Kazakshstan Environment Profile 2012

Environmentally compatible growth has been given increased attention since 2003, and environment-related NGOs and other organizations have had some influence on policy-making. Overall, however, environmental groups have only a weak institutional framework. This is despite the disastrous environmental legacies of the Soviet era, such as the desiccation of the Aral Sea, the Virgin Lands project and nuclear testing at Semipalatinsk. Still, the northern Aral Sea is seeing the fruit of environmental sustainability policies in that region, and the period saw the publication of the National Environmental Action Plan for Sustainable Development.