At the government session chaired by Prime Minister Askar Mamin, the issue of protection and reproduction of forest resources was considered. The Minister of Ecology, Geology and Natural Resources Magzum Mirzagaliyev reported on the work carried out in this direction.

According to the minister, Kazakhstan belongs to the low-forest states. Thus, the total area of ​​the country's forest fund is 30 million hectares and occupies 11% of the territory. The largest areas of forests are located in the Kyzylorda and Zhambyl regions. Saxaul mainly grows there. In the East Kazakhstan and Almaty regions, the reserves of the most valuable tree species, such as fir, cedar, larch and spruce, are mainly concentrated.

“The forest cover of the republic is 4.8%. The goal is to increase the forest cover of the republic to 5% by 2030 within the framework of the Bonn Challenge adopted in 2018,” the minister said.

Recall that in his last message to the people, the President of Kazakhstan K. Tokayev ordered to plant 2 billion trees in the forest fund and 15 million trees in settlements within 5 years for the purpose of large-scale landscaping of the republic.

In this regard, the Ministry of Ecology, together with the regional akimats, is carrying out relevant work and the volumes of tree planting in the context of regions have already been determined.

Thus, by the efforts of environmental and forestry institutions of akimats, 1.1 billion trees will be planted on an area of ​​464 thousand hectares. The largest volumes of forest planting are expected in Turkistan, Kyzylorda and Zhambyl regions. In this case, the bulk of the volume will be carried out by sowing saxaul, including on the drained bottom of the Aral Sea. In the central regions of the republic, forest planting will be carried out by the main forest-forming species, such as pine, spruce, birch.

In addition, about 200 million trees will be planted on the territory of national parks and reserves on an area of ​​62.5 thousand hectares. It is also planned to plant 700 million trees on an area of ​​182 thousand hectares at the expense of compensatory planting, protective belts along roads and railways, as well as international grants.

“Currently, there are 155 forest nurseries in the republic, which, when fully loaded, will be able to ensure the implementation of the planned scope of work. In addition, it may be necessary to create temporary nurseries, as well as to strengthen the material and technical equipment of forest institutions,” Mirzagaliyev said.

Penalties for crimes against plants will be increased. Recently, several facts of illegal felling, destruction and damage of trees and bushes in settlements were recorded in the republic. In this regard, the ministry, together with interested state bodies, has worked out a number of measures aimed at toughening the punishment for these violations.

First. The Ministry of Industry and Infrastructure Development of the Republic of Kazakhstan is making additions to the standard rules for the maintenance and protection of green spaces. In accordance with these additions, the following will be envisaged:

• A thirtyfold compensation planting of trees in case of illegal felling, destruction, damage of trees included in the Red Book of the Republic of Kazakhstan;
• A tenfold compensation planting for the destruction of green spaces in the adjacent territory of individuals and legal entities.

As Minister Mirzagaliyev noted, earlier these norms were not included in these rules.

Second. Work has been done to amend the base rates for calculating the amount of damage caused by violation of forestry legislation. The corresponding draft government decree was adopted this week, according to which it is envisaged to increase the amount of compensation for damage from 6 to 1,000 monthly calculated indicators for each illegally felled tree listed in the Red Book of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Along with this, the base rates have been supplemented by a new separate application for determining the amount of compensation for damage in case of illegal felling of trees and shrubs growing within cities and towns, depending on the breed and age.

Third. Amendments to legislative acts. Amendments have been prepared in the Administrative Code regarding the elimination of discretionary norms and an increase in sanctions for offenders (an increase in fines to the maximum allowable amount). For example, it is proposed to increase fines depending on the repetition of violations: for an individual from 10 to 150 MCI; for small businesses from 30 to 450 MCI; for medium-sized businesses from 40 to 600 MCI and for large businesses from 100 to 1,500 MCI.

In addition, there will be amendments to the Criminal Code to toughen sanctions for illegal felling of trees.

At the same time, as the minister explained, in Kazakhstan, the issues of preserving the flora are regulated only by the Forest Code and exclusively on the territory of the state forest fund. While for other categories of land, such as agricultural land, land of reserve and industry, these issues are not regulated.

In this regard, the ministry has developed a draft law on the flora, within the framework of which it is supposed to:

- legislatively streamline all issues related to the protection, reproduction and use of flora resources;

- to determine the state bodies responsible for the preservation and reproduction of flora resources, which will strengthen control over their export outside the republic;

- to determine the procedure for maintaining, accounting, state cadastre and monitoring of the flora, as well as the creation and maintenance of botanical collections and collections of plant genetic resources.

In addition to these tasks, it is planned to resolve the issues of conservation of rare and endangered endemic and relict plant species, issues of imposing a ban on the artificial introduction of alien species into natural ecosystems.

Thus, for the purpose of high-quality work in this direction, Magzum Mirzagaliyev turned to the regional akimats with the following proposals:

- to fulfill the announced targets for increasing the volume of forest reproduction and afforestation;

- to ensure timely maintenance and care of the created forest stands;

- to carry out an inventory and certification of green spaces in cities and other settlements.

“In addition, the Ministry of Finance needs to work out the financing issues necessary to ensure an increase in the volume of reforestation and afforestation by regions and other state bodies within the framework of the republican budget,” the head of the department added.