diff --git a/src/main/kotlin/com/terraformation/backend/admin/AdminPlantingSitesController.kt b/src/main/kotlin/com/terraformation/backend/admin/AdminPlantingSitesController.kt
index c34f155d2865..492f4cbe39b6 100644
--- a/src/main/kotlin/com/terraformation/backend/admin/AdminPlantingSitesController.kt
+++ b/src/main/kotlin/com/terraformation/backend/admin/AdminPlantingSitesController.kt
@@ -5,6 +5,8 @@ import com.fasterxml.jackson.module.kotlin.readValue
 import com.terraformation.backend.api.RequireGlobalRole
 import com.terraformation.backend.auth.currentUser
 import com.terraformation.backend.customer.db.OrganizationStore
+import com.terraformation.backend.customer.model.SystemUser
+import com.terraformation.backend.customer.model.requirePermissions
 import com.terraformation.backend.db.SRID
 import com.terraformation.backend.db.default_schema.GlobalRole
 import com.terraformation.backend.db.default_schema.OrganizationId
@@ -76,6 +78,7 @@ class AdminPlantingSitesController(
     private val organizationStore: OrganizationStore,
     private val plantingSiteStore: PlantingSiteStore,
     private val plantingSiteImporter: PlantingSiteImporter,
+    private val systemUser: SystemUser,
 ) {
   private val log = perClassLogger()
 
@@ -722,8 +725,10 @@ class AdminPlantingSitesController(
 
   @PostMapping("/plantingSite/populateCountries")
   fun populatePlantingSiteCountries(redirectAttributes: RedirectAttributes): String {
+    requirePermissions { populatePlantingSiteCountries() }
+
     try {
-      plantingSiteStore.populateExistingSiteCountries()
+      systemUser.run { plantingSiteStore.populateExistingSiteCountries() }
       redirectAttributes.successMessage = "Populated countries of existing planting sites"
     } catch (e: Exception) {
       redirectAttributes.failureMessage = "Failed to populate planting site countries: $e"