Abstract
The article is dedicated to the justification and practical implementation of a nature protection-based methodological approach to define the boundaries of the Lake Baikal protection zone and form proposals related to the harmonization of instruments of environmentally responsible development of the territory, which has the status of a World Heritage site as it contains 20% of the world’s fresh water supply. An analysis of the contemporary conditions of Lake Baikal and its surrounding landscapes show environmental degradation of the area. The most important aspects in solving the existing problem may be the construction of a science-based definition of the Lake Baikal water protection zone and compliance with the universal global values related to the requirements of ecological threat prevention. The main landscape-hydrological design principles for the water protection zone are studied in this article. A method for the functional water protection zoning of urban territories is also given. This has been implemented in Baikalsk town, which is located on the Baikal shore and is considered to be one of the most environmentally damaged territories. Proposals include recommendations on the harmonization of the landscape-hydrological principles of territory assessment and methods for target landscape planning; the setting of various restrictions within the boundaries of existing industrial and settlement zones; the creation of an overall system of environmental health monitoring for Lake Baikal and its protection zones; and for ensuring interactions with the public.
Highlights
The specifics of the unique natural site Lake Baikal, its international status, and existing special federal legislature in Russia, predetermine the formation and execution of overall preservation measures in terms of universal global values and the prevention of ecosystem threats.Lake Baikal is the most ancient (25 million years), deepest (1637 m), and largest (23 thousand m3 )fresh water reservoir in terms of volume on Earth [1]
Boundaries of territories with special legal regimes can be measured by geographical coordinates or in accordance with an administrative territorial division
The shore territories of Lake Baikal that are under economic development, including residential areas, should have water protection zoning with differentiation of actions for pollution prevention and minimization of negative anthropogenic impacts on the lake’s ecosystem, with consideration of opportunities for economic development of the territories
Summary
The specifics of the unique natural site Lake Baikal, its international status, and existing special federal legislature in Russia, predetermine the formation and execution of overall preservation measures in terms of universal global values and the prevention of ecosystem threats. The Russian federal law “Concerning the protection of Lake Baikal” was adopted in 1999 [7] These legal acts reinforced the unique status of Baikal as the world’s most ancient and largest fresh water reservoir—a habitat area of many thousands of endemics, and a place of large-scale geological transformations. Justification of water protection functions of the shore landscapes depending on the structures of nature complexes and surface slopes which determine the self-purification of water in sub-soil and vegetation layers before it enters the lake. The zoning is aimed at preserving the water resources and ecosystem of the lake’s shore under the conditions of ecology-oriented socio-economic development of the territory
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