CC BY
57
y^K 504.062
THE METHODS OF UKRAINIAN NATURAL RESOURCES USAGE
OPTIMIZATION
A. Zhelnovach, student, E. Voronova, ass. professor, KhNADU
Summary: In this article the analysis of present situation in Ukraine with natural resources has been carried out. Recommendations towards optimization of their use were
given.
Key words: natural environment, recourse forestation.
Introduction
Under the centralized command administrative system, the strategy for the development of economy in Ukraine lacked proper assessment of ecological conditions specific to different regions. As a result some regional centres were characterized as ones with excessive density of industrial production facilities causing higher level of environmental pollution and intensive use of natural resources. It is necessary to remember about the increased quantity of vehicles being a significant source of pollution of environment. The crisis in agricultural sector was caused primarily by the collapse of the traditional land economic management and creation of major agro-industrial enterprises.
Natural resources and methods of optimization of their usage
We may conventionally define two stages in the process of environmental and economic development of Ukraine from 1992-2002:
a) general environmental and economic crisis (19921998) with simultaneous essential contraction in use of major natural resources(water, mineral raw materials, partially land)as well as decrease in emissions in the air, etc.;
b) relative stabilization and beginning of renaissance (since 1999) in industrial and agricultural production with growth in volume of wastewater and hazardous substance discharge in some regions, etc.
In the period of 1992-2002 the use of water resources decreased from 28,6 billion m3/year down to 21,2 billion m3/year while an annual decrease of basic mineral raw materials decreased as follows: coal from 180 to 78,5 mm t/year; iron oar from 110 to 56,0 mm t/year; manganese oar from 5,6 to 2,7 mint/year; oil with condensate from 5,8 to 4,1 mint/year; gas from 18,2 to 17,8 billion m3/year.
potential, land recourses, water recourses,
Analyzing the developments in natural and technogenic systems of «technogenic object environment» provides the fact that transition to balanced use and reproduction of natural resources is the most difficult task in the mining areas of Donbas, Kryvbas and Prycarpattya.
Environmentally misbalanced termination of loss generating mines' operation with their complete or partial scuttling results in regional raise in ground water levels followed by floodings and submergings of large areas. Preliminary estimations show that deterioration of environmental conditions and more complicated conditions for using life support resources (land and water) and maintaining our traditional lifestyle is possible on 30% of territories in mining regions with there typical expanding urban features.
Current use of Ukraine’s land resources requires accelerated implementation of rational nature. Such as:
- further implementing measures with respect to decreasing areas of deteriorated lands;
- observance of environmental land conservation requirements in the process of regulating land tenure;
- achieving environmentally balanced division of arable lands in zones of land tenure as well as in water protection zones for surfaces and ground objects use;
- improving land law and formulating modern regulations on land conservation and it's implementation mechanisms.
Essential decrease in water use scope in 1992-2002 (from 28,6 km3/year to 21,2 km3/year), decrease in technogenic load so far did not result in expected effect majority of surface water objects still belong to 46 quality grade (ranging from «polluted» to «very much polluted» water).
Prevailing impact of fresh and household water on public health conditions, (the cause for 70-80% of
diseases has determined recently the development of ground waters use as the most environmentally sustainable and protected fresh water source. Per capita use of drinking table and medical mineral waters is also growing and reached 11,2 l/year in 2002 (up to 90-110 I/year in the developed nations). Hereto it is worth mentioning the essential slow down in pollution of ground water at deep levels in the majority of ground water basins. Here mention should be made of essential decrease in agrochemical and technogenic loading on soil level (the one that is not protected from the surface). Coming into being of local pollution ground water areas are prominent mostly in mining regions resulting from impact of mineralized waters of mines in the process of terminating their operation as well as from the impact of filtrating storages of industrial and waste waters [1].
The following are the major grounds for environmentally balanced water use as well as sustainable reproduction of water resources and objects in Ukraine:
- priority of social domain in water use ensuring human rights for fresh water o adequate quality and beneficial water environment;
- introduction of water saving forms in economic development including forms based on marginal permissible water environmental loads and changes in water objects condition;
- prevailing the usage of water resource objects in their natural condition;
- meeting the requirements of the international law cooperation in the domain of use and protection of transborder water resource systems.
It is well known that ecological conditions of the natural environment and its capacity to reproduce significant number of natural resources (water land, air, biodiversity) depends on forestation on the country's territory. Presently Ukraine's territory forestation indicator constitutes 16% that is no way meeting scientifically grounded norms (22-24%).
The present slowdown of forest reproduction at the level of 5-7 thousand hectares at the level up to 12 mln m3/year (including up to 5-6 mln m3/year due to felling in areas of main use) was caused on one hand by decrease in scope of forests reproduction due to contraction of deforestation in areas of main use (by 2-2,5 times against the 60-ies). On the other hand this was the result of decrease in financing due to deterioration of the national economy condition in the 90-ies.Calculau'ons show that eroded lands may provide a possibility to stabilize environmental condition in the regions of steppes and forest steppes with their lower forestation level (4,0% and 12,6% respectively) as well as the increased reproduction of timber resource in the country.
At the same time it is necessary to take into account the fact that the process of ecological and economic optimization in natural resources use significantly
differs according to the environment reproduction capacity and by economic capacity of the nation to support this process. The process of ecological recuperation in the mining areas of Donbas, Pricarpatrya and other similar territories in this country is the most complicated process caused by disruption in the bowels of the earth and destruction of its balanced link with biosphere. That often results in landscape fragmentation, decrease in biodiversity and evolvement of dangerous exogenous processes related to terminating operation of mines and quarries, etc.
In Ukraine the effective system for indicators assessing the natural environment conditions and natural resources use is based mostly on statistic parameters of the 70-ies. Implementing decisions of the World Summit in Johannesburg (2002), of the Third Ministerial of ministers Conference «Environment or Europe» (Sofia, 1995) requires concerted efforts with respect to shaping the grounds for natural resources balanced use and reproduction along the following lines:
- establishing the scientific grounds for Ukraine's domestic needs in various types of natural resources;
- accelerated implementation of measures on preventing irreversible natural environment condition disruptions in the mining regions as well as in industrial urban conglomerates ensuring sustainable environment enhancement and balance;
- performing environmentally grounded assessments for specific weight of various types of natural resources including those supporting life and public supply;
- perfecting economic levers in regulation of resources use and in the natural environment protection [2].
Conclusion
Ukraine is one of those countries which development depends mostly on the balanced use of available natural resources primarily those supporting life (land, water, mineral and raw materials). Research and analysis provide evidence of the fact that Ukraine has the national capacity to resolve the above issues in spite of inherited development problems. The first steps should be targeted towards the efficient use of all types of natural resources.
Literature
1. Некос В.Ю. Основи загально! екологп та
неоекологп: Навчальний поабник у 2-х ч. -Ч.2: - Основи загально! та глобально! неоекологп. - 2-е вид., доп. та перероб. -Харшв: Прапор, 2001. - 287 с.
2. Бшявський Г.О., Падун М.А., Фурдуй Р.С.
Основи загально! екологи. - 2-е вид., дороб.
- К.: Либщь, 1995. - 324 с.
Рецензент: Э.Б. Хоботова, профессор, д.т.н., ХНАДУ.
Статья постyпилa в редaкцию 17 феврaля 2006 г.
