NATURAL RESERVE FUND AND ECOLOGICAL NETWORK OF THE CITY OF KHMELNYTSKYI AND THEIR ROLE IN PRESERVING BIOTIC AND LANDSCAPE DIVERSITY

Abstract

History, quantitative and qualitative indicators of the natural reserve fund of the city of Khmelnytskyi have been studied. As of January 1, 2022, the natural reserve fund of the city of Khmelnytskyi includes 22 natural reserves territories with a total area of 191,7558 hectares, which is 2,06 % of the city’s area. Among the categories of the natural reserve fund in the city of Khmelnytskyi there are 16 botanical monuments of nature, 3 parks-monuments of horticultural art: «Mykhailo Chekman Park», «T.H. Shevchenko Square», «Zarichchia»; dendrological parks «Podillia» and «Yunnativskyi» and the Botanical Garden of the Khmelnytskyi National University. According to the status of natural reserved territories and objects of the city of Khmelnytskyi, they belong only to local importance. Among all natural reserve territories of the city of Khmelnytskyi, the largest area is occupied by parks-monuments of horticultural art: «Mykhailo Chekman Park», «Zarichchia», «T.H. Shevchenko Square». Of them, the area of «Mykhailo Chekman Park» is 75,5 % of the total area of the city’s natural reserve fund. The park is not only the largest natural reserve territory of the city of Khmelnytskyi, but also the largest park-monument of horticultural art in the Khmelnytskyi region. The city’s parks play a major role in preserving its biodiversity, primarily cultivated dendroflora and avifauna. The botanical garden of the Khmelnytskyi National University, the dendrological parks «Podillia» and «Yunnativskyi» are centers of botanical collections of cultivated flora. In terms of number (16 units), the natural reserve fund of the city of Khmelnytskyi is dominated by botanical monuments of nature. Among them there are 7 parks, 4 biogroups of trees and 5 individual over-aged trees. The territories and the objects of the natural reserve fund of the city of Khmelnytskyi have important scientific (dendrological, introductory, ornithological), nature conservation, historical-cultural, aesthetic, sanitary-hygienic, recreational, educational, ecological-educational, cognitive significance and value inheritance. «Mykhailo Chekman Park», dendrological park «Podillia», the botanical garden of the Khmelnytskyi National University are key territories of the ecological network of the city of Khmelnytskyi. The role of the regional eco-network of the city of Khmelnytskyi is decisive for the preservation of biotic and landscape diversity. The ecological network is an effective lever for maintaining the balance of the use of natural resource potential and ensuring the preservation of the biota of the Khmelnytskyi urban ecosystem, and therefore the guarantee of the balanced ecological and socio-economic development of the city.