The delegation of Kazakhstan took part at the International Forum on Afforestation and Reforestation
Brazzaville, July 5, 2024 – The delegation of Kazakhstan, led by H.E. Zulfiya Suleimenova, Advisor to the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan – Special Representative of the President on International Environmental Cooperation took part in the first International Conference on Afforestation and Reforestation (CIAR-1), organized by the Government of the Congo together with the African Union Commission, the UN Forum on Forests and African forest forum.
More than 2 thousand delegates took part in the conference, including heads of state and government, regional and subregional political and economic organizations, the global scientific community, international forest, climate and biodiversity organizations, international and African NGOs, civil society organizations and the private sector.
Participants discussed the problems of afforestation and reforestation in the world as an integral part of the climate agenda, and also shared international successful experience in sustainable forest management.
The representative of Kazakhstan spoke at the high-level segment. Z.Suleimenova shared our country’s experience in the issues of growing and preserving forests, priorities in restoring degraded lands, and preserving biodiversity.
According to the Special Representative of the President of Kazakhstan, in our country we fully understand the importance of preserving biodiversity and ecosystems for sustainable development. The share of forests in Kazakhstan increased from 3% to 5%, and the share of protected natural areas increased to almost 11% of the country's territory. On behalf of the Head of State, it is planned to plant 2 billion trees in Kazakhstan by 2027. From 2021 to 2023, 843 million trees were planted. Much work is being done to restore degraded lands. Saxaul plantations are being created on the dried bottom of the Aral Sea on a total area of 1.1 million hectares. Work is underway to plant 15 million trees in populated areas.
Z.Suleimenova noted that all afforestation activities are carried out in Kazakhstan in accordance with scientific recommendations and environmental requirements. «A republican headquarters has been created to analyze and control these works. Public monitoring of tree planting is carried out using an interactive map», - she said.
The Chairman of the conference, H.E. Denis Sassou-Nguesso, President of Congo called on the international community to join efforts to resolve issues related to afforestation, reforestation, and sustainable economic development of countries forced to abandon the economic exploitation of forest cover in order to preserve biodiversity and forests to combat climate change on the planet.
Overall, experts emphasized that uncontrolled deforestation around the world has catastrophic consequences for the climate, the planet and human health, hindering the achievement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The conference resulted in a Declaration calling on the UN General Assembly to include discussion on this item into agenda for the upcoming session in New York.
The main outcome of the conference was the adoption of the Global Strategy on Afforestation and Reforestation, which emphasizes the importance of the role of forests, their conservation, their sustainable management, and increasing forest cover as a natural response to climate change. The strategy aims to increase the mobilization of financial resources, facilitating access to science, technology and innovation to support afforestation and reforestation goals in Africa and in the world.
As part of the conference, on the side-line of the conference Z.Suleimenova hold bilateral meetings with Denis Sasso-Nguesso, President of the Republic of Congo, with Rosalie Matondo, Minister of Forestry of the Republic of Congo, as well as with Arlette Soudan-Nonault, Minister of Environment, Sustainable Development and the Congo Basin. Both sides discussed the current issues of bilateral cooperation, as well as interaction between Kazakhstan and Congo in the international arena on issues of mutual interest.
For reference: The Republic of Congo, with one of the lowest deforestation rates in the world at just 0.06%, gives one of the best examples of conserving forest cover to protect humanity from the devastating effects of climate change. Congo is contributing to mobilizing global efforts to tackle deforestation. On October 28, 2023, the second summit of the planet's three tropical forest basins: the Amazon, Borneo-Mekong and Congo, took place in Brazzaville. In 2023, at the initiative of Congolese President Denis Sassou-Nguesso, the African Union proposed an International Afforestation Decade.