ASTANA – Ahead of the International Day for Biological Diversity, annually celebrated on May 22, Kazakhstan presented its national benchmarks for biodiversity conservation in its Concept on Conservation and Sustainable Use of Biodiversity for 2025-2035.
Collage is created by The Astana Times.
The draft was developed by the Committee of Forestry and Wildlife of the Kazakh Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources together with the UN Development Programme in Kazakhstan with the support of the Global Environment Facility. The document is recognized as the country’s vision for ecosystem conservation within its territory and a contribution to the global protection of the planet. At the presentation event on May 20, participants gathered to summarize the interim results and to discuss effective financial instruments for the realization of this vision.
Sukhrob Khojimatov, deputy resident representative of UNDP Kazakhstan. Photo credit: UNDP Kazakhstan.
According to Sukhrob Khojimatov, deputy resident representative of UNDP Kazakhstan, biodiversity is not just an environmental concern—it is also vital to sustainable economies, public health, security and climate resilience.
“Data analysis shows that half of the world’s GDP depends on nature, so we are convinced that investing in nature is not a financial cost, but an opportunity for development. Studies demonstrate that every dollar invested in nature restoration brings at least nine economic benefits,” said Khojimatov.
“An example is the work of bio-financing in Kazakhstan. As a result of collaborative efforts to improve financing for protected areas, the total budget for these areas has increased by $130 million from 2020 to date. This was made possible by aligning management plans with national conservation objectives and improving the regulatory framework,” he added.
Kazakhstan’s concept of biodiversity conservation
Azamat Abuov, the ministry’s head of the department of reproduction and utilization of forests and flora, reported that the national concept contains nine indicators and seven broader priority areas of work.
Those areas include the development of a unified system of specially protected areas of ecotourism, increasing the efficiency of forest protection and more effective forest management, improving the system of monitoring of sustainable use of wildlife, increasing the natural population of rare flora and fauna, restoration of degraded pastures, creation of a national system of collection and monitoring of financing data.
At the presentation event on May 20, participants gathered to summarize the interim results of the Concept. Photo credit: UNDP Kazakhstan
One of the concept’s key indicators is increasing the area of specially protected areas.
“One of the tasks is the development of the system of specially protected natural areas until 2035. It is planned to increase their total area to 34 million hectares,” said Abuov.
Key wildlife protection efforts include establishing stable populations of kulans and Przewalski’s horses, boosting the reproduction of the Karatau argali, reintroducing the snow leopard, and releasing five tigers into the wild. A top priority is also ensuring the conservation of the Caspian seal, with a minimum sustainable population target of 260,000 individuals.
Alignment with the Global Biodiversity Framework and SDG targets
At the event, international technical advisor on biodiversity Josh Brann presented the areas of alignment of the concept with the Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) and Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) targets, as well as areas where there is potential to strengthen the concept.
The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) was adopted during the fifteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP 15) in 2022. Among the framework’s key elements are four goals for 2050 and 23 targets for 2030.
Josh Brann, international technical advisor on biodiversity. Photo credit: UNDP Kazakhstan
Assessing Kazakhstan’s concept alignment with GBF, Brann said that it was a “very strong document.” “At this point, a lot of work has been put into that document that is very well linked with national needs and priorities,” he said.
This means that the GBF’s long-term ambitions serve as the base for what Kazakhstan wants to achieve at the local level.
One of the lesser aligned parts, according to him, is Target 3 of GBF, which aims to ensure that at least 30% of land, waters and seas are conserved by 2030.
“For the concept in Kazakhstan, we have currently the target of reaching 12.5% by 2035. Kazakhstan is obviously starting from a certain baseline, and it’s not possible to simply say to cover 30% of the national territory by protected areas by 2030. Though it’s important to think about what is the actual ambition of the country, what is the long-term strategy, what is the goal, the vision for the protected area network and for coverage of protected areas in the country,” said Brann.
At least four of the SDGs have direct relevance to the concept of biodiversity conservation and GBF.
“There is strong alignment with a number of areas related to the SDGs, for example, SDG 14: Life below water has a strong alignment concept with actions on Caspian Sea conservation, fisheries, and habitat protection,” said Brann.
“SDG 15: Life on land – there is some positive alignment with expanding forest networks, sustainable forest management, threatened species restoration, and addressing land degradation,” he added.
Additionally, strong alignment with SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities and SDG 12: Responsible Consumption is observed.
“The concept as it is now is very structured in terms of specific sectors. To some extent, that’s necessary to address some of those key issues. But it’s also important to recognize that diversity doesn’t exist in individual spheres, that it’s important to address many of the threats of diversity in an integrated manner across multiple sectors,” said Brann.
“The concept can help set the stage for that and provide a better foundation for doing that through the whole of society approach, the whole government approach, and give key elements that help strengthen the implementation of that broader approach, such as data driven decision-making and national accounting systems related to biodiversity,” he added.
