Transformation of Nature Protection Institutions in the North Caucasus: From a State Monopoly of Governance to Multi-Actor Management

Alexey Gunya, Alexey Lysenko, Izolda Lysenko and Ludmila Mitrofanenko
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Alexey Gunya: Institute of Geography, Russian Academy of Sciences, 29 Staromonetniy Ln., 119017 Moscow, Russia
Alexey Lysenko: Institute of Earth Sciences, North Caucasus Federal University, 1, Pushkin Street, 355017 Stavropol, Russia
Izolda Lysenko: Faculty of Plants Protection, Stavropol State Agrarian University, 12 Zootechnicheskiy Ln., 355017 Stavropol, Russia
Ludmila Mitrofanenko: Humanitarian Institute, North Caucasus Federal University, 1, Pushkin Street, 355017 Stavropol, Russia

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 21, 1-13

Abstract: The paper analyzes the state and dynamics of key actors and institutions that regulate the use of resources within the protected areas of the North Caucasus, using the examples of the Teberda Biosphere Reserve and the Elbrus National Park. The network of protected areas created in the North Caucasus during the Soviet period relied on government support, and the participation of the local population in nature conservation was very limited. After the collapse of the Soviet Union and the demonopolization of state land laws, new actors emerged, such as the local population and business. This has led to an exacerbation of the conflict between the tasks of nature conservation and the interests of business and local communities. The introduction of market mechanisms and the commercialization of the tourism sector threaten the state of protected natural areas (PAs) and require effective ways of land matters regulation. The paper analyzes the question of whether the PA system created in the Soviet era should continue to be exclusively the privilege of the state using a centralized approach to management? The contradictions in legislation and conflicts of nature management have cast doubt on the effectiveness of the system of environmental institutions inherited from the Soviet period. One of the solutions could be the actualization of environmental legislation, bringing it in line with civil and land regulations, as well as the wide involvement of the local communities and the public in the evaluation of economic and legal projects.

Keywords: mountains; protected natural areas; institution; North Caucasus; conflict; land; the Elbrus region; Teberda; local community (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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