Earth’s Cryosphere, 2012, Vol. XVI, No. 2, p. 43-51

POSSIBILITIES OF THE BALANCED USING OF BIOSPHERIC AND RESOURCE POTENTIAL OF BOLSHEZEMELSKAYA TUNDRA

G.G. Osadtchaya, T.Yu. Zengina*

Management, Information and Business Institute, Department of Ecology and Nature Management,
169316, Ukhta, Senyukova str., 15, Komi Republic, Russia; galgriosa@yandex.ru
* Lomonosov Moscow State University, Department of Geography,
119991, Moscow, Leninskie Gory, 1, Russia; tzengina@mail.ru

Bolshezemelskaya tundra has unique biosphere resources. It belongs to the permafrost zone (with diverse intensity) and is a part of the Northern Eurasian Center of stabilization of the environment. Its preservation is the foundation of the sustainable development of the region and the control of the biosphere equilibrium within the limits of northern Eurasia. The features of the cryolithozone landscape¬differentiation within the Bolshezemelskaya tundra are discribed as the factor determining the degree of stability of this area to industrial disturbances. The differentiated allowable size of the area of intensive exploitation for the northern and southern parts of the region is justified. On the basis of calculations carried out for a number of deposits under long development, it has been shown that during 20–30 years of active exploitation of all the hydrocarbon reserves prepared for development there will be a significant growth of area of disturbed lands. It will lead to a loss of biospheric functions and capacity for sustainable development and to the impossibility of the existence of traditional forms of management. The ways of changing of legal and administrative elements of environmental management to ensure the balanced use of the biosphere and resource potential of landscapes of Bolshezemelskaya tundra have been examined.

Key words: Bolshezemelskaya tundra, territorial biosphere resources, cryolithozone landscape¬differentiation, hydrocarbon deposits, sustainable regional development.