Regional Eco-Network Development Priorities

5. REGIONAL ECO-NETWORK DEVELOPMENT PRIORITIES

The proposed strategy for designing the eco-network places special emphasis on dividing the Dnipro Basin into regions ranked in terms of their ability to accommodate regional and local eco-networks as constituents of the transboundary Dnipro Basin eco-network and in terms of the priority rating assigned to the creation of these networks in these regions.

The zoning was performed taking into account the degree of fragmentation of the natural vegetation cover, availability of nature reserves and protected areas, geographical distribution of endangered species’ areals and areas of great landscape diversity. The zoning map is shown in Fig. 5.1.

Depending on the type and priority rating of measures needed to create the eco-network the transboundary Dnipro Basin is divided into three regions: the right-bank Polesiye, Desna and the left-bank Slobozhanschina.

A distinctive feature of the right-bank Polesiye region is that much of it is already an environmental corridor and consequently there is no need to create one here. The natural cores located within the southern strip of this region (Little Polesiye) are typified by substantial landscape and biological diversity. However, most of them are small in size and their protection status does not allow them to effectively perform their function. Therefore, the expansion of the nature reserve network should be considered as a top-priority task for Little Polesiye. In addition, unlike the other regions Little Polesiye accommodates many natural cores and environmental corridors situated in direct proximity to large populated centers which have a certain impact on it. Special priority must be assigned here to the regulation of recreational activities, hunting and construction of cottages (country houses) in those city green belts which have been identified as environmental corridors.

Fig. 5.1. Zoning of the Transboundary Dnipro Basin on the basis of the priority rating attached to the creation of environmental

corridors and possibility of the creation of environmental corridors:

1 – Creating environmental corridors makes no sense since practically the whole area is covered by forest, (priority rating – 0),

2 – It is impossible to create environmental corridors since 100% of the area is arable land (priority rating – 0),

3 – Significant density of natural vegetation stretches requires creating several environmental corridors (priority rating – 3)

4 – Creation of an environmental corridor network should be considered a top-priority task given the medium fragmentation of the vegetation cover (priority rating – 4)

5 – High fragmentation of the vegetation cover complicates the process of creating environmental corridors (requires a lot of effort) (priority rating – 2)

6 – Since arable land accounts for much of the area the task of creating environmental corridors is extremely difficult (priority rating – 1).

In the Desna region of the eco-network, top priority should be assigned to the creation of large biogenetic reserves since the MSOP’s formal criteria currently require that only one core (biosphere reserve “Starogut and Briansk Forests”) be attributed to the natural cores of the European eco-network. It is necessary to create several natural cores of regional significance in order to enhance continuity of this eco-network. Top priority should be given to efforts to create such cores and environmental corridors in the districts of the Sumy region (Ukraine) located on the Ukrainian-Russian border because of breaks in many environmental corridors that go to Russia.

The left-bank Slobozhanschina region of the eco-network has its own specific features. Due to high fragmentation of the vegetation cover it is fairly difficult to create a ramified regional eco-network here and this task is not considered a priority. In contrast, great importance is attached to the migration links between the remaining small biocenters because of their importance for biodiversity conservation and particularly restoration efforts. That is why it is advisable to design and create local eco-networks here to offset inadequate continuity and other flaws of the regional eco-network. Creation of the local and regional eco-networks depends for its success on the identification and assessment of stretches that may potentially become renaturalization zones and over the longer term evolve into regional elements of the eco-networks.

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