The importance of transparency in preventing deforestation and forest degradation: a comparison of discourse and facts in Türkiye

Abstract

The forest area in Türkiye has increased from 21.2 million hectares in 2005 to 23.4 million hectares in 2023. Citing this and other official forest data, politicians and bureaucrats have been claiming that Türkiye is among the most successful countries in the world in forestry. However, these claims are misguiding discourses that aim to conceal from the public the true extent of deforestation and forest degradation in the country as, when scientific and official findings are compared with these discourses, it becomes evident that there are large discrepancies between discourses and facts. The government has prioritized economic benefits over protecting forest ecosystems. Public information about forestry is therefore manipulated which in turn prevents effective solutions to forest problems. This is considered to be a type of greenwashing. This study discussed how the discourse of politicians and forest administration in Türkiye overlaps with current forestry work, and the importance of transparency in preventing deforestation and forest degradation. For the sake of transparency, a system should be established to verify the accuracy of information in reports submitted by countries to the FAO and similar organizations, and sanctions should be imposed on countries that provide misleading information. © 2025 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.