Particular aspects of geo-ecologic assessment in geo-eco-socio-economic approach to the development of northern territories

Abstract

In today’s context, the preservation of territory’s ecosystem, when it becomes involved in the economic turnover, requires preemptive geo-ecological assessment aimed at identifying the extent of its sustainability to expected anthropogenic impact. The analysis of the existing methodological approaches to geo-ecological assessment allows to conclude that they are often standardized and can be equally applied to the various types of territories. The goal of this research study is to develop a methodological approach to the geo- ecological assessment of a territory, which allows to consider the specific character of the northern territories in the Ural region. This article proposes a new methodological approach to geo-ecological assessment that takes into account the specific character of the northern territories in the Ural region and is based on assessing the saturation of the natural resource potential of the territory and the intensity of its restoration after the anthropogenic impact. The approach relies on the principle of scoring assessment of a territory, which can be explained by the large surface areas of the assessed territory and by the fact that these assessments are proposed to take place at the pre-project stage of the development of the territory. Such approach allows to consider the specific aspects of the ecosystem of the territory, namely, its ability for self-restoration and self-cleaning during and after the economic development which, in turn, allows to make a general selection of the area of economic activity while minimizing the damage caused by violating the ecosystem of the territory and preserving its resource potential. This article is intended for the specialists and students dealing with the issues of geo-ecological assessment of a territory.