A very interesting study was recently published by researchers from the Institute of Management of the Academy of Public Administration under the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan. The study was conducted in 2020 under the coordination of Mr. Arman Utepov and focused on the assessment of ecosystem services created and supported by the Maly Taldykol lake group, which is also the study area of the TERESA project. The research concluded that the costs associated with the creation of “artificial green areas” is about 20 times less that the losses associated with the development of the territory of Maly Taldykol lakes and the consequential loss of natural landscape. The group of researchers stated in their paper that services supported by the preservation of natural ecosystems are much less costly than ecosystem services created alternative means, strongly supporting the conservation and integration of Maly Taldykol lake group in future Nur-Sultan urban planning strategies.
The paper can be downloaded at the following address:
Utepov, A., Jumabayev, S., Skakova, A., Salmanova, R., Kuandikov, N. (2021) The economic evaluation of water ecosystem services in urban planning in Nur Sultan, Kazakhstan. Public Policy and Administration, 20(2), 205-219, https://doi.org/10.13165/VPA-21-20-2-05