Nature and protection fund: status and ecological and economic prospects of development

Abstract

The nature reserve fund (NRF) is land and water areas, natural complexes and objects that have a special environmental, scientific, aesthetic, recreational value. They were created with the aim of preserving the natural diversity of landscapes, the gene pool of the animal and plant world, maintaining the overall ecological balance and providing background monitoring of the natural environment. NRF objects play an important role in the balanced development of society. According to the data of the State Cadastre, the Nature Reserve Fund at the beginning of 2021 counted 8,633 territories and objects with a total area of 4.1 million hectares, which was 6.8% of the country’s area. These territories are under the authority of various departments. The strategy of the state environmental policy of Ukraine for the period up to 2030 envisages increasing the area of NRF to 15% of the state area. Russia’s large-scale aggression adjusted the plans for the development of the nature reserve fund, which are defined by the State Environmental Policy Strategy of Ukraine, since a number of NRF objects were damaged and destroyed, some of them are located in the temporarily occupied territory. The accession of Ukraine to the EU actualizes the issue of the development of the NRF.