Burabay National Nature Park acquired the service "Research work in the field of environmental protection" under a state procurement for 172,321,458 tenge.
According to Qazaqstan Media, the park's head of science, Yevgeny Arkhipov, explained that such a significant sum was allocated due to the deterioration of the resort area's ecosystem over the last ten years.
"The arid climate and increased recreational load have led to the shallowing and waterlogging of lakes, deterioration of sanitary conditions, and forest fire risks. The overpopulation of hoofed animals also affects the integrity and structure of forests, as the juvenile generation of the forest is trampled and eaten," the expert emphasised.
He noted that the project involves conducting comprehensive scientific research.
"It is planned to cover areas such as hydrology, ichthyofauna, hydrogeology, hydrobiology, forestry, recreation, theriology, and climatology. The final result will be a plan for the 'Restoration and Conservation of the Ecosystem of the State National Nature Park "Burabay"'. This will serve as a basis for work on preserving and restoring degraded natural sites within the park and will allow for the distribution of the load on the ecosystem," responded Yevgeny Arkhipov.
According to him, the contractor must investigate the problem areas and provide practical advice on addressing them. These include the shallowing of lakes, reconstruction of catchment basins, reduction of fire risk, improvement of sanitary conditions, regulation of the number of artiodactyl animals, and distribution of recreational load.
"Overall, the work will be the result of collective effort, carried out based on a joint activity agreement between the Institute of Geography and Water Security JSC, the Scientific and Production Centre for Fisheries LLP, and the private institution International Scientific Complex Astana," concluded the representative of the national nature park.
In turn, journalists noted that in 2018, the implementation of the Aqbura Resort project was already planned to reduce the recreational load on the natural park. However, this did not happen – the project lost its investor.