The paper analyzes the state and dynamics of key actors and institutions that regulate the use of resources within the protected areas of the North Caucasus, using the examples of the Teberda Biosphere Reserve and the Elbrus National Park. The network of protected areas created in the North Caucasus during the Soviet period relied on government support, and the participation of the local population in nature conservation was very limited. After the collapse of the Soviet Union and the demonopolization of state land laws, new actors emerged, such as the local population and business. This has led to an exacerbation of the conflict between the tasks of nature conservation and the interests of business and local communities. The introduction of market mechanisms and the commercialization of the tourism sector threaten the state of protected natural areas (PAs) and require effective ways of land matters regulation. The paper analyzes the question of whether the PA system created in the Soviet era should continue to be exclusively the privilege of the state using a centralized approach to management? The contradictions in legislation and conflicts of nature management have cast doubt on the effectiveness of the system of environmental institutions inherited from the Soviet period. One of the solutions could be the actualization of environmental legislation, bringing it in line with civil and land regulations, as well as the wide involvement of the local communities and the public in the evaluation of economic and legal projects.
Specially protected natural territories (SPNA) occupy small areas of the Neftekumsky urban district of the Stavropol Territory. In this regard, it is relevant to justify the need to create protected areas on its territory thus making the natural landscapes of the district sustainable. The stability of landscapes was determined on the basis of the ecological-landscape principle. The indicators of landscape stability were obtained by calculating the values of the coefficients of ecological stability
of the landscape. For the Neftekumsky urban district of the Stavropol Territory, these studies were conducted for the first time. As a result of the studies, it was established that the representativeness and environmental value of the protected areas existing in the Neftekum urban district do not meet the requirements for the territorial organization of ecosystems of this type, the landscapes are conditionally stable and require the partial transformation of unstable landscape elements into stable ones, which is possible when organizing a new protected area in the territory counties.
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