On the Issue of Environmental Problems of Restoration of Tugai Forests in Azerbaijan

Over the past century, the area of tugai forests in Azerbaijan has decreased by almost 7 times and amounts to only 14-17 thousand hectares. One of the most important priorities of biological science in Azerbaijan is the development of scientific foundations for the restoration and conservation of tugai forests as an integral part of the green infrastructure system in the country. The relevance of research in this area is due to the need to obtain modern landscape and environmental information, their assessment and systematic analysis, necessary for the formation of a further strategy for the environmental management of these territories, including programs for restoring the area of tugai forests. Restoration of the tugai forest area on a long-term scale can ensure sustainable ecological, social and economic development of the country. In this regard, a systematic analysis of the main anthropogenic and man-made factors that have a negative impact on the natural landscapes of tugai forests in Azerbaijan has been carried out. The territories of the river basins of the Kura-Araks rivers in the area of the historical growth of tugai forests are estimated on the basis of a basin-landscape approach. In general, the territory of the Aran zone as a single biogeoecosystem, including the territory of tugai forests, can be characterized by the presence of a wide range of man-made and anthropogenic factors that have both direct and indirect negative effects on natural landscapes.