Factors affecting the ecosystem

Among the direct factors negatively affecting the ecosystem are:

- long-term changes in external conditions due to climate change;

- local exogenous natural processes;

- natural hazards and factors;

- technogenic factor.

Indirect factors include:

- state policy;

- incompetence of management in the use of natural resources and environmental activities;

- insufficient qualification of employees of the natural resource and environmental unit;

- low level of environmental culture of both civil servants making management decisions and the population;

- unstable and insufficient financing of environmental programs and employees of the natural resource and environmental unit.

The North Caucasus region is considered to be an area of high ecological tension. The biodiversity of the Caucasus is falling at an alarming rate. Mountain region in terms of nature protection is one of the 24 most vulnerable regions on Earth.

At the present time dramatically increased the intensity of effects on biological resources in the mountains of various forms of management of mining and oil development, construction, industrial logging, recreation, tourism.

Current state of the Caucasus biodiversity

According to the First National report "Conservation of biological diversity of the Russian Federation" in the mountains, almost 65 % of the North Caucasus is degraded, and 29.2 % of the ecosystem cover is transformed. The number of fully anthropogenically disturbed land is in the republics от18,1% to 65.2 %.

Thus, the current state of biodiversity in the Caucasus can be described as quite critical.

Measures to preserve the biodiversity of the North Caucasus

Scientists identify the following measures to preserve the biodiversity of the Caucasus:

- it is necessary to intensify work on the inventory of biological resources, its environmental and economic assessment and prospects for use, assessment of the consequences of economic activity.

- it is necessary to organize continuous monitoring of biodiversity to assess its status and take measures to preserve it.

- of particular importance should be the establishment of environmental networks of protected areas – a kind of environmental framework that ensures the preservation of biodiversity and biological resources at all levels of the structure of the belt.

- it is necessary to develop large-scale work on the reproduction of rare landscape species through the creation of banks of genetic materials, centers for reproduction, reproduction and breeding of rare and valuable animals, nurseries of mountain flora.

- it is necessary to ecologize agriculture and production in the mountains, to develop tourism and recreational use of natural ecosystems.

- the adoption of special legislative acts in the field of mountain nature management and protection of mountain nature should be strengthened.

News in the application of biodiversity conservation measures in the North Caucasus

Eleven regions of the Russian Caucasus have adopted new forest regulations designed to preserve the biological diversity of forests in the Ecoregion. The standards have been in effect since 2019 and will be valid for 10 years.

 In 2017 the main controller in the field of natural resources (Minprirody) of Russia made mandatory for inclusion in the forest management procedures of forest districts of the item on biodiversity conservation.

In the Russian Caucasus, new rules developed with the participation of the world wildlife Fund (WWF) were previously adopted in the Krasnodar territory, Dagestan, Chechnya, Stavropol, North Ossetia and Rostov region, and at the end of the year they were joined by Adygea, Kalmykia, Ingushetia, Kabardino-Balkaria, Karachay-Cherkessia.

For forest users, this means that from 2019 for 10 years it will be necessary to harvest wood under the new rules.

The requirements imply the conservation of certain areas of forest important for the maintenance of biological diversity, for example, strong tall trees, where rare birds nest.

I would like to Express hope that the development of environmental legislation will not stop there. And we will be able to stop the destruction of biodiversity in the Caucasus and other regions of Russia.

Sources:

https://wwf.ru/resources/news/kavkaz/vse-subekty-kavkaza-budut-sokhranyat-lesnoe-bioraznoobrazie-uchityvaya-rekomendatsii-wwf-rossii/

https://pandia.ru/text/78/496/6042.php

https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Кавказские_горы