The Kazakh forest steppe ecoregion (WWF ID: PA0809) is a long thin strip of transition zone between the forested taiga of Siberian Russia (to the north), and the Kazakh steppe to the south.

The ecoregion is in the Temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome, and the Palearctic realm, with a Humid Continental climate.

The terrain is relatively flat lowland plains, with wetlands in the depressions and strips of trees following water courses on the sandy soil.

[5][6] This climate is characterized by high variation in temperature, both daily and seasonally; with long, cold winters and short, cool summers with no month averaging over 22 °C (72 °F).

Typical trees are birch, aspen and pine, often growing in small groves called 'kolky', with the pine trees often growing in long strips of sandy soil in formations called 'ribbon forests'.