Landscaping, cleaning of the Irtysh, elimination of natural landfills: What will eco-payments be used for in the Pavlodar region in the next three years

The akimat of Pavlodar region considered the plan of environmental measures for 2022-2024. Competent state bodies and independent experts took part in the discussion of the draft document.

At the beginning of the working meeting, the head of the Department of Subsoil Use, Environment and Water Resources Aigerim Kabyltayeva recalled that a new Environmental Code began to operate in Kazakhstan on July 1. It provides for the mandatory transition of large industrial enterprises to the best available technologies (BAT) from 2025. The company applying BAT will be exempt from the fee for emissions. If the company does not introduce modern technologies in order to preserve the environment, then the emission rates for it will gradually increase: from 2025 by 2 times, from 2028 - by 4 times, and from 2031 - by 8 times.

- All incoming environmental payments at the regional level will be directed to environmental protection measures, - said Aigerim Kabyltayeva. - According to the Environmental Code, the costs of environmental protection measures for 2022-2024 should not be lower than the amount of environmental revenues for the last 3 years. In the case of the Pavlodar region, we are talking about 45 billion tenge.

First of all, this funding will be directed to landscaping. To enrich the state forest fund, 3 temporary nurseries will be opened in the region this autumn on an area of 6.25 hectares. They will allow to grow 7.5 million pine seedlings. Next year, 2 more temporary nurseries will be created for 3.6 million seedlings. As for the greening of settlements, in 2022-2024 it is planned to plant more than 248 thousand trees in the Pavlodar region, and by the end of 2025 - 422 thousand seedlings. And if there should be no problems with replenishing the state forest fund, then there are questions about planting trees in cities and villages. First of all, this concerns species diversity, because deciduous trees are needed to create "lungs" in settlements, and they are practically not grown in the region. In addition, as public figures have expressed, it is necessary to solve once and for all the eternal problem of caring for the green fund.

- Today we are concerned not so much about the planting of new trees, as about the care of existing trees, - said the head of the association "Ecom" Svetlana Mogilyuk. - In some cases, we cannot find those trees that, according to the housing and communal services, were planted on the territory of Pavlodar. Sometimes we just can't find compensating landings, and if they are, they are often not of the best quality.

Akim of Pavlodar region Abylkair Skakov acknowledged the problem and stressed that the inventory of seedlings is being completed in the regional center. When the city authorities know the exact number of trees, they will be able to effectively allocate funds for their care.

- We should start moving in favor of rationalism with the organization of an automated irrigation system wherever possible, primarily in parks and squares, - said the head of the region. - At the same time, competitions for the care of green spaces should be played for three years. And in this case, strict requirements will be imposed on suppliers so that they use a scientific approach in their work.

The competence of scientists, according to the mayor, should be used in the fight against midge. Today, spending a lot of money on disinsection, the Pavlodar region is resisting the consequences of how best to find out why midges and mosquitoes attack the residents of the region every summer.

- If necessary, we need to go to the international level in this matter, - said Abylkair Skakov. - Here it is necessary to assess the state of the floodplain, the impact of environmental releases, changes in the temperature regime on the development of the midge. It is necessary to focus attention on the cleaning of the coastline. However, in the future, such work cannot be carried out only at the expense of environmental detachments, as it is proposed today. If this is one of the main problems, we must allocate the necessary resources to solve it.

The situation with solid household waste was also discussed separately at the meeting. In Pavlodar, it is planned to install 4 thousand containers for separate garbage collection. This will make it possible to sort waste more efficiently and optimize the work of municipal services for their removal. In addition, the region will provide funding for the elimination of natural landfills. As the mayor noted, this work should also be done at the legislative level, because today there is at least one illegal landfill of solid household waste near almost every village in the Pavlodar region.

The head of Bereginya Bio LLP, Tatyana Ponomareva, who also took part in the working meeting, asked to take into account the fight against cyclachena in the plan of environmental measures. As the biologist emphasized, weed has a detrimental effect on the biodiversity of the Pavlodar region.

- It is necessary to estimate the area affected by cyclachena in each city and district, - said Tatyana Ponomareva. - At this time of the year, it makes no sense to fight with this plant, but in the upcoming spring it will be easy to cope with it by mechanical weeding or special treatment.

Abylkair Skakov assured that all the comments and suggestions of independent experts will be taken into account when approving the final environmental action plan for 2022-2024. After that, the document will be agreed with the Ministry of Ecology, Geology and Natural Resources of the Republic of Kazakhstan and submitted to the Maslikhat of Pavlodar region for consideration. The head of the region once again reminded that for the first time payments for emissions will be fully directed to measures to preserve the environment, and therefore responsible state bodies need to ensure their effective use.

 

 

Press service of the Akim of Pavlodar region

Photo by Valery Bugaev