Junior Researcher, State Oceanographic Institute named after N.N. Zubov

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Kropotkinskiy Lane, 6, 119034 Moscow, Russian Federation

 

Candidate of Geographical Sciences, Junior Researcher,

State Oceanographic Institute named after N.N. Zubov

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Kropotkinskiy Lane, 6, 119034 Moscow, Russian Federation

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Abstract. Currently, a quantitative evaluation of ecological services provided by natural geosystems is widely used in Geography and Economics. Such assessment is especially relevant for the unique natural landscapes, like the Volga-Akhtuba floodplain. R. Costanza in 1997 carried out evaluation of the average cost of geo-environmental services for all major landscapes of the Earth (the indicator was not exact due to the obvious reasons). As part of the so-called TEEB-Russia project the similar estimation for the Russian landscape have been made but for administrative districts as a whole (Volgograd and Astrakhan regions). As a consequence, regional differences have been ignored.

In this article we used results of R. Costanza as well as received our own data. As a result, the value of most ecological services of natural systems have been calculated. Their total value for the Volga-Akhtuba floodplain is not less than 37 billion US dollars. The most important for region is recreational service and its possible value is 300 billion roubles. The total cost of geosystem services is significantly higher than the cost of maintaining them in their current state, which makes possible providing as by ecological services more or less effectively. The methods which were used in the article can as well be used for other regions, but the specialties of their landscape should be noticed.

Key words: natural landscapes, Volga-Akhtuba floodplain, cost of environmental services of natural systems, recreation.