Agricultural projects must undergo environmental assessment: impact on biodiversity recognized by ministries

Issues related to biodiversity and sustainable environmental management were again the subject of active discussion at the recent meeting of the Environmental Council of the AMANAT party, which took place on April 14. The dialogue was attended by representatives of government agencies, including the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources (MENR), the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA), as well as public organizations - the Republican Association “Tabigat” and the Association of Environmental Organizations of Kazakhstan. This discussion may become not just an exchange of opinions, but a real attempt to move the processes that have been ignored for too long. And the role of “AMANAT” party in this issue can be key.

The Executive Director of the Biodiversity Research and Conservation Center (BRCC), who participated in the session, emphasized the importance of bringing acute environmental issues to the attention of government agencies, including risks from the use of diclofenac, trench fencing, lack of environmental assessment in agricultural projects, and general inaction on biodiversity conservation.

Diclofenac and ketoprofen

The risks associated with the use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) in veterinary medicine have been causing serious concerns among biologists for many years. It has been scientifically proven that veterinary drugs containing diclofenac and ketoprofen have a disastrous toxic effect on scavenging birds that consume the remains of livestock, in the tissues of which even a small dose of this drug remains. In South Asia, the mass death of vultures in the 1990s was directly related to the treatment of livestock with diclofenac. Population losses in India, Pakistan and Nepal amounted to 97-99.9%, which became the basis for the ban of this drug in veterinary practice. It has been proven that between 1990 and 2000, more than 40 million scavengers died from diclofenac poisoning.

There is no such ban in Kazakhstan. The Committee for Veterinary Control and Supervision of the Ministry of Agriculture, as well as the veterinary departments of Turkestan and Zhambyl regions confirmed the use of ketoprofen preparations. Meanwhile, it is in these regions, in the Karatau Mountains, that the largest colony of the bald barn owl is located, where the number of active nests has decreased by more than tenfold compared to 2010.

The situation is complicated by the lack of laboratories in the country capable of detecting the presence of NSAID residues in meat. This not only limits monitoring and response capabilities, but also makes Kazakhstan dependent on foreign suppliers of services and equipment. Meanwhile, there are safe alternatives, such as meloxicam, which is non-toxic to scavenging birds and recommended by international agreements.

In connection with the above, a number of issues arise that require attention from relevant departments. In particular, it is important to get a position from the Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Kazakhstan on the issue of replacing dangerous NSAIDs with meloxicam, as well as data on their use over the past 10 years.

Trenches

The problems affecting the biological diversity of Kazakhstan are of different nature. One of these remains the mass death of animals due to farmers using deep trenches as fences on their farmlands.

The problem of using deep trenches to protect farmland from livestock slaughter attracted the attention of BRCC experts in 2019, when cases of mass deaths of animals, including rare species such as the Central Asian tortoise, were recorded in the Turkestan region. Trenches, which are 220 cm deep and hundreds of kilometers long, pose a deadly threat to wild animals, as they not only make movement difficult, but can also cause the death of animals trapped in them.

Although work has been carried out since 2021 to eliminate part of the trenches, studies conducted in 2024 have shown that the situation remains relevant. During the expedition in 2024, many new trenches were identified. 276 reptilian specimens were found in the trenches, including species listed in the Red Book of the Republic of Kazakhstan, such as the Central Asian tortoise (Latin. Testudo horsfieldii), with approximately 60% of cases where the victims were adult female turtles.

Illegal use of trenches violates several environmental and land laws of Kazakhstan, posing a threat to biodiversity. Despite the actions of local authorities and initiatives to eliminate trenches, a significant part of the problem areas remain, and the problem is not monitored at the system level.

In this regard, the BRCC suggests that authorized government agencies amend regulatory legal acts in order to explicitly prohibit the use of trenches for fencing agricultural land, providing for appropriate liability measures, including the possibility of termination of lease agreements. In addition, it is important to instruct the regional land inspections to conduct a nationwide inventory of the problem, obtaining data on the length of all such trenches by region, and then planning and implementing measures to eliminate them. It is expected that the relevant ministries will take these proposals into consideration and initiate the necessary actions.

Assessment of the potential impact of agriculture

Another ecologically significant but systematically underestimated problem remains the lack of proper environmental impact assessment for large agricultural projects. Like the situation with trenches, this reflects a general trend of insufficient attention to the impact of the agricultural sector on biodiversity.

Practice and the results of field research show that agricultural work can cause significant damage to biodiversity, including through the destruction of habitats of rare and endangered species of animals and plants, such as bustard, quail, yellowfin and others. In the Turkestan region, for example, from 2019 to 2024. Specialists faced a situation where, without an appropriate environmental assessment, significant areas of abandoned land were being plowed up as part of agricultural work, on which natural ecosystems with their inherent biodiversity had already been restored at the time of the work. These ecosystems were completely destroyed during re-plowing. In 2024, areas of plowing fields where Schrenk's tulip (Tulipa suaveolens, synonym of T. schrenkii) grew were recorded along the Astana-Korgaldzhino highway. schrenkii), which is listed as a rare and endangered species. Considering that the state fines citizens for illegally collecting tulips worth millions of tenge, the question arises how the state should behave with organizations that destroy not dozens, but hundreds and thousands of red Book tulips and other plant and animal species.

Uncontrolled use of pesticides poses an additional threat to biodiversity. In recent years, cases of mass deaths of bees in the Turkestan region, the use of poisonous drugs in Astana, as well as poisoning of predators in pastures in the Karatau mountains have been recorded. The uncontrolled use of pesticides in several cases led to the death of animals on hunting farms. At the same time, there is no systematic monitoring of these risks by authorized agencies in the country.

A naturally positive trace

Sustainable production with a positive environmental footprint is no longer a whim of environmental organizations. At the global level, sustainable forms of management are becoming a requirement of international investors. And if the Ministry of Agriculture, together with the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources, does not take decisive steps in this direction, then agricultural producers, the industry and the country risk facing restrictions in the future when financing projects and exporting products that have a negative impact on the environment.

The Environmental Council of the Amanat Party supported the issues raised and provided a platform for constructive discussion of acute environmental problems. Chairman of the Council Bauyrzhan Smagulov and Vice Minister of Agriculture Azat Sultanov agreed on the relevance of the issues raised. This is an important step towards the sustainable development of Kazakhstan while maintaining a balance of economic interests and the environment. Unfortunately, the main question remains, are the relevant ministries ready to take concrete measures and move from statements to actions?