The Republic of Kazakhstan is the largest landlocked country in the world

and covers an area exceeding that of Western Europe. With the greatest diversity of landscape types among the Central Asia (CA) countries, Kazakhstan can be considered the most important country in CA for biodiversity conservation. The country contains lowland deserts, steppes, mountain forests, and meadows. Ecological zones range from semi-arid, forested steppes in the northern zones and warm moderate deserts in the south to cold semi-deserts. The eastern and southern parts of Kazakhstan feature several mountain systems including the southwestern part of the Altai, the northern and western Tien-Shan and the Karatau Mountains. The Altai is characterized by a typically Siberian flora and fauna, found nowhere else in CA. Generally, the biodiversity of the Kazakhstan mountains increases in richness from the northeast (Altai) to the southwest (West Tien-Shan and Karatau). Forests occupy only 3.8 percent of the country’s surface, mainly in the northern part of the country and in the high mountain slope valleys and riparian areas.

The mountain ecosystems, which cover more than 7 percent of the country, contain more than

30 plant communities dominated by woodlands but sprinkled with shrublands and mountain meadows. The varied terrain and climatic conditions contribute to a diversity of ecosystems and species. The fauna of Kazakhstan includes 178 species of mammals, 489 species of birds and 117 species of fish. An estimated 6,000 species of vascular plants are found in Kazakhstan. More than 6,000 species of vascular plants are found in Kazakhstan, along with 5,000 species of fungi, 485 species of lichens, 2,000 species of algae, and 500 species of bryophytes. Among the vascular plants, 14 % are endemic to Kazakhstan .

The Kazakhstan Associate Program (KZAP) works closely with the rest of the ICBG program to discover valuable therapeutic agents from the broad cross-section of Kazakhstan biota. This activity will result in greater economic opportunities for the local people, enhanced research capacity, increased biodiversity conservation and the development of new and efficacious therapeutics based on locally produced natural products.

The main task of the KZAP is to collect, catalogue and preserve the plant, fungal and prokaryotic biodiversity of Kazakhstan and to prepare samples of this biodiversity for the screening, isolation and development parts of the ICBG Central Asia Program. Taxonomists from Kazakhstan identify and voucher the plant collections and will assure that chemodiversity samples (extracts) are properly prepared, catalogued and stored. Voucher specimens of plants, fungi, and (when appropriate) prokaryotic microorganisms are preserved in a manner that allows subsequent identification and scientific analysis of as many preserved specimens as possible. The important part of the KZAP activity is training and educational program to protect unique biodiversity of the Republic of Kazakhstan.