Major Project Accomplishments

3. MAJOR PROJECT ACCOMPLISHMENTS

The following conclusions can be drawn on the basis of the undertaken comprehensive analysis of agricultural land use and current agricultural practices in the three countries (Belarus, Russia and Ukraine) of the Dnipro Basin.

1. High agricultural development rate of the territory (ranging from 43.2% to 68.3%), plough land erosion rate (amounting to 18%-30%), uncontrolled land amelioration and anthropogenic pressures have an adverse impact on the quality and self-restoring capacity of soil, plant and other types of biodiversity.

2. This adverse impact on biodiversity manifests itself in manifold ways, including:

- large-scale destruction of soil, wetland and other types of biological diversity resulting from high ploughing-up rate of the territory, intensive soil erosion, wide-ranging amelioration of bogs and marshes in all three countries;

- anxiety shown y many animal species as a reaction to changed quality and condition of agricultural land, particularly in forest (Polessye) and steppe zones;

- land and water contamination on the periphery of large cattle-breeding farms and complexes;

- replacement of hygrophilous plant species with those characteristic of dry-land habitats, and increased acreage of steppified meadows where vegetation is affected by xerophication;

- deterioration of habitats of aquatic species contributing to biodiversity because of euthrophication of lakes and rivers caused by the influx of excessive nutrient amounts into their water;

- irreversible changes in fauna brought about by the anthropogenic change in hydrological regimes of about 5 million hectares of land in the territory of Belarus and Ukraine, namely: reduction of wetland and marsh species, particularly waterfowl, replacement of original species by alien ones and altered correlation of species;

- territorial re-distribution of marsh, wetland and other types of biological diversity;

- frequent fires on drained marshlands and adjacent habitats;

- breakdown, following the ploughing-up of drained territories, of a unified system of wetland and forest habitats, that used to exist prior to marsh amelioration, into separate fragments, which hampers migration of many animal species.

3. Differential approach to land use based on the specificity of regional (local) sets of natural indicators can serve as an effective means of conserving and rehabilitating biodiversity, as well as of rationing anthropogenic pressures (loads) on the Dnipro Basin territory. To these ends, a map of natural-agricultural zoning of the major part of the Dnipro Basin was developed within the Project framework. The map shows the boundaries of territories with identical climate characteristics. For each of the singled-out taxonomic units, information has been compiled on its land composition and agricultural land use.

Based on the research outcomes and conclusions, the following documents and recommendations have been developed:

1) Optimized structure of environmentally significant lands for environmentally unstable and stable-to-unstable territories (Table 3.1 and Figure 3.1), required changes in the composition of lands important for agricultural and non-agricultural biodiversity (Table 3.2), and indicators of agricultural loading (agricultural development and ploughing-up rates) in the new, optimized land composition (Table 3.3).

Table 3.1. Optimized structure of the Dnipro Basin lands important for agricultural and non-agricultural biodiversity

(in currently environmentally unstable and stable-to-unstable territories)

Table 3.2. Required changes in the composition of lands environmentally significant for agricultural and non-agricultural

biodiversity in the Dnipro Basin (in currently environmentally unstable and stable-to-unstable territories)

Table 3.3. Indicators of agricultural load in the Dnipro Basin for currently environmentally unstable and stable-to-unstable territories

2) Conception and proposals on the conservation of degraded and low-fertility plough lands aimed to preserve soil biodiversity and wild fauna in environmentally unstable and stable-to unstable territories (Table 3.4 and Figure 3.2).

Table 3.4. Conservation of degraded and low-fertility plough lands in currently environmentally unstable

and stable-to-unstable territories of the Dnipro Basin

3) Recommendations on designing natural and ameliorated agro-landscapes with due regard of the method of environmentally justified, landscape-based land use planning conducive to biodiversity conservation and rehabilitation;

4) Guidelines for improving agricultural practices, reducing contamination and preserving soil and water types of biodiversity. The priority measures should include:

- land protection against water erosion;

- discontinuation and prevention of destructive anthropogenic impacts on soil;

- observance of the use regimes of specially protected areas;

- water resources protection from contamination with chemical toxicants;

- formation of conservational agro-landscapes.

Figure 3.1. Optimized structure of lands important for agricultural and non-agricultural biodiversity in the Dnipro Basin

(in current environmentally unstable and stable-to-unstable territories)

Figure 3.2. Conservation of degraded and low-fertility plough lands in environmentally unstable

and stable-to-unstable territories of the Dnipro Basin

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