Problems of environmental and economic sustainability assessments of specially protected natural areas

Abstract

We discuss the key factors affecting the environmental and economic sustainability of specially protected natural areas (SPNA). Those are: regulatory and legislative; managerial; economic; environmental; and scientific and educational factors. We carried out an analysis of the factors to establish the main prerequisites and problems of assessing the environmental and economic sustainability of protected areas. We established that the factors can have both positive and negative effects on the development of protected areas. The negative influence of the factors can result in various threats to environmental and economic sustainability. A system of indicators for assessing the environmental and economic sustainability of protected areas has been proposed, consisting of two blocks: economic and environmental. The economic component of sustainability is characterized by the following indicators: the importance of environmental services, cost-effectiveness of recreational services, and the level of recreational development of protected areas. The environmental component is characterized by the following indicators: the level of compliance with the norms of the recreational load, the level of compliance with the rules and norms of hunting (fishing), the level of threat of anthropogenic impact, and the level of negative impact of natural factors. Criteria for evaluating the relevant indicators have been proposed.