Ecological and economic reporting as an indicator of the state of forestry land use

Abstract

Purpose. The purpose of the article is to provide a theoretical and methodological justification of the completeness, accessibility and transparency of indicators of environmental and economic reporting of forestry enterprises as an indicator of the state of forestry land use in the context of sustainable development (on the example of Male Polissya of Ukraine); to find out the causal relationships between individual indicators that characterize the course of certain processes in forestry. Methodology / approach. Theoretical and methodological bases of the research are based on the analysis of a set of ecological and economic indicators of reporting of forestry enterprises as indicators of the state of use of forest lands in the context of balanced development. Such methods were used: dialectical method of cognition for the analysis of laws and regulations and scientific works of scientists on the issue of sustainable use of forest lands; method of analogies (transfer of influences that were found in other areas with similar objects and properties, to the area under consideration); analysis of the most pressing problems of accessibility to the public of indicators of the state of forest land use; correlation analysis – in determining the closeness of the relationship between statistical characteristics indicators of forest use; synthesis and logical generalization of conceptual bases of necessity and preconditions of improvement of ecological and economic indicators; monographic to identify factors for improving indicators; abstract-logical theoretical generalizations and formulation of conclusions. In the study we used quantitative analysis with data from primary and secondary sources to assess the availability of information on the state of forestry land use. In this study, there were analyzed not the values of the indicators, but how they were structured and what information they contained. Results. The article summarizes the completeness, accessibility and transparency of the system of indicators of ecological and economic reporting of forestry enterprises on the example of Male Polissya of Ukraine. The work investigates in terms of sustainable land use practices in the field of reporting using data from state and municipal forestry enterprises of Male Polissya of Ukraine, online service ProZvit (freely available database of enterprises since 2016). The studied value of the correlation between the statistical characteristics of individual indicators of forest land use makes it possible to identify the course of certain positive or negative processes in forest land use on the basis of the objectively existing causal relationship between phenomena and indicators. Based on the analysis of the data published on the Internet, some shortcomings of the set of indicators available to the public are highlighted, in particular the need to update them in accordance with the legislation of the European Union. The results of this study indicate the need to rethink the national focus of reporting from a purely economic to environmental and economic. Originality / scientific novelty. The structural scheme of public information access to ecological and economic indicators of forest land use is proposed, which will ensure completeness and transparency, openness and accountability to the public of information on environmental consequences of forest land use. We propose to introduce additional environmental reporting indicators, which can be further used as indicators of the balance of forestry land use in the country, in particular: the accumulation of carbon in forests and changes in such accumulation; degree of soil erosion; humus content; indicators of productivity (quality) of forest lands depending on soil conditions in different areas of Ukraine; indicators of the state of populations of species of fauna and flora to be protected and preserved; diversity of types of natural resources used by the population in the territory of the planned activity and in the zone of its influence; diversity of ecosystem services; in addition to absolute data, apply relative indicators per 1 ha of forest land. We propose to include these indicators in the reporting for the following blocks: the impact on land and soil; impact on fauna, flora, biodiversity; impact on surface waters; impact on landscapes; impact on atmospheric air; carbon accumulation; volumes of reforestation, silvicultural works. Practical value / implications. On the example of forestry enterprises located in the territory of Male Polissya, it is proved that the set of economic and environmental reporting indicators available online is an indicator of the state of use of forestry lands. Based on research, the bases for improvement of the information base of the reporting are prepared at different scales, both in the country and in each forest enterprise in a particular region, as regional sectoral improvements will help achieve balanced land use at the national level.

Keywords

• ecological and economic indicators
• forestry lands
• balanced land use
• reporting of forestry enterprises