Protected areas network in the Murmansk region: yesterday, today, and tomorrow

The article represents a retrospective of nature conservation in the Murmansk Region. It is devoted to the period since the first State Nature Reserves to the present day. Today, the network of Protected Areas (PA) in the Murmansk Region consists of three Nature State Reserves, one National Park, two Natural Parks, 12 protected areas “Zakaznik”, 55 Nature Monuments and the protected area of the Polar-Alpine Botanical Garden-Institute. The total area of the PA is 1947799.4 hectares or 13.4% of the Mur-mansk Region. An effectiveness of the PA was assessed due to the correspondence of the protection regimes and the threats. The authors concluded that effective environmental protection could be realized only in small part of PA, mainly in Nature State Reserves and National Park, whose total area is only 4.2% of the Murmansk Region. At the present level of efficiency, even if it will be possible to achieve a share of Pas equal to 16.4% of the region’s area, it is hardly possible to guarantee the proper level of biodiversity conservation and the stability of the ecosystem of the region.