ROLE OF ECOSYSTEM SERVICES IN THE RURAL ECONOMY (A CASE STUDY OF THE KOMI REPUBLIC)
T.V. TIKHONOVA
Institute of Socio-Economic and Energy Problems of the North, Komi Scientific Center, Ural Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, 167982, Syktyvkar, ul. Kommunisticheskaya, 26, Russia
tikhonova@iespn.komisc.ru
Keywords: природные зоны растительности, ущерб при освоении лесных ресурсов, рекреация, экономическая оценка, natural zones of vegetation, damage from exploitation of forest resources, recreation, economic assessment
Abstract
The role of regulatory ecosystem services in the development of the rural economy is considered. The ranking of the most important (for the Komi Republic) regulatory ecosystem services, including the functions of climatic control, water regulation, water cleaning of soil, prevention of soil erosion, biodiversity support, was carried out. An economic assessment is made of the ecosystem services at the level of municipalities and forestries using the method of indirect marker-based evaluation and the method of compensation expenditures as well as from the point of view of the beneficiaries for the rural economy. It is demonstrated that the most essential functions of regulatory services are the protection of forest stands from soil erosion, and water cleaning of bog ecosystems. Rural areas are grouped together according to natural zones of vegetation and specific indicators of the value of forest ecosystems, which makes it possible to evaluate damage to forest stands. The most vulnerable territories in terms of the fulfillment of the functions of regulatory services have been identified. The reasons behind the vulnerability are substantiated, and the vulnerability thresholds are indicated for particular municipalities. The findings are important for calculating the potential damage caused by forest exploitation, for predicting permissible forest use in areas with low ecosystem resilience, and for transforming nature management by extending environment-friendly uses: traditional nature management, ecotourism, and recreation. Using suburban recreation of the region’s capital city as an example, the beneficiaries from ecosystem services are determined. Introduction of payment schemes for use of ecosystem services, and improvement of payment mechanisms for use of natural resources with the purpose of accumulating financial resources for the environmental protection are considered as the main direction of practical implementation of the economic assessment of ecosystem services.
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