Nestor Karlovich Genko (or Henko, Russian: Нестор Карлович Генко) January 22 (February 3) 1839 in the Grodno Governorate, province of Kurland, Russian Empire – January, 28 (February 10) 1904 in Menton, France), was a scientist in the field of forestry, known for creation of the world's first major watershed protection forest belt system, the Genko Forest Belt, located in the east of Ulyanovsk Oblast.

This hereditary nobility was confirmed to Ivan Iossevitch von Genko and his descendants by the Senate of the Russian Empire in 1848.

In 1880 Genko returned to forestry activities as a junior scientist forester of the Imperial Estates Administration where there was less bureaucracy and red tape.

The long lasting activity of Genko in the area of steppe protective afforestation (1884-1904) ranks him as a pioneer in this field of forestry.

The aim of these protective forest bands was to increase the yield of an important area of steppe territory belonging to the Imperial Estates.

These plantations were intended also to ease the harsh climate of the steppes, the pernicious action of hot winds and droughts, as well as preventing formation of ravines.

In the arid steppes of the Samara, Volgograd and Voronezh governorates, some 13 thousand hectares of protective forest belts were planted by 1902.

The forests which have changed the climate of the "beyond the Volga" region are now over 100 years old, but the condition of the remaining plantations testify the correctness of Genko's theories regarding the questions of steppe protective afforestation.

After Genko's death a large family remained which consisted of his widow Maria Aleksandrovna (née von Harff: 1861–1909) and ten children.

His eldest son Nestor (1881-1937) graduated from the historical-philological faculty of Saint Petersburg University and was known as ethnographer and regional historian.

left the Faculty of Oriental Languages of Saint Petersburg University, graduated from the Vladimir Military Academy and later joined the White Army: his further destiny is unknown.

He sharply distinguished himself from other specialists not only through his outstanding knowledge, unusual energy, and wide experience, but also love of forestry which was not a sentimental feeling.