Protected Areas (Kazakhstan)
This layer maps the network of legally protected territories across Kazakhstan.
Category: Transition risks · Sensitive areas · Protected areas Coverage: Country (Kazakhstan) Format: Boundary polygons Used in risk analysis: No (contextual layer; not used in materiality scoring)
What it shows
This layer maps the network of legally protected territories across Kazakhstan. It includes state nature reserves (zapovedniks), national parks, wildlife sanctuaries (zakazniks), ecological corridors and other protected-territory categories. Protected areas mark places where development is restricted and where nature-related regulatory, reputational and access risk is concentrated, making them a key screening input for sites and supply chains in the country.
How it is built
The boundaries are taken from the official Tabigat geographic information platform, maintained by the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of Kazakhstan. The platform records the full range of national protected-territory designations, which are assembled here into a single set of national-level polygons. Each polygon represents the official extent of a designated site. No score is computed; the layer is a presence-or-absence boundary set rather than a graded index.
How to read it
This is a boundary layer, so the relevant question is intersection: a site that falls inside, or close to, one of these polygons is flagged as overlapping a protected area. Overlap indicates potential exposure to conservation restrictions, permitting requirements and heightened stakeholder scrutiny. Areas outside the polygons carry no protected-area flag from this dataset.
Source
Tabigat geographic information platform, Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of Kazakhstan (tabigat.gov.kz). Official national protected-territory designations.
Comparison with the WWF Risk Filter Suite
This layer corresponds to WWF Biodiversity Risk Filter indicator S14_1 Protected/Conserved Areas. The WWF Risk Filter Suite uses the global World Database on Protected Areas (WDPA, UNEP-WCMC, accessed via IBAT). Darwin instead uses the official national register for Kazakhstan, which can extend or localise coverage relative to the global WDPA and reflects designations as recorded by the responsible national ministry.
Generated from darwin/layers/layer-protected-areas-kazakhstan.toml and risk_indicator_pairs.toml (develop).