Thousands of environmental law violations identified in Kazakhstan
As a result of space-based monitoring of Kazakhstan’s territory, 4.9 thousand unauthorized dumps, nearly 2.6 thousand sites of illegal mineral extraction, and 66 cases of illegal logging have been identified.
These figures are presented in the National Report on the State of the Environment and the Use of Natural Resources in the Republic of Kazakhstan for 2024.
In particular, satellite monitoring of compliance with regulations in water protection zones and belts along the Syrdarya and Ili rivers revealed the following violations:
- 12 illegal waste disposal sites (industrial and household waste) covering a total area of 40.813 hectares;
- 11 unauthorized sites for the extraction of common mineral resources with a total area of 26.504 hectares;
- 119 buildings and structures not registered in the cadastral database;
- 6,008.2 hectares of plowed land and 47,544.7 hectares of pastureland.
Space-based monitoring of industrial and household waste disposal was conducted in 46 major settlements, with buffer zones of 10–50 km from their boundaries, covering a total area of 290,000 km². The violations identified are alarming:
- 4,886 unauthorized waste disposal sites;
- 408 officially authorized landfills operating in violation of their designated boundaries.
It should be noted that compared to 2023 satellite imagery, 2,614 illegal dumps were eliminated in 2024, while 1,728 were newly identified.
In addition, analysis of high- and very-high-resolution satellite imagery covering 410,458 thousand km² revealed 2,580 sites of unauthorized mineral extraction. Of these, 158 appeared in 2024, and 236 historical sites showed changes in the area of development.
A total of 66 sites of illegal logging were also identified.
As previously reported, the Regional Ecological Summit will take place in Astana on April 22–24, 2026. Environmental challenges facing Central Asian countries and possible solutions will be discussed. Waste management and natural resource governance are included among the key thematic areas of the event.
