Biodiversity as a strategy for Kazakhstan’s future

Kazakhstan is home to some of Eurasia’s most diverse ecosystems - from vast steppe landscapes and mountain ranges to wetlands and the Caspian Sea coastline. The country lies along the migration routes of the saiga antelope, its high mountains provide habitat for the snow leopard, and the Caspian Sea is home to the endemic Caspian seal - a species found nowhere else in the world.

These ecosystems are increasingly affected by climate change, land degradation, and growing pressure from industry and agriculture. As a result, biodiversity conservation in Kazakhstan is no longer seen solely as an environmental concern, but as an essential element of long-term economic resilience and quality of life.

This direction is firmly embedded in national policy. Biodiversity conservation is included in the National Development Plan of the Republic of Kazakhstan through 2029 as part of the national priority “enhancing environmental sustainability.” The Environmental Code adopted in 2021 established the ecosystem approach as a mandatory principle of public administration, recognizing nature as a strategic asset that requires protection and long-term investment. The Seventh National Biodiversity Report of Kazakhstan reflects how this policy is being implemented in practice.

The Seventh National Biodiversity Report: a baseline for action

In 2025, the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of the Republic of Kazakhstan, with technical and expert support from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), published the Seventh National Biodiversity  Report - the official submission of the country under the Convention on Biological Diversity, which Kazakhstan joined in 1994.

For the first time, the report was prepared using the standardized matrix framework of the Convention and a common set of global indicators. This enables comparison of Kazakhstan’s progress in biodiversity conservation with other countries and global biodiversity targets.

Covering the period from 2019 to 2024, the report highlights both progress and ongoing challenges.  For example, degraded pasturelands in Kazakhstan cover 28.1 million hectares, of which 2.06 million are severely degraded. Biodiversity data remain fragmented, particularly at the regional level. Ecosystems continue to face pressure from climate change, land degradation, habitat fragmentation, and human-induced impacts linked to infrastructure development, industry, and agriculture.

At the same time, the report underscores an important transition: environmental policy of Kazakhstan is gradually moving beyond the protection of individual species and sites towards a more integrated system of natural resource governance.

Protected areas and ecosystems management

One of the most notable achievements of recent years has been the expansion of Kazakhstan’s protected area network. While 9.9 percent of Kazakhstan's territory was under protection in 2019, by 2025 this figure had increased to 11.3 percent, with the total protected area rising from 28.7 million to 30.9 million hectares.

The Katon-Karagai State National Park

Photo: UNDP Kazakhstan/ Mukhamedzhan Samatuly

Through the partnership between UNDP, the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of the Republic of Kazakhstan, and the Global Environment Facility (GEF), several new protected areas were established during this period: the Ulytau National Park (58,912 ha), the Bokeyorda Nature Reserve (343,040 ha), and the Kaspiy Itbalygy Marine Reserve (108,632 ha) – Kazakhstan’s first marine protected area created specifically to conserve the Caspian seal.

Today, 14 protected areas in Kazakhstan are designated UNESCO Biosphere Reserves status, five of which received this status between 2019 and 2024.

Approaches to conservation are also evolving. Protected areas are increasingly viewed not as isolated “islands,” but as part of a broader ecological network connected through habitats and wildlife migration corridors. 

Another key area of cooperation between UNDP, the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources, and the Global Environment Facility has focused on the sustainable forest management.

Between 2018 and 2024, a project was implemented across mountain, floodplain, and saxaul forests in six regions of Kazakhstan: Abai, Almaty, East Kazakhstan, Zhambyl, Zhetysu, and Turkistan. The project covered 14 pilot protected areas and eight forestry enterprises across the Altai and Tien Shan mountain ranges, as well as the Charyn, Ili, and Syr Darya river basins.

These forest ecosystems are not only habitats for rare species - they also play a critical role in carbon sequestration, soil protection, and maintaining water balance, all of which are essential for local communities and sustainable agriculture. 

At the same time, ecotourism is growing. Visitor centres and tourism routes are being developed in national parks, alongside support for local green businesses, many of which are led by rural women. For many regions, this provides an opportunity to both conserve nature and generate sustainable livelihoods. While national parks and reserves welcomed around 809,000 visitors in 2019, this number reached nearly three million in 2024. 

Increased public investment further reflects the growing recognition of biodiversity as part of national development policy rather than a stand-alone environmental agenda. Since 2020, government spending on protected areas has increased 2.6 times, reaching approximately USD 60 million in 2024. Overall biodiversity-related financing rose from KZT 29.5 billion in 2008 to KZT 795.1 billion in 2022.

Sustainable species management

One of the clearest indicators of progress is the recovery of wildlife population in their natural habitats.

The recovery of the saiga antelope is widely recognized as one of the most significant examples of species restoration globally. In the early 2000s, poaching and disease brought the population to the brink of collapse. In 2019, Kazakhstan’s saiga population stood at 334,400 individuals; by 2024, it had grown to two million. This is considered one of the most remarkable recoveries of a migratory species worldwide.

The snow leopard provides another example of how coordinated efforts by the Government, UNDP, and the scientific community are strengthening the conservation of rare species. Joint monitoring indicates that the population increased from 130 snow leopards in 2019 to an estimated 152–189 by 2024. Today approximately 70 percent of its range in Kazakhstan falls within protected areas.

Snow leopard in the Almaty State Nature Reserve

Photo: Saltore Saparbayev

In the Ile-Balkhash Nature Reserve efforts are ongoing to restore the kulan population. Since 2021, more than 100 animals have been reintroduced as part of a broader ecosystem restoration programme implemented by UNDP together with the Government of Kazakhstan. Today, Kazakhstan’s kulan population is estimated at around 4,600 individuals, making this one of the most successful wild reintroduction efforts globally. 

Kulans in the steppe ecosystems of Kazakhstan

Photo: Oleg Belyalov

The National Biodiversity Report, therefore, serves not only as an assessment of progress but also as a foundation for the next phase of biodiversity policy in Kazakhstan. 

The path to 2035: from commitment to implementation 

In December 2025, Kazakhstan approved the Concept for the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Biodiversity for 2026–2035 - a strategic policy framework built around eight priority areas and 13 measurable indicators. The Concept was developed by the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of the Republic of Kazakhstan with the participation of UNDP, the scientific community, civil society, and international experts.

It is aligned with commitments under the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, which sets the global vision of living in harmony with nature by 2050.

The Concept marks a shift from reactive to proactive biodiversity governance.

Key targets include:

• expanding the protected area network from 30.9 million to 33.2 million hectares by 2035 through the establishment of new protected areas;
• strengthening ecological corridors between protected areas;
• increasing forest area from 13.9 million to 14.7 million hectares;
• restoring degraded pasturelands;
• developing a comprehensive biodiversity monitoring system;
• conserving and restoring populations of rare species.

The West Altai State Nature Reserve

Photo: Alexander Klimenko

For the first time, pastureland restoration has been defined as a standalone national priority. More than 28 million hectares of degraded land require science-based solutions, including rotational grazing systems, restoration planting, and improved land-use management.

By 2035, Kazakhstan also aims to establish a fully operational digital biodiversity monitoring system, increasing ecosystem indicator coverage from 35 to 100 percent.

Biodiversity as an investment in the planet’s future 

Kazakhstan is steadily advancing along a path in which local action aligns with global strategies and contributes meaningfully to protecting the planet’s natural heritage.

The Seventh National Biodiversity Report demonstrated that the foundations for this transition are already in place - through the expansion of protected areas, legal and institutional reform, species restoration, sustainable ecosystem management, and the development of digital monitoring systems.

The Biodiversity Concept through 2035 will determine how consistently this trajectory is implemented in the coming decade.

What is happening here matters far beyond Kazakhstan - it matters for the future of the planet.

Written by - Ainur Salimbayeva