ASSESSMENT OF RECREATIONAL DISTURBANCE IN THE FOREST MASSIFS OF KOSTANAY REGION

The article discusses the results of assessing the recreational disturbance of forest massifs within the Kostanay region. The objective of this research is to assess the recreational disturbance of forests in the Kostanay region based on field data utilizing GIS. In the first stage of the work, evaluation indicators and observation points were selected in each forest massif. Recreational disturbance was assessed using ArcGIS 10.8 software and by introducing weighted coefficients for individual indicators. The research indicated that the natural environment near the "Sosnovy Bor" sanatorium, located in an area with high visitor traffic, is in a relatively disturbed condition.