Kazakhstan, which occupies a vast area of some 2,724,900 square kilometers in the center of Eurasia, is distinguished by a very vulnerable natural environment. It has almost every type of topography found in the world — from subtropics and scorching deserts to alpine tundras and glaciers. The unique inland Caspian and Aral Seas, as well as Lakes Balkhash, Zaisan, and Alakol, exist in an environment marked by distinctly continental conditions. Kazakhstan has a rich store of biological resources, with Caspian sturgeon supplying up to 90 percent of the black caviar on the world market.

At the same time, Kazakhstan has a wealth of mineral and raw material resources and fuel reserves. These vast mineral resources led to the rapid development of extractive industries. Under socialism, the development of the economy followed an extensive path, without consideration for its impact on the environment. Energetic efforts were made to expand existing towns and to build new ones, and vast pasture lands and fertile soils encouraged the expansion of animal husbandry and the development of virgin lands. Immense areas were set aside for military bases, the Baikonur space center, and testing grounds for modern weapons, including nuclear weapons.

Under this sort of economic management, it was not long before the ecological situation in Kazakhstan was pushed to the brink of crisis. The country ran up against serious ecological problems, especially in areas with a high degree of industrial development and a heavy dependence on mineral extraction activities. It has become necessary to resolve these problems, but solutions are not possible without the assistance of other states and without taking part in international commitments in the area of environmental protection.

As of now, Kazakhstan has signed the final documents of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (Rio-92), it has approved the decisions of the Lucerne (1993) and Sofia conferences on environmental protection in Europe, and it has joined the most important international conventions on combating desertification, preserving biodiversity, and climate change.

The transition to ecologically sustainable development has been identified as one of the key goals in the long-term strategy for Kazakhstan’s development up to the year 2030. Therefore, by order of the President, the Concept of Ecological Safety, which outlines the key elements of environmental policy for the coming years, was approved in 1996. The Council on Sustainable Development was created. A Republic of Kazakhstan Government Decree "On Approval of an Action Plan for Implementation of the Concept of Ecological Safety" was issued on February 3, 1997. The development of a National Environment Action Plan for the Sustainable Development of the Republic of Kazakhstan (NEAPSD) was identified as the first phase of the country’s long-term strategy (up to the year 2000).

A shortage of resources requires that attention be focused mainly on the most important problems. Furthermore, a lack of clearly defined and sound priorities leads to an inefficient expenditure of funds, a significant reduction in the effectiveness of efforts, and lack of coordination and duplication of work being done. Therefore, the selection of top-priority environmental problems is important for defining strategy not only at the national level, but also at the departmental and regional levels. The Ministry of Ecology is the primary agency responsible for the development and management of environmental protection activities. A lack of priorities and objective criteria and methodologies for establishing them, however, hindered the development of programs and activities to resolve the most pressing problems. A new structure had to be created which would aid in organizing efforts to identify top-priority ecological problems and to plan projects, the implementation of which will allow for the most rapid resolution of these problems possible.

A special structure was created for the preparation of the NEAPSD, and also for the coordination of all ecological conventions, programs, and projects in effect in Kazakhstan — the NEAPSD Center (http://www.neapsd.kz), and a plan has been developed for the preparation of national programs and projects to resolve top-priority ecological problems. The Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan has signed agreements with the World Bank, the United Nations Development Program, and TACIS concerning support for the NEAPSD process.

The NEAPSD Center’s work is focused in the following key areas:

• analysis of the ecological situation and identification of top-priority ecological problems in the Republic of Kazakhstan;

• preparation and implementation of action plans (programs and projects) to resolve top-priority problems and their integration into general development strategies;

• inclusion of the community in the process of preparing and implementing the NEAPSD;

• support for Local Environmental Protection Action Plans at the local level.

The activities of the NEAPSD Center are oriented toward the integration of efforts by the entire society following the principles of partnership, taking into consideration the interests of all parties involved, with a view to resolving top-priority problems and harmonizing national policy with regional and international environmental policies.

Since it was created, the NEAPSD Center has carried out a number of measures to bring in consultants and experts from various parts of Kazakhstan to organize a task force, to create groups of experts in the provinces, and to provide training for them in the methods of goal-oriented project planning by the German Society for Technical Assistance, and in public health risk assessment by the Harvard International Development Institute. Using objectively chosen criteria, the top-priority problems have been identified for the city of Almaty (April 29, 1997), the Republic of Kazakhstan (July 7–8, 1997), Atyrau Province (August 4–7, 1997), Pavlodar Province (September 22–23, 1997), South Kazakhstan Province (October 8–9, 1997), Kyzyl-Orda Province (November 4–6, 1997), Karaganda Province (November 20–21, 1997), and all the other provinces of Kazakhstan. These gatherings were the first environmental workshops at which decisions were made that took into account the opinions of members of the community, the mass media, and nongovernmental organizations, and in which they were able to participate directly. A total of more than 2,000 people took part in these workshops. At the Republican Workshop on the Planning of Top-Priority Actions (November 25–27, 1997), activities were outlined which form the basis for the 33 projects comprising the National Action Plan.