Altai forestry: the “Green Belt of Kato” begins from this hectare

Why Altai forestry?

First pilot of the umbrella project

The Katonah Green Belt is an international carbon certification strategy5,600 hectaresunaccounted forest areas in 9 forest districts of the Katon-Karagai region. More about the strategy -https://qazaqcarbon.com/projects/katon

But any strategy begins with a specific piece of land. Our first pilot wasAltai forestry— 876 hectares in close proximity to the regional center, the village. Katon-Karagay.

Here we are working on the methodology, here we are laying the evidence base, here in August 2026 the first field expedition will take place. What we do on these 876 hectares will become a template for the remaining 8 forest districts in the region.

Project status

What the satellite shows: Core Engine data

What the satellite shows: Core Engine data

In June 2026, we conducted a preliminary technical and environmental assessment of the Altai forestry using our Core Engine v3.0 platform. The analysis is based on data from Sentinel-2 (10 m resolution), Landsat 8/9 and ESA WorldCover for the period 2015–2026.

A detailed analysis shows: over the period from 2015 to 2026, the average NDVI index decreased from 0.401 to 0.388, the Stocking Index - from 0.193 to 0.178. The forest exists, it is alive, but without active management it continues to lose biomass density. Degradation is slow - but irreversible over a horizon of 30–40 years without intervention.

The carbon project changes this vector. Instead of slow extinction - active protection, controlled recovery and internationally verified monitoring every 6 months.

Pre-Feasibility Assessment data is preliminary. Field verification - August 2026Download Core Engine Technical Report (PDF) →https://drive.google.com/file/d/1eOs55axt_gXY2atj3Epwrk-ZCdkaLiu1/view?usp=sharing

Lands and partnerships

876 hectares, three categories of land

One of the key features of the pilot is the heterogeneous legal status of the allotments. This is not a state forest in the classical sense. These are lands on which nature has already created a forest, but the state register has not yet recorded this. It is these “invisible” forests that were first mapped by the BIOFIN/UNDP initiative with the participation of the Bitfury Group in 2020–2021.

In Altai forestry we work with three types of sites:

Lands of protected areas (under the management of State National Park)Some of the areas are located directly on the territory of the Katon-Karagay State National Park or in its buffer zone. For these sites, the operating agreement is signed directly with the management of the National Park. The status of the protected area does not change. No commercial timber harvesting - only protection and monitoring.

Agricultural landSome of the plots are located on lands that local residents use on long-term leases. An individual Carbon Rights Agreement is concluded with each of them - an agreement that secures the developer’s right to generate carbon units while maintaining all the rights of the landowner to the land. At least 60% of the proceeds from the sale of VCU are returned to the landowner.

State reserve landsA small part of the plots are so-called “no man's lands”, de facto forest without de jure status. For them, within the framework of the project, the procedure for inclusion in the State Forest Fund is initiated through the Akimat of the Katon-Karagai region.

Methodology: IFM + ARR

Synergy of two approaches

The combination of IFM and ARR in one pilot provides something that each of them does not provide separately. IFM quickly pays for itself (return on investment is 2 years) and creates the operational sustainability of the project. ARR creates a long-term carbon flow and provides a visually obvious environmental benefit for the local community and international buyers.

Financial model

Preliminary financial indicators

Based on PFS modeling, Plan Vivo Climate Standard v5.7. Preliminary data - will be updated based on the results of the field expedition (August 2026)

How income is distributed

The Plan Vivo standard requires that at least 60% of revenues be allocated to local communities and environmental causes. Our model exceeds this threshold.

60%— local population, farmers and State Scientific Enterprise “Katon-Karagai”
Direct payments to landowners, forest conservation funding, green jobs (including OPEX).

20%- Achievement Reserve Buffer
Insurance reserve in case of fires, pests, climate disasters.

~10%— State share of the Republic of Kazakhstan
When transferring units under the mechanism of Article 6.2 of the Paris Agreement.

~10%— Return on investors' capital
Private investors financing the expedition and preparation of the PDD.

It is important to understand: the project does not require government funding. Not a single tenge from the budget. The expedition in August 2026 is fully paid for by private investors. VVB validation is financed by the Fund for Sustainable Development of the Katon-Karagay District.

Partners

Who is behind the pilot?

GNPP "Katon-Karagai"The State National Natural Park is the operating partner of the project. Provides access to the territory, provides forest taxation materials, participates in negotiations with the MENR. Recipient of the QC Atlas platform for digital forest monitoring.

Qazaq VCM AllianceAssociation for the Development of the Voluntary Carbon Market of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Minister of Environment E.A. Nysanbaev in 2026. Provides institutional dialogue with the MENR and regulatory expertise.

Akimat of Katon-Karagay districtLocal authorities support the project as a tool for the socio-economic development of the area. Facilitates procedures on state reserve lands and organizes consultations with local landowners.

BIOFIN/UNDP KazakhstanSource of primary identification of sections. It was within the framework of the BIOFIN/Bitfury pilot that in 2020–2021, 67,000 hectares of unregistered forests of East Kazakhstan region were mapped for the first time - part of which are the Altai forestry departments.

Qazaq Carbon / TOO SF AnalyticsProject developer. Responsible for GIS inventory (Core Engine), field expedition, PDD preparation, interaction with VVB and Verra registry. Developer and operator of the QC Atlas dMRV platform.

Digital monitoring

Core Engine and QC Atlas: forest under satellite control

The pilot in the Altai forestry is not only a carbon project. This is the first full implementation of Tier 3 dMRV infrastructure in the forestry sector of the national park in Kazakhstan.

Core Engine— our GIS platform has already performed a preliminary analysis. After the expedition in August 2026, it will receive field-calibrated data and will become the basis for calculating the Performance Benchmark according to VM0047.

QC Atlas- the dMRV and ESG reporting platform will be transferred free of charge to the administration of the State Scientific Enterprise "Katon-Karagay". The National Park receives a tool that it never had: satellite monitoring of forests 24/7, automatic detection of fires and illegal logging, generation of MRV reports in Verra and Plan Vivo formats.

This is not charity - it is part of our business model. The better the monitoring data, the higher the quality of loans. The higher the quality of the loans, the higher the price. SNPP and Qazaq Carbon in this sense are allies with coinciding interests.

Scaling

Altai forestry is the beginning, not the end

After completing the pilot and registering the project in the Verra registry, the methodology, contract templates and dMRV infrastructure will be scaled to all 9 forest districts of the Katon-Karagay district.

876 ha→ pilot of Altai forestry (2026–2028)5 600 ha→ all 9 forest districts of the district100,000 ha→ the full scale of the forest fund of the State Scientific Enterprise “Katon-Karagay”23 protected areas→ potential model for the entire system of national parks of the Republic of Kazakhstan

At $25–45 per tonne of CO₂ and 100,000 hectares, Cato's total potential is $375–675 million over 40 years. Of which at least 60% goes into the hands of local communities and SNPP.