CAMCA supporting environmental storytelling In Kazakh media
In September 2024, the CAMCA project organised a media training workshop in Kazakhstan to support environmental reporting in the country. During the four-day workshop, 8 journalists were able to exchange ideas with their peers on techniques to improve environmental coverage, engage with CAMCA project partners—including ACBK and UNEP—and interview stakeholders and community beneficiaries of the project. The objective was to provide an overview of how a UNEP project is structured and essential elements for creating impactful stories.
The community and our group visited the market established in Karaoy through small-grant projects by WWF. (photo: Ieva Rucevska/GRID-Arendal)
Following the media workshop, and to further support the creation of environmental content in Kazakhstan, GRID-Arendal launched a travel grant scheme offering three grants of 1,500 USD, available exclusively to workshop participants. Applicants could choose any topic related to environmental issues, provided they applied the techniques discussed during the training.
After receiving four detailed applications, the selection committee awarded the grants to Yelena Pankova, Marina Nizovkina, and Amina Akhetova. All the stories have now been published, with additional information available below.
Yelena Pankova
Yelena focused her story on the city of Karaganda, the fourth-largest city in Kazakhstan, formerly known for its coal mining industry and poor air quality. She published a video titled «Battle for Air: Activists from Prishakhtinsk Are Fighting for the Environment and the Life and Health of Their Children.« on her YouTube channel “What Are You Breathing?”
The story highlights the perspective of residents who are breathing polluted air caused by a combination of industrial activity, dust, and sludge. Although some protective measures—such as installing dust screens, planting trees, and maintaining infrastructure—have been proposed, their implementation has been slow. Few industries or private companies are actively engaging with the community, making it difficult to improve air quality in the city.
Hello everyone, and welcome to the channel “What Are You Breathing?”, which tells you how the environment affects you and your children — and what you can do about it. I’m journalist Alyona Pankova.
Today, I’ll tell and show you what’s really going on with the environment in Prishakhtinsk, Karaganda.
When residents complained to me about dirty air and smog in their neighborhood, I thought the problem was just a few coal storage sites the size of train cars and household stoves. But I couldn’t have imagined the horror I would witness when I arrived in the industrial sector.
Picture a wasteland the size of a small city — most of it either dug up or covered with coal, dirt, or sludge.
In the past year, the industrial area with massive sludge piles has tripled in size. The height is like a 10-story building. Not even birds fly there. We started writing to all authorities. They’ve begun expanding the piles in width now.
Only after seeing it with my own eyes did I understand why, in recent years, Karaganda has overtaken Temirtau as the city with the dirtiest air and black snow in Kazakhstan.
From the Environmental Bulletin of Kazakhstan:
“In the past five years, from 2020 to 2024, consistently high levels of air pollution have been observed in the cities of Astana, Almaty, and Karaganda.
The main pollutants in Karaganda are suspended particles (dust), PM2.5, PM10, carbon monoxide, and hydrogen sulfide.”
The problems for residents of Prishakhtinsk are not only caused by the Central Processing Plant and the old and new ash dumps.
There’s more than just the processing plant operating in that area. Four more enterprises are tied to this territory.
We found this coal mountain right at the entrance to Maikuduk.
All these coal piles are located along the most popular highway connecting Maikuduk with Prishakhtinsk.
They’re easy to spot from your car window — for example, when driving from the district administration to the Prishakhtinsk Community Center to meet with residents.
The management of this coal depot said during the summer that they had signed a contract with China and would install a dust-catching screen on the residential side.
As of today, we don’t see any such screen.
But no protective screen can save Karaganda’s residents from the most dangerous kind of pollution — fine particulate matter.
PM particles are tiny fragments of soil, soot, asphalt, tire rubber, heavy metal compounds, and more.
The most dangerous PMs are soot particles — coal absorbs toxic compounds well,
turning these into particles with harmful “filling.”
They enter the bloodstream and lungs, accumulate in the body, and lead to thrombosis, ischemic heart disease, heart attacks, and cancer.
After seeing the industrial zone, I realized that Karaganda’s ecology will never improve unless order is restored near Prishakhtinsk.
I believe it’s long past time for a plan to be developed to involve industrial companies in solving the city’s environmental issues.
The only company currently in contact with residents is Karaganda EnergoCenter LLP.
You see Shacman trucks and equipment — that’s the CHPP (combined heat and power plant). As community support, they’re planting a green belt, cleaning the irrigation ditch.
The general director regularly meets with residents of Prishakhtinsk:
“We’re finishing the pipelines, preparing the pump station, checking electrical components, and lighting.
As for the ash pond and the geomembrane, we’ve completed all work around the dam as planned and will continue as per the project.”
Let’s do it this way — we’ll create a working group with representatives from the local self-government (MSU),
and when you install the membrane, let a local resident take part.
In the next video, I’ll tell you what officials think about Prishakhtinsk’s environmental situation.
To make sure you don’t miss anything, subscribe to the channel ‘What Are You Breathing?’
Marina Nizovkina
Marina published a story titled «Stories of People Who Know How to Manage Waste« («Истории о людях, которые умеют управлять отходами») on the online media Vera.kz. The story highlights the efforts of Kazakh citizens actively engaged in environmental protection and waste management initiatives.
The article showcases how dedicated individuals can drive positive change, even in the face of bureaucratic hurdles and societal indifference. For example, Sergey Efremov from Shymkent is a passionate fisherman who became increasingly concerned about environmental degradation, particularly illegal fishing and pollution. He then started to organize clean up events and to raise awareness about waste dumps in his area.
Vladislav Golyarko’s created his company with 8 partners implemented in several factories. For each of them, they collect recyclable materials in such a way as to make more profit on them.
Aisulu Kunanbaeva began working on environmental issues in 2018. During this time, she has held hundreds of master classes and trainings on how to reduce the amount of waste on the planet.
Iskander Kunanbayev spends all his energy and time on reducing and recycling waste, especially food waste. Instead of rotting in a landfill, waste can be put to work and be useful.
Aidyn Eszhanov sharing his knowledge (photo: Ieva Rucevska/GRID-Arendal)
Amina Akhetova
More than half of the territory of Kazakhstan is prone to desertification. Amina investigated in the village of Bakbakty, and how residents are battling advancing desertification caused by the loss of saxaul forests, a vital tree species whose deep roots can hold back tons of sand. The issue was symbolically highlighted in the 2019 art installation «Four Tons of Sand», which demonstrated the environmental cost of deforestation.
Once a thriving rice farming area, Bakbakty began facing sand encroachment in the 1980s. Although community efforts in the past included planting trees and clearing dunes, such initiatives declined after the Soviet Union’s collapse. Recently, with support from national campaigns and local authorities, new efforts have been made to plant saxaul, elm, and oleaster trees which are species suited to dry climates. However, the lack of consistent maintenance and water supply threatens their survival. Despite these challenges, residents remain committed to protecting their environment, proving that sustainable change can begin with small, collective actions rooted in memory, resilience, and care for the land.
Journalists developing story outlines with the help of course facilitators (photo: Ieva Rucevska/GRID-Arendal)
The CAMCA Project and GRID-Arendal are proud to support journalists in reporting on environmental stories in Central Asia. Such stories are still unfortunately rare in the global media landscape, but they play a vital role in informing the public about environmental issues and potential solutions. Special thanks to our talented facilitators — Alevtina Madyarova and Gulim Amirkhanova!
A gardener in Karaoy with a drip irrigation system to help save precious water resources (photo: Ieva Rucevska/GRID-Arendal)