Land use practices in remote areas (by the example of the Okinsky district of the Republic of Buryatia)

The Okinsky district of the Republic of Buryatia is characterized by multifaceted economic spheres, such as: extraction of gold, jade and other minerals, development of tourism, as well as traditional and extreme land use methods. There are situations when a significant part of economic and social relations are realized informally, that is, it is not displayed at all in official documents or is rarely displayed. In whole, the area might be represented with complex network system of all sorts of relationships. Using interviews and field observations, we collected and analyzed data on relevant social, cultural, and professional ties, and examined local land use practices and various economic interests during field work in August 2020. The land cover analysis was carried out using statistical data from 1989 and satellite images for 2020. Until recently, remoteness and poor infrastructure development prevented the penetration of external actors and protected the fragile mountainous boreal forest-steppe landscapes from degradation. However, even small disruptions, combined with shifting economic interests, can reduce system local resilience. Structural analysis in networkization format was chosen as main concept for understanding the complexity of the systems under study, as well as their interconnections and interdependencies. The considered version of the network model initiates specialists to execute assessment whether the changes planned for regional development are beneficial for the people living in the area and the country as a whole, as well as to discuss the prospects for the development of the territory while maintaining ecology and biodiversity.