Protected Areas in Azerbaijan: Landscape-Ecological Diversity and Sustainability

Authors : Mirnuh Ismayilov, Emil Jabrayilov

Pages : 31-42

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Publication Date : 2019-12-27

Article Type : Research

Abstract :Establishment of protected areas is one of the most important activities in the conservation of natural resources, biodiversity and gene pools, including, promoting a healthy lifestyle for people in the world. The concept of preserving landscape-ecological diversity and sustainable development promotes the improvement of socio-economic indicators and at the same time ensuring the protection of the environment and ecosystems. The aim of the paper is to examine the relationship between landscape-ecological diversity in protected areas in Azerbaijan and the factors that contribute to this relationship with sustainable development. The article identifies landscape-ecological differences, including the principles and development of protected areas such as National Parks, Nature Reserves and Habitat/Species Management Areas in Azerbaijan. For the first time, a landscape-ecological frame model was developed to ensure environmental balance. A medium-scale digital (1: 600,000) "ecological carcass" map of Azerbaijan has been developed and its structural elements explored. Currently, only 10% of the territory of Azerbaijan are protected areas. Given the anthropogenic pressure on landscapes in Azerbaijan, it has been established that the structure of the territorial organization of protected areas does not comply with existing environmental balance norms. To do this, proposals to increase the area of ​​protected sites to 15% of the country's territory were justified. The current state of use of protected areas in the development of ecotourism has been considered and evaluated as an element of sustainability. Indicators of tourism activity in national parks were analyzed on the basis of statistical sources.
Keywords : Protected areas, national park, nature reserve, landscape, sustainability, ecological carcass, ecotourism