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Good practice Imported

Astana's Green Belt — Capital-Relocation Afforestation Programme

Kazakhstan · Astana · See the Kazakhstan profile · See the Astana profile

Evidence: Observational / pre–post Top 90% 27/100 · Ask Evidence Copilot about this practice

Since relocating Kazakhstan's capital to open steppe in 1997, the government has grown a windbreak forest now covering ~15,000 hectares in the city with over 11.5 million trees, though the country's mixed national reforestation record limits independent verification.

15000 ha
Forest area within city limits (as of 2023)
11.5 million
Trees recorded (2023)
83000 ha
Regional plantations linked to the belt (~2018)
50 %
National state forest fund seedling survival rate

Details

Maturity
Established
Promoter
Presidential Administration of Kazakhstan / Astana City Akimat
Period
1997–present
Keywords
afforestation, urban climate resilience, forestry, public works

Context

When Kazakhstan moved its capital to the windswept northern steppe in 1997, the government began planting a protective forest ring ('green belt') around the new city to soften harsh winds, dust storms and temperature extremes and improve the local microclimate.

Activities

The programme is coordinated by the Presidential Administration, the Ministry of Agriculture, the city akimat and the Research Institute for Plant Protection and Quarantine. Wider regional plantations linked to the belt exceeded 83,000 hectares by around 2018, with about 5,500 hectares planted that year alone.

Results

The programme has grown to roughly 15,000 hectares of forest within city limits, with more than 11.5 million trees and 2 million shrubs recorded by 2023. A 2025 satellite remote-sensing study (published via ScienceDirect with Wageningen University) tracked the belt's expansion and found continuous, strategically wind-oriented growth with no major zones of vegetation failure detected in recent years.

Conclusions

This positive recent assessment sits against a more troubled national backdrop: officials have acknowledged that of roughly 1.65 billion seedlings planted in the state forest fund over five recent years, average survival was only about 50%, short of the government's own 60% target. No source publishes an audited, site-specific survival rate for the Astana belt itself, so its outcomes should be read as promising but not independently verified at that granularity.

Implementation
Indicative cost
High (€500k–€5M) — National capital-relocation programme sustained over nearly three decades; regional plantations linked to the belt exceed 83,000 hectares.
Time to results
Long (> 3 years) — Continuous planting since 1997, nearly 30 years.
Staffing & skills
Presidential Administration of Kazakhstan, Ministry of Agriculture, Astana City Akimat, Research Institute for Plant Protection and Quarantine

Conditions for success

  • Coordinated multi-agency planting programme tied to the capital relocation
  • Strategically wind-oriented planting design confirmed by satellite tracking

Common failure modes

  • National state forest fund seedling survival averaged only ~50% over five recent years, short of the government's own 60% target
  • Earlier Astana plantings reportedly struggled in early years against saline, wind-scoured steppe soil
  • No audited site-specific survival rate has been published for the Astana belt itself

Commonly funded by

National / regional programmes

Indicative funding routes for practices of this type — always check each programme's current calls and eligibility rules.

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Data sources

Where this practice's information was retrieved from, and when.

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