ASTANA – International energy company SEFE Marketing & Trading signed an Emission Removal Purchase Agreement (ERPA) on November 18 with SAFC of Kazakhstan – the agency responsible for eliminating and reducing greenhouse gas emissions greenhouse – to finance a forest plantation initiative and emit carbon units over 30 years, the Prime Minister’s press service reported.

The project will establish a 1,500-hectare forest ecosystem in the Almaty region. Photo credit: Alexander Buzurnyuk / Pexels. Click to see the map in full size. The map is designed by The Astana Times.

The project will establish a 1,500-hectare forest ecosystem in the Almaty region, aiming to plant 3.3 million trees, including poplars, elms and other species such as turanga, birch and sea buckthorn .

Through water-saving technologies and intensive agricultural practices, the forest is expected to reduce annual carbon emissions by 26 tonnes per hectare, totaling 1.2 million tonnes of carbon dioxide over 30 years. This equates to 780 tonnes of carbon dioxide absorbed per hectare. The project will also promote agroforestry, ecotourism and job creation.

The National Chamber of Entrepreneurs of Atameken indicated that the first 200,000 plants had already been planted. Low productivity agricultural land and degraded pastures will be transformed into a forest ecosystem: forest nursery – forest plantations – logging – ecotourism. The project will help generate more than one million tonnes of absorbed emissions and corresponding offset payments.

After the agreement, company representatives met with Prime Minister Oljas Bektenov to discuss the progress of the pilot project. Once all necessary procedures are completed and the first absorption contract is signed, the initiative paves the way for future investments in carbon agriculture and sustainable development in Kazakhstan.