Transborder Region Research Articles

Current trends and prospects for intra-industry trade of dairy products in Russian-Belarusian transborder regions

Current trends and prospects for intra-industry trade of dairy products in Russian-Belarusian transborder regions

РОЛЬ ТРАНСГРАНИЧНЫХ МИГРАЦИЙ В ФОРМИРОВАНИИ И ТРАНСФОРМАЦИИ ЭТНОКОНТАКТНЫХ ЗОН (ПРИМЕР РОССИЙСКО-КАЗАХСТАНСКОГО ПОРУБЕЖЬЯ)

The state border, as a rule, reflects the complex history of relations between the neighboring countries, which are based on a common cultural and political heritage. For centuries, on the territory of the Russian-Kazakh transborder region was being formed a single socio-economic, infrastructural, and ethnocultural space, which was divided by a political border at the end of the 20th century. This study aims to analyze the impact of migration processes in the Russian-Kazakh trans-border region on the transformation of the geospace of the neighboring states under the influence of historical, geographical, and other factors. The object of the present study are ethnic-contact zones (ECZs). Their formation reflects the general evolution of the ethnocultural space at various historical stages. The ethnocultural similarity between migrants and the autochthonous population is the result of the general complex ethnic structure of the population and intensive interethnic contacts during the 16th – 20th centuries. Thus, in the border areas on both sides of the border, traditional Kazakh culture was greatly transformed, it acquired a great similarity with Russian culture and underwent Westernization. Currently, the situation is changing toward the revival of culture and traditions of the Kazakh population in Kazakhstan. The problem for the population of the Russian border regions is that the culture and mentality of immigrants are becoming increasingly different. This situation complicates intercultural relations and requires a reasonable migration policy and cultural regional policy. Among the geographical consequences of migrations in the 21st century, in addition to the change in the ethnic composition, Kazakhization of the population of Kazakhstan, and the formation of new ECZs in Russia, there is observed a decrease in the population density in Kazakh regions bordering Russia. An analysis of statistical data for the period from 2013 to 2023 showed a decrease in the population of the border regions of Russia and Kazakhstan, with the exception of Tyumen, Novosibirsk, Atyrau, Aktobe and West Kazakhstan regions, and the Altai Republic. The study has discovered that migrant flows to Russia significantly exceed reverse ones. They are mainly intellectual elite and qualified personnel who leave Kazakhstan. In the structure of immigrants from Kazakhstan, a significant part is young people, who, in the overwhelming majority of cases, go to Russia to study and often do not return. However, an increase in the number of Kazakhstan’s citizens who do not know the Russian language slows down these processes. Border regions of Russia often serve as ‘transshipment bases’ for migrants who rush to more attractive areas.

TRANSBOUNDARY REGIONALIZATION: TYPOLOGY OF REGIONS AND SPATIAL PLANNING

The relevance of the issue of transborder regionalization, as well as the need to implement spatial development
 goals for the effective use of spatial factors, reveals the importance of improving the theoretical and methodological
 foundations for developing a concept for the development of transborder regions of the Republic of Belarus. The article
 examines the geopolitical aspects of transnational regionalization and the content of emerging regions on the basis of
 existing ideas about regionalization and transnational regions, identifying the basis for classifying regions according to
 geospatial characteristics: spatial scale, geospatial structure. A theoretical analysis of the scientific literature showed
 that transit flows and innovations act as catalysts for the economic development of cross-border regions, along with the
 resource endowment of the regions. The theoretical regional classification of regions is supplemented with the
 “transborder economic development corridor” type. The signs of this type of region are: the formation of the region at
 the macro- and meso-level, intensive foreign trade relations, the influence of transit functions on the production and
 innovation basis of the region’s economy.

ROAD NETWORK ACCOUNTING WHEN ESTIMATING SETTLEMENT FIELD POTENTIAL

Abstract. Population density is one of valuable factors of economic development and ecological stability in inhabited areas. Classic approach to direct estimation of the population density is the application of gravity model to the settlement. The distance in the model is estimated usually as a straight-line distance between settlements. Our study is devoted to implementation of gravitational model able to account distances in transportation network. This model is demanded when investigating transborder regions, where people migrations through the state border are possible at checkpoint locations only. We use the ArcGIS software to ensure settlement field potential computations and mapping, and Valhalla open source routing engine to build routes and compute distances. Current results of our study incorporates the data conversion and processing methodology, a set of algorithms (program code) that implements these techniques, and a map series produced for the Russia-Kazakhstan transborder region that illustrates performance of elaborated methodology.

Modular Approach to Colonia Landscapes in Texas’ Lower Rio Grande Valley

The Lower Rio Grande Valley (LRGV) is a transborder region that lies in the floodplain of the Rio Grande/Río Bravo River. The region, which covers four Texas counties and the northern portion of the Mexican State of Tamaulipas, is home to more than 900 colonias on the Texas side of the border. These informal, unincorporated settlements–which house more than 400,000 people–are characterized by substandard housing and a lack of civil infrastructure including sewers, paved roads, and potable water. Many of the colonias flood regularly. This proposal imagines a modular, transitional approach to designing housing and landscape in LRGV colonias. While typical modular housing projects are standardized, prefabricated, packed, shipped, and assembled onsite; the following proposal extends modular efficiencies to the entire site, incorporating landscape, flood control, and canal systems. The holistic, modular approach allows for the flexible growth and decline of the community over the course of one hundred years. Ultimately, the transitional, modular model challenges the adversarial environmental, social, and economic arrangements that exist in colonia developments, imagining a more sympathetic relationship between people, water, and land.

The Development of a Collaborative Binational Strategy to Support the San Diego-Tijuana Transborder Community During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic illustrates the need for and importance of cross-border public health collaboration. San Diego, California and Tijuana, Baja California are an interconnected region with one of the busiest international borders in the world and hundreds of thousands bi-directional crossings each day. As the sister cities witnessed the rising case numbers early in the pandemic, it became essential and urgent to implement a formal structure to facilitate cross-border COVID-19 communication, coordination, and collaboration. The present article describes how the development of a Collaborative Binational Strategy led to coordinated outreach and initiatives that addressed access and equity in the transborder region. Through examples, the article illustrates how regional leaders in San Diego and Tijuana harnessed existing transborder partnerships to collaboratively build infrastructure and communication pathways to exchange data, guidance, troubleshoot shared challenges, build capacity, and establish cross-border testing and vaccine opportunities. The challenges, lessons learned, and best practices may inform other multi-level, interdisciplinary, and cross-border jurisdictions on how to support a transborder community during a pandemic or other health emergency.

Az ukrán-magyar határon átnyúló együttműködés változása a hétköznapokban a kétoldalú kapcsolatok tükrében

The 30-year history of bilateral relations between Ukraine and Hungary has undergone a major transformation. Starting from the initial priorities of good neighbourhood relationship and security policy, these relations have been transformed in light of strong trade relations, and subsequent efforts and sanctions made to preserve the national minority rights of the Hungarians living in the Transcarpathian region of Ukraine. Looking back to the last three decades, the current position of the international and bilateral relations between the two states has an impact on the daily lives and activities of the population living in the Ukrainian-Hungarian transborder region. Based on the semi-structured interviews we have conducted, the deteriorating bilateral relations between the two states seemingly have not (yet) deteriorated the Ukrainian-Hungarian cross-border cooperation. The current force of social cohesion and the interdependence of the two counties have so far proved stronger in the face of diplomatic disagreements.

Associations of Diet Patterns and Cardiometabolic Disease Risk Factors Among Mexican Women in the Sonora-Arizona Transborder Region

ObjectivesTo identify dietary patterns of Mexican women in the Sonora-Arizona transborder region and assess their association with cardiometabolic risk factors.MethodsMexican-born women aged 25–50 years residing in Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico (n = 61) and Phoenix, Arizona, United States (n = 61) self-reported dietary intake via the Southwest Food Frequency Questionnaire capturing the prior year of intake and completed a clinic visit for the assessment of anthropometric measurements, blood pressure, hair cortisol, and fasting blood lipids, glucose, C-reactive protein (hsCRP), insulin, adiponectin, ghrelin, and leptin. Dietary patterns were derived using exploratory factor analysis. Regression scores were used to explore associations between dietary patterns and cardiometabolic risk factors.ResultsEight derived patterns accounted for 67% of the variance in the following descending order: 1) fruits & vegetables, 2) animal protein, 3) snacks & fats, 4) refined carbohydrates & snacks, 5) mixed dishes & red meats, 6) sweets, sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) & soups, 7) starchy dishes, and 8) cereals & eggs. The animal protein pattern was associated with ghrelin (r = .244, P = .035.), and inversely associated with diastolic blood pressure (r = −.192, P = .047) and BMI (r = −.220, P = .023). The snacks & fats (r = −.208, P = .035), and sweets, SSBs & soups (r = −.194, P = .049) were inversely associated with total cholesterol. The mixed dishes & red meats pattern was associated with hair cortisol (r = .211, P = .04). The refined carbohydrates & snacks pattern was inversely associated with total cholesterol (r = −.211, P = .032) and adiponectin (r = −.333, P = .024). There were no significant associations between dietary patterns and the rest of the biomarkers assessed.ConclusionsFindings suggest the main dietary patterns among Mexican women in the Arizona-Sonora border are rich in fruits, vegetables, and protein sources. Despite the positive association with ghrelin, following a pattern rich in animal proteins was associated with lower BMI and blood pressure. In contrast, a diet rich in refined carbohydrates and snacks was associated with lower adiponectin concentrations and could contribute to insulin resistance and cardiometabolic risk.Funding Sources1883-FRONTERAS-CONACYT, Mexico, and Program for Transborder Communities, ASU.

Binational Commons: Institutional Development and Governance on the U.S.-Mexico Border ed. by Tony Payan and Pamela L. Cruz

Reviewed by: Binational Commons: Institutional Development and Governance on the U.S.-Mexico Border ed. by Tony Payan and Pamela L. Cruz Ines M. Miyares Tony Payan and Pamela L. Cruz (Eds.) Binational Commons: Institutional Development and Governance on the U.S.-Mexico Border. The University of Arizona Press, 2020. xiv + 401 pp. Figures, maps, tables, notes, references, contributor biographies, index. $100.00 cloth (ISBN 978-0-8165-4142-3); $35.00 paperback (ISBN 978-0-8165-4105-8); $35.00 e-book (ISBN 978-0-8165-4201-7). What is governance, and how should local, state, and national governments and institutions govern a border region? Binational Commons is an edited volume that results from a workshop in 2016 that brought together scholars from multiple disciplines to examine the complexities of governance of the U.S.-Mexico border region. It seeks to define what governance is, and to identify the formal and informal institutions at the national, regional, and local level that create and implement policies that govern this region. The book has twelve chapters divided into two parts, as well as an introduction and conclusion. The first part consists of three chapters that provide a framework for institutional development along the border, and the nine chapters that comprise the second part examine formal and informal governance in various contexts. The goal of the book is to demonstrate the need to govern the transborder region as a transborder region, and not as territories in two distinct countries. In the opening chapter, Sergio Peña sets the spatial framework for examining governance, particularly of a transborder region through the paradigmatic lenses of positivism, structuralism, [End Page 213] and postmodernism. He provides a rich literature review of geographic theorists who have addressed the question of governance, and he links their work to the ideas that will follow. Payan and Cruz follow with a chapter that discuss the various ways in which the border has been defined, whether in legal terms or by institutions responsible for the region. They present the logistical challenges of governing a region that is viewed differently by national, state, and local governments on both sides of the boundaries between them. There is no unified definition of what constitutes the border region or how to delimit its area, making it difficult to create and implement policies essential to effectively govern. They argue that a unified definition will be essential to address the social, economic, health, and environmental needs represented along the border. James Gerber and Jorge Eduardo Mendoza Cota close out Part I with a review of available data sources for conducting transborder research. They list the strengths and limitations of current data sources, identifying data gaps, and propose five ways in which data collection agencies in both countries could or should collaborate to be able to effectively analyze transborder concerns. Victor Daniel Jurado Flores and Cecilia Sarabia Rios open Part II with an actor-network analysis of the institutions actively involved in governing the transborder region. This is a unique chapter in the book in that it is the only one that presents an analysis of data. They examine collaborations among actors at the local, state, and national level, analyzing the centrality, closeness, and betweenness of the networks. Manuel a. Gutierrez and Kathleen Staudt follow this by putting a “face” on these actor networks. They examine the governance of the commons, and how the various levels of government attempt or avoid cooperation. Through a review of newspaper articles and voter participation, they argue that the most effective transborder governance occurs at the local level by communities on both sides of the border, regardless of state and national policies and rhetoric. Natural environments in border regions are truly binational commons, especially since nature does not recognize national borders. Irasema Coronado and Stephen Mumme review the history of transborder management of environmental commons and critically analyze the agencies and programs that have sought to collaborate and strategize to steward the wildlife and ecosystems of the region. Eva M. Moya, Silvia M. Chavez-Baray, and Miriam S. Monroy follow this with an analysis of border region health-care provision. They examine both health-care access on each side of the...

Criticism on the Border and the Decolonization of Knowledge

AbstractStructures of hierarchy and domination are never represented in transborder literature as singular effects of social conditions. Instead, they arise from multiple historical factors. Unlike writings that assume a racial binary, literature on the border does not posit one kind of domination and hierarchy as barriers to creating a just, democratic society. In recent literary works from the transborder regions, the yearning for justice within the layered social systems on the border is central, even while its attainment through social transformation remains an attenuated hope. This essay outlines a paradigm for studying the relations between global and local areas of study, such as those in the transborder regions of the Americas. Invoking models for literary critical work in a globally bordered form, it posits the need for a larger view based on how knowledge is generated and human resources used, while acknowledging the reservoir of knowledge that exists beyond Europe and the US in the Global South. The function of the rebordered criticism described here is to respond to issues raised by African philosopher Achille Mbembe, Latin American sociologist Enrique Dussel and other decolonial thinkers concerning different ways of conceiving the achievement of an antiracist and socially just future.In the face of [the] compromised hopefulness [for justice on the border], what kind of criticism could best [respond to and] … help enact projects of social change?

Assessment of the Living Conditions in Polish and German Transborder Regions in the Context of Strengthening Territorial Cohesion in the European Union: Competitiveness or Complementation?

The European Union's regional policy aims to strengthen economic, social, and territorial cohesion and equal space development opportunities. It is an action linking UE that emphasises the problem of cohesion in the interregional context. The essence of territorial cohesion is the necessity to eliminate inequalities between the living conditions of the population. The concept of quality of life is ambiguous, multidimensional and interdisciplinary. This problem is of particular importance concerning border areas, i.e. the periphery of countries, which often adversely affects the population's standard of living. The article aimed to assess the living conditions and the direction of changes in those terms on the Polish-German border, an internal border of the EU (former Eastern Bloc countries). The analysis covered the years 2004–2019. The impact of the EU's regional development and cohesion policies for border areas (INTERREG) in improving the analysed regions' living conditions was also determined. The method of aggregation, standardised sums, was used in the analysis. The research showed that the level of living conditions of these border regions' population was spatially diversified, being more favourable on the German side. The analysed border regions had less favourable material and non-material living conditions than the countries' average value. Significant changes in the living conditions of border regions in the years 2004–2019 were established towards equalising the quality of life, which was influenced by the spatial policy of territorial cohesion.

US-Mexico Transborder Collaboration: COVID-19 Vaccines in Arms Across Borders

The U.S.-Mexico Transborder Region presents advanced anthropological theorizing of culture in an important regional setting. Not a static entity, the transborder region is peopled by ever-changing groups who face the challenges of social inequality: political enforcement of privilege, economic subordination of indigenous communities, and organized resistance to domination. The book, influenced by the work of Eric Wolf and senior editor Carlos G. Vélez-Ibáñez, centers on the greater Mexican North/U.S. Southwest, although the geographic range extends farther. This tradition, like other transborder approaches, attends to complex and fluid cultural and linguistic processes, going beyond the classical modern anthropological vision of one people, one culture, one language. With respect to recent approaches, however, it is more deeply social, focusing on vertical relations of power and horizontal bonds of mutuality. Vélez-Ibáñez and Heyman envision this region as involving diverse and unequal social groups in dynamic motion over thousands of years. Thus the historical interaction of the U.S.-Mexico border, however massively unequal and powerful, is only the most recent manifestation of this longer history and common ecology. Contributors emphasize the dynamic "transborder" quality—conflicts, resistance, slanting, displacements, and persistence—in order to combine a critical perspective on unequal power relations with a questioning perspective on claims to bounded simplicity and perfection. The book is notable for its high degree of connection across the various chapters, strengthened by internal syntheses from notable border scholars, including Robert R. Alvarez and Alejandro Lugo. In the final section, Judith Freidenberg draws general lessons from particular case studies, summarizing that "access to valued scarce resources prompts the erection of human differences that get solidified into borders," dividing and limiting, engendering vulnerabilities and marginalizing some people. At a time when understanding the U.S.-Mexico border is more important than ever, this volume offers a critical anthropological and historical approach to working in transborder regions. Contributors: Amado Alarcón Robert R. Álvarez Miguel Díaz-Barriga Margaret E. Dorsey Judith Freidenberg Ruth Gomberg-Muñoz James Greenberg Josiah Heyman Jane H. Hill Sarah Horton Alejandro Lugo Luminiţa-Anda Mandache Corina Marrufo Guillermina Gina Núñez-Mchiri Anna Ochoa O'Leary Luis F. B. Plascencia Lucero Radonic Diana Riviera Thomas E. Sheridan Kathleen Staudt Carlos G. Vélez-Ibáñez

Trends of changes in the Mongolian national cuisine of the trans-border region

Trends of changes in the Mongolian national cuisine of the trans-border region

Infrastructure landscape in the transborder region of Russia, Mongolia and China: Transformations and landmarks

The article discusses ongoing and expected changes in the infrastructure landscape in the zone of the China - Mongolia - Russia economic corridor. Ensuring infrastructure connectivity is becoming a common task for the three countries in order to competitively integrate into the world’s logistics routes. The author analyzes the factors influencing the intensification of cross-border interactions, highlighting the general trend of growing demand on land transportation in Eurasia, as well as mining freight movement of raw material resources from Mongolia to China. The transit capabilities of the railway and road infrastructure are assessed, the features of cargo flow through border checkpoints are studied. Consistent implementation of Mongolia’s ambitious plans of railway construction changes the cross-border infrastructure, especially on the China’s border. It is noted that the construction of railways was forced by the Mongolian government with the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic: severe restrictions and border control measures on truck transport significantly affected the operating of border crossings and foreign economic relations of Mongolia as a whole. In order to expand the export of mineral raw materials, it is planned to open four railway border crossings on the Mongolian-Chinese border: Gashuunsukhait - Gantsmod, Shiveekhuren - Sehe, Bichigt - Zun-Khatavch, Khangi - Mandal. Establishing the effective functioning of the cross-border transport and logistics infrastructure is becoming a strategic priority of the Mongolian economic policy. For Russia, there is a need to develop foreign trade infrastructure in the border regions, especially in the new geopolitical realities.

A Magyar Nemzeti Helynévtár Programról

On the Hungarian National Toponym Registry The paper introduces the key antecedents of the Hungarian National Toponym Registry Program supported by the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and presents the main motivations behind the research project and its chief objectives. The prehistory of a comprehensive Hungarian toponym registry goes back to the dictionaries presenting the corpus of common nouns. In the second half of the 19th century, at the time of the creation of the Dictionary of the Hungarian language (A magyar nyelv szótára, CzF.), it was Frigyes Pesty who first organized com¬prehensive toponym collection activities in 1864. In the middle of the 20th century, the publication of the Explanatory dictionary of the Hungarian language (A ma¬gyar nyelv értelmező szótára, ÉrtSz.) coincided with the second major toponym collection project. It was also due to their inefficacy, however, that at the time of the publication of the Comprehensive dictionary of the Hungarian language (A magyar nyelv nagy szótára, Nszt.) those aspirations also appeared that focused on the creation of digital toponym registries that culminated in the plan for the Hungarian National Toponym Registry. This work was carried out in the topo¬nymist workshops of the University of Debrecen and Eötvös Loránd University but practically all toponym scholars have joined the program both from Hungary and the trans-border regions. The fact that this program needs to be carried out now is made even clearer by two circumstances. First, the population decrease of Hungarians outside Hungary and the continuous shrinking of the Hungarian language area. Second, the pro¬cesses of social modernization that significantly modify the ways people use space and thus also affect toponym awareness. Under these circumstances, the collection of toponyms still used today may also be considered as a way of saving linguistic and cultural records and heritage. The toponym registry also containing historical toponyms provides unparalleled resources for a host of academic dis¬ciplines while also enriching Hungarian toponym culture. In line with strict professional requirements, the Hungarian National Toponym Registry is created as a digital database but the material included in it will also be published in print form. Due to the magnitude of the work, hundreds of experts participate in it. The academic basis of the program is provided by universities of the Carpathian Basin offering programs in Hungarian Studies where special activ¬ities are offered primarily for Hungarian majors, also supported by online educa¬tional materials. The Hungarian National Toponym Registry is an exceptional opportunity for Hungarian toponomastics for the creation of a comprehensive toponym registry covering the entire Hungarian language area and representing both contemporary and historical name usage.

The report on secret activity in the territory of the Trans-Baikal Region in the early XX century

The main mission of the Imperial government in the early XX century consisted in ensuring foreign policy security of the eastern trans-border region. The construction of Trans-Siberian Railway, defeat in the Russo-Japanese War, and the beginning of the World War I in 1914 severely affected the geopolitical situation in Trans-Baikal Region. Thus, in the conditions of the outbreak of the World War I, the question of uninterrupted supply of weapons, food, etc. along the railway line from the east to the center of the country was critical. All this turned Trans-Baikal Region into a special zone for the foreign intelligence agents. Leaning on the materials of the State Archive of Irkutsk Region, description is given to the system of obtaining information from various sources on the attempts of creating secret network, alleged military espionage, and sabotage attempts in the territory of Trans-Baikal Railway. The article also reveals the interaction of command levels in the region and their activity in the event of manifestation of the persuasive threat to foreign policy security. No actual sabotage attempts are detected according to the archival sources. This may be due to absence of such data in the civil archive. However, the archive stores an array of information on the alleged attempts of creating secrent network in the territory of Trans-Baikal Region.

Trans border recreational tourism complexes (TBRTC) as a result of international collaboration

The paper discusses the notion of a transborder recreational tourism complex (TBRTC) as a geographic and as a wider multidisciplinary concept and describes such complexes within transborder tourism regions in Western Ukraine. A TBRTC is introduced as a spatial formation that arises within tourism-specific transborder collaboration. A TBRTC combines three necessary components: the entirety of all tourism-attracting resources in a specific transborder region; the travel-enabling infrastructure, including transborder-specific features like border-crossing checkpoints; and informational and coordination resources such as tour operating services and defined tourist routes. The paper explains basic terminology and key principles for formation and existence of TBRTCs. The authors start by explaining the unique characteristics of transborder tourism in Europe and in tourism-oriented formations called Euro-zones. A principal model of TBRTC is proposed, including the list of factors necessary for its formation, the key structural modules of a complex; and the causal connectivity map between these modules applied to different types of tourism. The concept of a TBRTC is illustrated using the example of the TBRTC forming in Bukovina-Bessarabia transborder region along part of Ukraine-Romania-Moldova border. This region offers multiple types of tourism activities, which translates into the emergence of a robust transborder tourism recreation complex that started forming in the late 1990s and continues to be shaped until this time.

Mapping Forest And Agroforestry Units For Environmental Planning. Study Case Transboundary Region Mexico-Guatemala

The cross-border region of Mexico and Guatemala is part of the continuum in the aspects of relief, climate, hydrography, geology, land cover and land use of Mesoamerica, one of the most biologically diverse regions on the planet. Historically, the region has been continuously affected by meteorological phenomena, such as mass movement in the highland and floods in the lowland, which affected cities, communities and production activities year after year and led to the loss and deterioration of the ecosystems. To handle this problem, a proposal for environmental planning is suggested. The final objective is to provide key information that concerns the implementation of Sustainable Development Goals, particularly related to the protection and restoration of forest areas. In this study, spatial analysis and modeling were applied to map homogeneous units for environmental planning in the Mexico-Guatemala trans-border region. Additionally, forest area as a proportion of the total land area, its share inside the natural protected areas and distribution by ecosystem type were calculated for 2010 and 2019. From the data analysis it was found that the total forest area in the region has decreased from 47% in 2010 to 43 % in 2019; 27% and 25% of the total area, respectively, correspond to forests within the natural protected areas. The principal ecosystem type in the Natural Protected Areas corresponds to tropical forest. Two conclusions can be drawn, that agroforestry zoning is an important tool to monitor forest areas in the context of achieving Sustainable Development Goals and that the natural protected areas play a fundamental role in the preservation of the forest in the region.

Long-term monitoring for the surveillance of the conservation status of Tursiops truncatus in an EU Natura2000 site in the Mediterranean Sea. A pilot study in the Tuscan Archipelago

A pilot study, using the dataset from the research network ‘FLT Med Net’, which regularly monitors transborder regions in the Mediterranean Sea using ferries as platform for systematic surveys, was undertaken to assess common bottlenose dolphin range and population trends within the Natura 2000 EU marine site “Tutela del Tursiops truncatus”. The site was recently designated by the Tuscany Region (Italy) within the requirement of the EU Habitats Directive. In order to evaluate the conservation status of bottlenose dolphin according to the surveillance scheme of the Directive, two six-year periods (2007-2012; 2013-2018) were compared to assess trends in distribution-occurrence (range); Sightings Per Unit of Effort and Density (population). In total, 18146 NM were surveyed along two fixed transects, recording 90 sightings of Tursiops truncatus and a total of 268 specimens. Between the two periods, slight but not statistically significant differences were assessed, with decreasing trend in range and population of the species; no variation was detected in mean group sizes. Travelling was the most common behaviour, and juveniles were present in 20% of the sightings, concentrated during spring and summer. The consistent FLT Med Net dataset was found to be appropriate to evaluate important parameters for the assessment of trends in the conservation status of Tursiops truncatus at the Natura2000 site scale.

Differences in the Quantitative Demographic Potential—A Comparative Study of Polish–German and Polish–Lithuanian Transborder Regions

Demographic potential is a particularly important consideration in border areas that are peripheral regions of a country. The aim of this study was to identify differences in the quantitative demographic potential of Polish–German and Polish–Lithuanian transborder regions, as well as the extent to which natural population increase and net migration influence the demographic potential of border regions. An essential element of the research was the analysis of the importance of borders on shaping the quantitative demographic potential. The study relied on the zeroed unitarization method and the method proposed by Webb. The study revealed considerable spatial variation in the quantitative demographic potential of the analyzed regions at LAU 1 (Local Administrative Units) on the background of NUTS 0 (Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics) and NUTS 2. The highest values were noted in urban units, which accounted for 11.0% of all evaluated units. The areas characterized by the lowest demographic potential represented 16.5% of the total number of the analyzed units, which should be regarded as a positive outcome. Most of these border regions were situated in Germany and Lithuania. Demographic potential is an important determinant of social and economic growth; therefore, the results of this study can be used to diagnose problems in border regions and implement the required regional policies.