COMPREHENSIVE NATIONAL PROGRAM
FOR LAND RESTORATION AND SUSTAINABLE WATER MANAGEMENT IN THE REPUBLIC OF KAZAKHSTAN (2026-2040)
Kazakhstan faces significant climatic and resource challenges requiring a systemic state response. Up to 60-70% of the country’s territory is prone to desertification, with soil degradation, reduced pasture productivity, humus loss, and salinization observed. Simultaneously, there is a growing deficit of fresh water, increasing losses in water management networks, rising cross-border dependence and pressure on aquatic ecosystems, deteriorating water quality, and developing processes of reservoir silting and wastewater pollution.
Addressing land and water problems separately is not possible. Kazakhstan needs a unified program package that integrates soil restoration, water security, and waste processing within a common resource and climate policy.
Program Mission and Goal: Long- Term Security
Mission
Ensuring Kazakhstan’s long-term ecological and food security through land
restoration, rational water resource management, and the creation of a closed-loop resource circulation system.
Goals by 2040:
Key program objectives
Program Concept
Land + Water + Resource
The program views natural and industrial recycling as inseparable, creating a resource-closed model where what was previously considered waste transforms into a valuable resource.
Technological Platform: Nature- like Innovations
At the core of the program are nature-oriented innovations, including EcoSyntos and AveLife solutions, performing three functions simultaneously:
Restoring soil structure
Restoration of microbiota
Increased moisture capacity
Combating erosion and degradation
Agroforestry melioration
Water Purification and Treatment
Reduction of turbidity and biological contamination
pH stabilization
Reuse of technical water
Infrastructure modernization
Waste to Resources Processing
Technogenic waste – geopolymers, flotation reagents, sorbents
Examples: waste paper – cellulose -nanocellulose, glauconite compositions
Creation of materials for construction, land reclamation, water treatment
This forms a new circular economy where Kazakhstan achieves technological sovereignty in managing its soil and water balance.
Priority Regions for Initial Launch
The selection of priority regions is based on severe water scarcity, land degradation, and agricultural potential.
Aral Sea Region
A region with a severe environmental situation requiring immediate intervention.
Ili-Balkhash Basin
An important water resource susceptible to degradation and desertification.
Mangystau Region
An arid region with high potential for implementing water-saving technologies.
Akmola Region
A key agricultural region in need of soil fertility improvement.
Turkestan and Zhambyl Regions
Regions with high agricultural potential and a need for irrigation
modernization.
Aral Sea Region Pilot Program
The Aral Sea region is seen not as an ecological disaster zone, but as a starting point for a sustainable development model that demonstrates the program’s potential in the most challenging conditions.
Management:
State budget
Key projects and strategic initiatives.
MFRDI
Channel for technological and project
export.
International Funds
GCF, GEF, IFAD, ADB, IDB, EBRD.
PPP / Concessions
Water infrastructure, private investments.
Waste recycling
Market-based payback models.
Green bonds
Climate instruments.
International Integration: A Model for Export
Kazakhstan is developing a model suitable for export to the Islamic world and Central Asia, strengthening its leadership in sustainable development.
Expected Effect and Key Value of the Program
This is not a project about land or water. This is a new system for managing the country’s resources. Not “pumped out – used – discarded”, but “taken – applied – restored – used again”.
Final wording for decision making:
The comprehensive national program “Land + Water + Resource” is a strategic document for the sustainable development of Kazakhstan, integrating soil restoration, water security, and waste processing into a single climate-resilient model. It is proposed for consideration and launch as a national priority starting in 2026.