Assessment of the planning organization of suburban forests of the Minsk agglomeration

   This article presents a comparative assessment of the factors determining the spatial organization of Minsk’s suburban forests: the natural landscape structure of the territory and the city’s organizational influence on natural resource management within its boundaries. The predominant role of the latter is established, manifested in a consistent decrease in the intensity of natural resource management from the city outward and leading to a reverse trend in forest cover: from a minimum of 23 % in the immediate 20-kilometer zone to 44 % in the outer zone (40–60 km). The typological structure of the forests is determined, revealing that more than half are pine forests, which have a high health-improving effect and are favorable for recreational use. The article presents a ranking of the territory by the ecological and recreational significance of forests, based on their effectiveness in fulfilling sanitary, hygienic, water protection, and recreational functions for the city. Four zones are identified: near, middle, peripheral, and the Vileyka Reservoir catchment area. Priority areas for forest protection are identified for each zone. The study revealed the inadequacy of the previous management mechanism for protecting suburban forests, which envisioned the designation of a green zone around the city and the classification of its forests as Group 1 forest management, due to the abolition of this category. An alternative is proposed, which involves transitioning from formally defining the boundaries of the city’s green zone to planning it as part of the suburban zone planning project, with forest management regimes established in accordance with the ecological and recreational ranking of forests.

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