Students in Almaty have planted around two thousand spruce trees on the territory of the future Kok-Zhailau resort. Joining the youth in the environmental campaign were Minister of Ecology Alibek Kuantyrov, Almaty Akim Darhan Satybaldy, and representatives of Kazakh Tourism Development, according to infohub.kz.
From early morning, participants dispersed to pre-prepared plots with dug holes and began planting. The first tree was planted jointly by city leaders and invited officials, after which others also took saplings and headed to their respective plots.
Students from Al-Farabi Kazakh National University took part in the planting, including staff from the Department of Botany and Agroecology. Representatives of scientific organizations also planted spruce trees alongside them.
"Today, an environmental tree-planting campaign is taking place on the territory of the future Kok-Zhailau resort. The development of tourism infrastructure must be carried out with special attention to preserving nature. For every tree removed, compensatory planting of ten trees will be ensured, and trees listed in the Red Book will not be transplanted or removed," said Minister of Ecology Alibek Kuantyrov.
Akim Darhan Satybaldy also commented on the youth's participation in environmental initiatives.
"The mountains are an integral part of Almaty and its identity. It is important for us that young people do not remain on the sidelines of issues related to the future of the city and its natural areas. Such initiatives provide an opportunity not only to talk about ecology but also to personally participate in concrete work to preserve nature," he said.
After the tree planting, Yerzhan Yerkinbayev, General Director of Kazakh Tourism Development, said that for the Almaty SuperSki project team, this would not be the last environmental campaign.
"It is important to us that Almaty's youth themselves show interest in the future of the city, our mountains, and Kok-Zhailau. We have already held a series of open meetings, listened to young people's opinions, and answered their questions. Therefore, even before the next stages of implementing Almaty SuperSki, we are starting with concrete environmental actions. Planting new trees is one such step," said Yerzhan Yerkinbayev, General Director of Kazakh Tourism Development.
Earlier, Kursiv LifeStyle reported that hundreds of rare spruce trees were planted by Almaty residents at the Shymbulak ski resort.