Project AFoCO/028/2022 | Kazakhstan
From unaccounted forests to digital management
Kazakhstan — the largest country in Central Asia — covers about 272.5 million hectares (2.725 million km²). Stretching from the Tien Shan mountains to the steppes of Western Siberia, the country features vast natural diversity and a wide range of climatic zones. These immense scales and complex geography have for decades posed objective challenges for maintaining a unified national forest inventory system, especially in remote and sparsely populated areas.
As a result, in several regions of the country, there remained areas covered by woody vegetation that were not officially included in the national forest estate (State Forest Fund. These forests existed physically but were “invisible” legally—without official status, protection, or registration. They were not reflected in national statistics, did not appear in official reports, and were not considered in environmental or climate planning.
To close this gap, Kazakhstan implemented the pilot project AFoCO/028/2022 “Pilot Project on Inventory of Unaccounted Forests in Kostanay and North Kazakhstan Regions and Automation of Information Collection on Forestry,” approved at AFoCO’s 5th Session of the Assembly in Seoul in November 2021. The project aimed not only to bring these forests under state protection but also to lay the foundation for Kazakhstan’s transition toward digital forest management.
Restoring the “lost” forests
An analysis of forest inventory data and satellite imagery revealed that thousands of hectares of forest in northern Kazakhstan lacked legal status and were therefore not part of the State Forest Fund (SFF). These areas were excluded from national statistics, unprotected, and not financed for fire prevention or anti-illegal logging measures. The AFoCO project became the first systematic step toward addressing this issue.
In 2023, field surveys were conducted across 11 forest enterprises in Kostanay region, identifying 31,965 hectares of unaccounted forests.
Kostanay region — one of the largest cities in Kazakhstan — is located in the northwest of the country, bordering the Russian Federation. Its total area is 19.6 million hectares, of which 1,146,900 hectares belong to the State Forest Fund, and 236,500 hectares are forested. The region’s forest cover amounts to only 1.2%, making forest protection and restoration especially vital.
The State Forest Fund consists of 11 communal forest enterprises and the Naurzum State Nature Reserve, one of the oldest and most prominent in Kazakhstan. The dominant forest species include Scots pine, birch, aspen, poplar, and shrubby willow.
The largest areas of unaccounted forests were recorded in the Mikhaylovskoe State Forest Enterprise (16,845 ha), primarily within the Kidralinskoye forestry (8,530 ha). On the project’s digital maps, forests already within the State Forest Fund are shown in blue, while newly identified areas proposed for inclusion are highlighted in yellow.
Work continued in 2024 in the North Kazakhstan region, located along the southern edge of the West Siberian Plain and partially within the Kazakh Uplands (Saryarka). The region covers about 9.8 million hectares, of which 689,640 hectares belong to the State Forest Fund, and 538,482 hectares are forested, corresponding to 5.5% forest cover.
The region is characterized by extensive small-leaved and floodplain forests, primarily consisting of birch, aspen, poplar, and shrubby willow, which play an important role in soil protection and water regulation. There are 12 state forest enterprises responsible for forest protection, management, and reforestation.
Field surveys were carried out across all enterprises in the region. The inventory revealed 31,660 hectares of unaccounted forests, nearly twice the expected area, including major areas in Bulaevo (5,648 ha), Sergeev (5,618 ha), Presnov (4,862 ha), and Zhambyl (4,987 ha) forest enterprises. In Bulaevo’s Konyukhov forestry, 2,476 hectares of previously unrecorded forests were discovered.
Altogether, the two pilot regions accounted for 63,625 hectares of unaccounted forests. All data have been submitted to the Committee of Forestry and Wildlife and respective regional authorities for official inclusion into the State Forest Fund. This represents a direct contribution to increasing Kazakhstan’s forest cover and strengthening the ecological resilience of its northern regions.
Transitioning to a digital era of forest management
Alongside the field inventory work, the project developed a Forest Information System (FIS) to automate the collection, processing, and transmission of forest data. For decades, forestry reporting in Kazakhstan had been conducted manually on paper, leading to errors and inefficiencies. The new system enables full digitization, improving data accuracy, transparency, and accessibility.
At the initial stage, existing data were consolidated and standardized, electronic reporting templates were created, and the system architecture was developed. The FIS now includes data from 2010 onward, allowing users to track 15 years of forest dynamics. Users can select specific periods, regions, or tree species, while the system automatically generates summaries and verifies data accuracy.
During the training workshops held in 2025 across all 17 regions of Kazakhstan, specialists entered real data from their institutions. The system demonstrated high precision and full consistency with official records.
“Now every forest engineer can input data independently, and the system automatically checks, aggregates, and transfers it to the next level. This completely eliminates manual errors and increases transparency,” said Mr. Daniyar Autinov, Lead Developer of Krypton Pro LLP.
In 2025, the system is undergoing state expertise and cybersecurity accreditation. Following official approval, expected in December 2025, it will be deployed on secure government servers and transferred to the Kazakh Forest Management Enterprise (RSE “Kazakh Lesoustroitelnoe Predpriyatie”) for permanent maintenance. Operational and technical support will be financed from the state budget, while annual data updates will be carried out jointly with the Committee of Forestry and Wildlife.
Contributing to regional development
The AFoCO/028/2022 project marks an important milestone in Kazakhstan’s digital transformation of the forestry sector. It not only restored the legal protection of tens of thousands of hectares of previously “lost” forests but also established an innovative foundation for precise and transparent forest management.
The results achieved through this project are already serving as a model for scaling up in other regions of Kazakhstan and across Central Asia — demonstrating how the integration of modern technology and systematic fieldwork can strengthen forest protection, enhance governance efficiency, and advance sustainable development.
Check out the video highlights from the AFoCO/028/2022 Project.
PROJECT OVERVIEW – AFOCO/028/2022
Pilot Project on Inventory of Unaccounted Forests in Kostanay and North Kazakhstan Regions and Automation of Information Collection on Forestry
Project Duration & Budget : March 2022 – February 2026 / US$ 1,243, 807 (AFoCO: US$ 953,277; National: US$ 290,530)
Implementing Agency : Forestry and Wildlife Committee of the Ministry of Ecology and National Resources
Project Sites : Kostanay and North Kazakhstan regions
Contributed by Dr. Lee Seonghan (Team Leader, ODA Project Team), Mr. Madi Nurpeissov (Fellowship Official from Kazakhstan), Mr. Sarsenbaev Yernar Ergeldyuly (Project Manager for AFoCO/028/2022), Ms. Emily Marie Lim (Program Officer), and Ms. Sungmin Kim (Assistant Program Officer).