Almaty residents are concerned about the high level of air pollution, and one of the key factors for its improvement is greening. This was previously stated by President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, who emphasized that 2.5 million trees are planned to be planted in Almaty by 2030. The Head of State also noted that Almaty should strengthen its status as a “garden city”.

According to the new general plan , one of the priority tasks is to combat air pollution. As part of solving environmental problems, it is envisaged to expand the ecological framework of the city. According to the general plan, by 2030 the total area of ​​green zones will increase almost threefold – from 1.3 to 3.3 thousand hectares, and by 2040 it will reach 3840 hectares.

The Department of Ecology and Environment told our agency about the measures being taken to restore Almaty’s status as a “garden city”

– In accordance with the instruction of the Head of State to create new recreational zones and green river corridors with the planting of 2.5 million green spaces by 2030, as well as within the framework of the approved Roadmap “Green Almaty”, the city plans to plant 320 thousand trees annually. By 2026, it is planned to plant more than 1.2 million trees, and by 2030 – about 1.3 million. Over the past three years, more than 1 million trees have already been planted. As part of the campaign “Almaty – Garden City”, mass planting of fruit trees, including apple and apricot trees, was carried out, – the department reported.

Plantings are carried out mainly along river beds, reservoirs, in empty areas along highways and other public lands. Particular attention is paid to greening the most polluted areas of the city, such as the sanitary protection zone of the thermal power plant, the Batys cemetery and the industrial zone in the northwestern part of Almaty.

– In 2025, it is planned to plant another 320 thousand green spaces, of which about 30 thousand will be planted in the spring, and the remaining 290 thousand in the fall. A special feature of the upcoming plantings will be the planting of 17 thousand large-sized trees 4-6 meters high. These trees will be placed in key areas of the city, including major transport routes, recreation areas, parks and courtyards. This will help improve the appearance of the city and create comfortable conditions for residents and guests of Almaty, – the department emphasized.

Work on updating the green fund continues: over the course of five years, it is planned to cut down and replace more than 84 thousand hazardous trees with young seedlings. In 2022-2023, about 22 thousand hazardous trees were cut down, and 220 thousand new seedlings were planted in their place. In 2024, district akimats cut down more than 16 thousand hazardous trees, and the work will continue in 2025.

In addition, the Department of Ecology will continue to implement the “Green Yard” campaign in the spring and autumn periods, aimed at increasing the green fund of the city’s courtyard areas.

Transformation of parks and preservation of specially protected areas

The Department of Ecology noted that as part of the implementation of measures aimed at preserving and developing the natural complex of Almaty, work continues to expand the green fund. In particular, the rehabilitation of water bodies is underway, including cleaning the lakes of Sairan and Karasu from silt deposits and dredging. Reconstruction of river beds, landscaping and improvement of adjacent territories also continues. Particular attention is paid to the preservation of specially protected natural areas of local importance, such as the Medeu Regional Nature Park and the state natural monument – Baum Grove.

This year, it is planned to complete the improvement of the embankment of the Sayran reservoir and the park in the Ozhet microdistrict. In 2025, the Department for the Development of Public Spaces has planned the following projects for the transformation of parks and public areas:

• Transformation of the territory of the park to the west of Nazarbayev Avenue, to the north of Gandhi Street;
• Restoration of the Baum Grove area;
• Construction of a green zone north of the Yuzhny Park;
• Creation of a park area in the Boraldai microdistrict of the Alatau region;
• Major repairs of the Alley of Geologists, located at the intersection of A. Baitursynov and K. Satpayev streets.

In addition, construction and installation work has begun on the reconstruction of the Ulken Almaty River bed (5.7 km), which is planned to be completed in 2026.

Let us recall that in the fourth quarter of 2024, the level of air pollution in Almaty was assessed as very high .

Experts explained what comprehensive measures are needed to really improve air quality in Almaty. They also explained why approaches such as air ionization or inversion layer penetration are ineffective in a large city.

Read about how polluted air affects people’s health by following this link .

Earlier, Yerbolat Dosayev shared plans to improve the ecology of Almaty.

It was also reported that work on converting CHPP-2 to gas in Almaty will be completed by the end of 2026.

https://www.inform.kz/ru/vozrozhdenie-goroda-sada-320-tisyach-derevev-visadyat-v-almati-v-etom-godu-7c6510