Development of the system of specially protected natural territories of Penza region

Abstract

Background. The total area of specially protected natural territories of Penza region is 68399 hectares or 1.6 % of its area. This is significantly lower than in Russia as a whole and in the Volga Federal District in particular, where they are 13.52 % and 5.5 %, respectively. One of the reasons for this is the geographical location of the Penza region in the center of the European part of the Russian Federation, the most economically developed, as a result of which most of the region’s lands are owned or leased for a long time. The purpose of this study is to analyze the development of protected system areas of Penza region from 2018 to 2023 and determine further prospects for its expansion. Materials and methods. The material for this work was the original research of the authors conducted in Penza region from 2015 to 2022. During them, traditional methods used in hydrobiology and geobotany were used. Results. Since 2018, Penza region has created natural monuments “Sura Riverbed section” with an area of 217,2 hectares, “Sanderka Lake” with an area of51,7, “Pecharka Lake” with an area of 19,74 hectares, “Floodplain Oak Grove” with an area of 371,6 hectares, “Kaisarovsky Solonets” with an area of 55,64 hectares. The project documentation has been prepared for the creation of natural monuments “Svetopolyansky reserve of the helmet-bearing yathryshnik” with an area of 324 hectares and “Burchikhinsky slopes” with an area of 35,43 hectares. The study gives a description of these objects. There are also descriptions of seven sites of solonets steppes and meadows that are promising for the organization of state nature reserves of a botanical profile. Conclusion. The possibilitiesof creating new natural monuments in Penza region are mostly exhausted. As the analysis of the existing regulatory framework has shown, the state nature reserves of the botanical profile should be a promising type of vegetation protection. They can be created within hunting grounds without affecting the interests of tenants.

Keywords

• halophytes
• hydrobionts
• nature reserves
• red books
• natural monuments
• rare species
• steppes