ОЦІНКА СТАНУ ЗЕЛЕНИХ ЗОН ЯК ПОТЕНЦІЙНИХ МОЖЛИВОСТЕЙ НАДАННЯ НИМИ ЕКОСИСТЕМНИХ ПОСЛУГ

Abstract

Manifestations of the environment to provide human needs with benefits arising from the healthy functioning of ecosystems are called ecosystem services (ES). Taking into account the large number of population – consumers of ES, which is concentrated in cities, green areas as the main providers of ES require significant attention. Accordingly to this, the objects of our study are the urban green areas (on the example of Kyiv). Despite the existing attempts to estimate ecosystem services in monetary terms, the cost of providing some of them (primarily regulating and cultural services) is almost impossible to estimate. In this case, attention should be focused on the condition and functions of ecosystems, and as a consequence – ES, which are different in each system, but provided in maximum volumes only in its sustainable functioning. After all, in a normal (stable) state, the ecosystem gives all its functions, and therefore provides its maximum benefits – ES. Therefore, the purpose of this work is to determine the urban green areas condition, as a prerequisite for their sustainable functioning as the potential possibility of providing ES by them. The study is based on the comparison of natural and actual vegetation cover of Kyiv. The parameters by which this correspondence is determined are the type of vegetation and the proportion of the green zone covered with typical (natural) vegetation. As a result of the work, based on remote sensing data, indicators of the state of individual green areas of the city were obtained, as well as averaged indicators for the city, individual administrative districts, etc. It is determined that the actual vegetation of green areas in Kyiv corresponds to the natural on 63.1 % of the green spaces area. Such condition is “close to natural”, according to Harrington’s desirability scale. However, such indicators differ significantly with administrative districts. They range from 34 % in Pecherskyi to 74 % in Sviatoshynskyi district. The example given in the paper demonstrates that even two neighboring green spaces can differ significantly in their condition, which, in particular, determines their opportunities to providing ES. These indicators will be very useful in further research on the overall assessment of ES, because, according to the general algorithm, it consists in determining 1. the condition of the green zone – potential opportunities in the provision of ES; 2. the efficiency of its functioning – the real volumes of ES provision; 3. the risks of ES loss. The results of this work are the implementation of the first component of the general algorithm and can be used in further research on the assessment of the real volumes of ecosystem services and the risks of their loss.