At the Government session chaired by Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov, issues of developing ecotourism in specially protected natural areas were considered. Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources Yerlan Nyssanbayev delivered a report on systemic measures to improve infrastructure, digitalization, and attraction of private investment in the sector.

Kazakhstan’s natural areas continue to show steady growth in popularity among citizens and foreign guests. While 2.8 million people visited specially protected natural areas in 2024, this figure reached 3.7 million in 2025. The number of visitors increased by 900 thousand, confirming the growing interest of the population in nature recreation, hiking routes, and ethno-tourism. The main tourist potential is concentrated in state national nature parks, where 179 tourist routes and 42 ecological trails currently operate.

To ensure quality development of the direction, the ministry has carried out in-depth legislative and conceptual work. In particular, amendments were made to sectoral legislation that allow the provision of specially protected natural area lands for the design, construction, and maintenance of engineering infrastructure for tourism facilities without transferring them to reserve lands. In February this year, a standard model agreement was approved for granting land plots for long-term use. In addition, taking into account best international experience, concepts for ecotourism development have been developed and master plans have been approved for all 13 national parks under the ministry’s jurisdiction. In a number of parks, documents are currently being adjusted for new investment projects.

To increase transparency and convenience for tourists, digital solutions are actively being introduced. At the expense of its own funds, 14 checkpoints in 6 national parks have been automated, and similar work continues at 11 points this year. Monitoring of their activities is carried out from the head offices of the national parks and duplicated in the Forestry Committee. In addition, all national parks are connected to online payment through banking services with corresponding QR codes placed on websites and information zones.

Special attention is paid to the formation of ecological culture. Within the framework of the Head of State’s nationwide initiative “Taza Kazakhstan”, a special program “Clean Tourism” is being implemented jointly with JSC “Zhasyl Damu”. After successful testing in 2024 in the Charyn and Kolsai Lakes national parks, the project was scaled last year to the Ile-Alatau, Altyn-Emel, Karkaraly, Sairam-Ugam, Kokshetau, Bayanaul, and Burabay parks. As part of the program, 179 containers and 81 bins for separate waste collection, 170 information banners, and 7 reverse vending machines were installed, and biodegradable bags for waste were distributed to visitors. This year, the program will continue to be implemented in the Katon-Karagay, Buiratau, Ulytau, Zhongar-Alatau, and Tarbagatai national parks.

At the same time, the ministry, together with regional akimats, is implementing a set of large-scale infrastructure projects:

• In East Kazakhstan Region: a bridge across the Darba River in the Shyngystai forestry of the Katon-Karagay State National Nature Park has been repaired, and 32.1 km of the road have undergone current repairs. A cluster of four new accommodation facilities is also being prepared for launch in the Katon-Karagay State National Nature Park.
• In North Kazakhstan Region: 17.5 km of the road leading to the popular Imantau-Shalkar resort zone have been reconstructed and expanded.
• In Akmola and North Kazakhstan regions: the arrangement of a network of pedestrian and bicycle paths is planned on the territory of the Kokshetau State National Nature Park. In addition, five projects worth 8 billion tenge are planned on the Zerendi and Shalkar lakes in the Akmola region, aimed at developing water recreation.
• In Almaty Region: 130 million tenge was allocated for the improvement of the coastline of Kolsai Lake. In addition, 12 km of the road from the village of Saty directly to the park territory at Kaiyndy Lake is under construction.

Relying on the successful experience of the Almaty group of national parks, the ministry has shifted to large-scale attraction of private investment since 2024. A portfolio has been formed that includes 23 priority investment projects in 10 regions of the country on a total area of more than 100 hectares. The total volume of attracted private investment exceeds 31.6 billion tenge. The funds are directed toward creating a quality tourism environment: modern visitor centers, eco-hotels, glampings, campings, Kazakh auls, and caravaning sites.

Among the largest projects, the minister highlighted the construction of modern eco-hotels in Turkistan Region on the territory of the Sairam-Ugam National Nature Park: in the Kaskasu gorge and the Sairamsu gorge. The implementation of all the plans outlined by investors will increase the daily flow of visitors to 3,500 people. At the same time, Yerlan Nysanbayev emphasized that local executive bodies need to accelerate as much as possible in bringing engineering communications to the sites.

Yerlan Nyssanbayev reported that the ministry plans to organize a series of field events chaired by First Deputy Prime Minister Nurlibek Nalibayev to intensify work on the ground. This will allow for the prompt resolution of issues related to the development of national park infrastructure, coordination of investors’ actions, and improvement of the overall ecological culture of citizens.

#Ecology #Government session #Tourism

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