ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY NATURE MANAGEMENT AS ONE OF THE MAIN CONDITIONS FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

The relevance of the study: In the modern theory of sustainable development, a number of issues of theoretical and methodological nature are understudied. In particular, the rationale for environmentally friendly nature management is one of such. This does not allow a sufficient degree of efficiency to carry out state regulation of natural resources. The purpose of the study was to develop theoretical principles of eco-development as well as methodological foundations of the environmentally friendly nature management. Research methods: scientific generalization and systematic, logical and comparative analysis. The article discusses the stages of the nature development theory and its association with the concept of eco-development, sustainable development and protection of nature. They were formed in the mid-twentieth century as a practical activity and at the same time as a scientific concept. The article reveals the essence of the concept of natural resources rational use, the formation and development of this concept. It is firstly considered from the perspective of economical, careful integrated use of natural resources and, secondly, from the perspective of completeness of accounting of social and environmental consequences. This is done on the basis of the socio-economic approach. The specific features of the balance of nature use within the biosphere concept and the recognition of the need to preserve the mechanism of biotic regulation are revealed. This is interpreted in the light of ensuring the ecological and economic balance. This economic balance assumes a balanced ratio of territories of different degrees of disturbance and, accordingly, it presumes different types of their use. The concurrent studies, focused on ensuring the balance of nature within the territorial complexes are also being analyzed. This involves comparing natural productive capacity with the ecological intensity of technology. The aforementioned reflects the biosphere and anthropogenic parity in ecological and economic systems. Changes in the direction of research in the conditions of transition to sustainable development and the use of the risk theory provisions are revealed. The views of the authors regarding the relationship of environmental security, ecological sustainability and environmentally sound management are stated. The increasing role of the directions of nature use connected with the protection and restoration of the natural resources is proven. The author’s definition of eco-acceptable use of natural resources and the fundamental principles, which characterize them, are formed. When taken into account, they make it possible to increase the efficiency of state regulation of natural resources through the development of the most reasonable strategy. The mechanism for the implementation of the main sustainable development directions is also formed

Forest resources potential of the Ural Federal district: the state and utilization

The authors present a full characterization of the forest resource potential of the Ural Federal District (UFD) with differentiation by regions: Kurgan region, Sverdlovsk and Tyumen regions, Khanty-Mansi Autonomous region – Yugra, Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous region and Chelyabinsk region. The authors assess The UFD position among the federal districts of Russia by the presence of forestland areas, forest cover and total reserves, as well as the volume of harvested wood. Within the Ural Federal district, the authors analyze the distribution of forests by the intended purpose and use of the cutting area. One can also see characteristics of the age composition of forests and the ratio of coniferous and deciduous species. The fire damage to the forests and their restoration gains particular attention. The authors connect the number of fires and the area covered by fires with the climatic factor and the forest tracts location. The analysis shows that with the total forest area burnt by fires over 15 years (2000–2015) of 1543.6 thousand hectares, which fits the forest-covered area of the Kurgan region, the volume of reforestation is decreasing. Their volume in comparison with 1990 has decreased almost threefold. A sharp decline in reforestation works in the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous region remains inexplicable, as well as its clearly lowered volume in the Chelyabinsk region. The situation with the use of forest recourse potential is also problematic: wood production has declined in all regions of the Ural Federal district, although it has increased in the Russian Federation as a whole. The article reflects the problems hampering the development of the forest harvesting industry, and the proposals for their solution through the thorough processing of raw materials and the output of products with high added value. The requirements for this are the restructuring of enterprises of the forest industry complex, the modernization of production, the creation of regular transport routes, the improvement of the organizational structures of the forest business, etc

SPECIFIC NATURE OF PROPRIETORSHIP FOR ENVIRONMENTAL ASSETS

The effectiveness of state regulation of nature management largely depends on the clarity of the definition of proprietorship for environmental assets. Purpose of the study is to determine the specific nature of proprietorship for environmental assets and the possibility of changes in the legal mechanism. The specific nature of proprietorship in relation to natural resources is due to their duality. On the one hand, they are components of the environment, on the other hand, they are objects of management. There are some features that differentiate natural resources from those of the social sphere. Firstly, they are regarded as the national wealth of a country to which human labor is not applied, that is, as a public property. The multi-aspect of proprietorship of agricultural land are noted, as well as the features of public property for resources of traditional natural resource use. The second aspect concerns the economic valuation of natural resources and, accordingly, national wealth. Methodological approaches to economic evaluation are numerous today in the absence of a generally recognized methodological basis. The specific nature of proprietorship also determines the property of the inseparability of natural resources from the natural environment and the sign of materialization, which excludes the right of ownership to the atmospheric air, climatic conditions, etc., although the task of establishing ownership of eco services has become more urgent in recent times. Particular attention is paid to restrictive conditions when using natural resources, which should form and control their implementation as the owner of these resources. Recommendations are formulated regarding the establishment of ownership of ecosystem services, which can be used to solve this problem at the state level. Specification of legal relations in terms of natural resources and environmental services contributes to improving the efficiency of state regulation of nature management