, valleys and areas sensitive to biodiversity, need to be evaluated not only at the project stage but also during the operation process. Because the protection of a natural area is possible not only by limiting construction but also by maintaining the integrity of the ecosystem.
2030 TARGET IS 30 PERCENT, CURRENT RATE IS 13.73 PERCENT
The timing of the regulations also created controversy with Türkiye's international protection goals. The 30x30 target set within the scope of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity envisages protecting at least 30 percent of land, inland waters and marine areas by 2030. Turkey is among the countries that have committed to increasing their protected areas in line with this goal. The Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change announced its goal of increasing the rate of protected areas in Türkiye to 30 percent by 2030. However, as of the end of 2023, the ratio of land and marine protected areas to the country's surface area, under the responsibility of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry and the General Directorate of Protection of Natural Assets of the Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change, was announced as 13.73 percent. In a country that aims to increase the rate of protected areas, the expansion of permit conditions for energy investments in Qualified Natural Protected Areas has brought the practical value of conservation policies into question.
DESTRUCTION OF HEPPS HAS BEEN DISCUSSED FOR YEARS
With the regulation dated 2003, which paved the way for the private sector to focus on HEPP investments in Türkiye, many projects were implemented in stream and river basins. Granting water usage rights to private companies for up to 49 years through water usage rights agreements has been one of the main issues of environmental struggles that have been going on for many years, especially in rural areas. Discussions about changing the water regime, fragmenting natural habitats, affecting agricultural activities and disrupting ecological integrity in valleys due to HEPPs installed in stream beds have come to the fore. In some regions, citizens and environmental organizations waged a legal struggle against the projects. As the amount of water in HEPP projects was insufficient, initiatives to invest in WPP and solar power plants (SPP) along with the existing power plants were also brought to the agenda. It was reported that a combined RES and SPP application has been made for 140 HEPPs as of 2023.
THE WORLD IS LIBERATING ITS RIVERS
While paving the way for new HEPP investments is being discussed in Türkiye, efforts are being carried out in some European countries and the USA to remove dams that have completed their economic life and to restore the natural flow of river ecosystems. It was reported that 602 dams were removed in Europe in 2025, while in the USA, approximately 100 dams were demolished in the same year and efforts were made to re-establish river connections. While restoration projects are being carried out to restore the natural flow of rivers on the one hand, and on the other hand, the determination of new permit conditions for HEPP investments in protected areas in Türkiye revealed the difference in approach between energy policies and ecological protection.
NATURE EXAM BEFORE COP31
In a period when the effects of the climate crisis are becoming increasingly severe, forests, wetlands, rivers and natural sites are among the basic elements of not only biodiversity but also the carbon cycle. These areas play a critical role in terms of carbon storage, continuity of the water cycle, soil protection and maintenance of natural life. The decisions taken before COP31, where Türkiye will bring its 2053 carbon neutral target and international climate commitments to the agenda, have reignited the debate in which areas and under what conditions renewable energy investments will be made. Changing the conditions for RES and HEPP projects in Qualified Natural Protected Areas once again demonstrated that not only energy production but also the protection of natural assets should be a priority in the fight against the climate crisis.
