Residents of Petropavlovsk are trying to figure out where the fir trees disappeared to, which were planted this spring as part of an environmental campaign involving international eco-blogger Alexei Sibirsky.
According to the Kazinform news agency, during the campaign the blogger donated 10,000 fir saplings to the city, and a further 5,000 trees were purchased using budget funds. All of them were planted on a plot of land near the settlement of Borki. However, several months later, residents could not find the trees in their original location and began to question whether they had been destroyed or stolen.
One of the participants in the campaign said on social media that she had personally planted fir trees in the spring and later came to check if they had taken root. According to her, the trees were no longer on the plot.
To clarify the situation, journalists contacted the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Management of the North Kazakhstan Region. According to the deputy head of the department, Kairat Kalykov, this is not a case of vandalism or theft.
"In the spring, it became known that a main international gas and oil pipeline runs through the plot where the planting was carried out. Representatives of the responsible company warned that excavations and other technical work are carried out regularly on this land. To prevent the saplings from being damaged by heavy machinery, we had to dig up three thousand trees. The remaining saplings were not touched — they continue to grow in the same place," explained Kairat Kalykov.
As Kalykov noted, the transplanted fir trees were distributed between two forestry enterprises.
"Some of the saplings were moved and planted in the nursery of the Bogolyubovo forestry enterprise. The remaining trees were replanted on the territory of the Kuibyshev forestry enterprise, located not far from Petropavlovsk. It would have been a real shame if the young trees had ended up under the wheels of machinery," he added.