Ecosystem Health Assessment of the Zerendy District, Kazakhstan

An ecosystem health assessment (EHA) is essential for comprehensively improving the ecological environment and socio-economic conditions, thereby promoting the sustainable development of a specific area. Most previous EHA studies have focused on urbanized regions, paying insufficient attention to rural areas with urban enclaves and national natural parks. This study employed the Basic Pressure–State–Response methodological approach. The composition of indicators (35) encompassed both spatiotemporal data and socio-economic information. The random forest algorithm was used on the Google Earth Engine platform to classify and evaluate changes in land use and land cover (LULC). In addition, weighting coefficients were calculated, and driving factors were subsequently identified. The analysis revealed that the rural administrative divisions in the central part of Zerendy district, where the city of Kokshetau is situated, exhibited a relatively low level of ecosystem health (EH). The southwestern rural administrative divisions of the studied district, where the national nature park and the reserve territories are located, exhibited a higher level of EH. Other rural administrative divisions located in the eastern parts of the district generally exhibited a moderate level of EH. Interested managers can use the results of our assessment to implement adequate measures aimed at improving the health of the Zerendy district ecosystem.