Kazakhstan highlights Northern Aral recovery and return of rare species
President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev highlighted Kazakhstan’s environmental achievements at the Caspian Environmental Summit underway in Turkmenistan, Qazinform News Agency cites the Akorda press service.
The President emphasized the area of the Northern Aral Sea increased by 36%, leading to improved water quality, the restoration of fish stocks, and the gradual revival of economic activity in surrounding regions.
Kassym-Jomart Tokayev noted that biodiversity conservation remains a priority of Kazakhstan’s environmental policy. He said Kazakhstan restored the saiga antelope population, continues to support snow leopard conservation efforts, and is helping rare species return to their natural habitats.
The President also highlighted Kazakhstan’s program to restore the Turanian tiger. He expressed gratitude to the Government of Russia and personally to Vladimir Putin for sending several Amur tigers, which are now successfully adapting to the country’s conditions.
Kassym-Jomart Tokayev emphasized that a solid legal and institutional framework for Caspian cooperation has already been developed, including the Tehran Convention, which marks its twentieth anniversary this year. He also welcomed Azerbaijan’s proposal to establish an intergovernmental commission on the Caspian Sea’s declining water levels at the deputy prime minister level.
As stated there, the Caspian states approved Kazakhstan’s initiative to develop an interstate program for preserving the Caspian Sea resources.
The Head of State also stressed that current measures remain insufficient and called for coordinated action to mitigate the consequences of the sea’s shallowing and help regional economies and ecosystems adapt to ongoing environmental changes.
Earlier, the President said the Caspian Sea is a unique natural treasure, a source of livelihood for millions of people, and a key transportation and energy link across Eurasia. He stressed that protecting the sea’s fragile ecosystem is a shared responsibility of all countries bordering the Caspian Sea.
He noted that between 2000 and 2025, the Caspian Sea surface area shrank by more than 16,000 square kilometers, while some sections of the shoreline receded by dozens of kilometers. He attributed the deterioration to reduced water inflows, climate change, and increasing human activity.