Substantiation of diversifying the categories of protected areas in Ukraine

The territorial approach is basic for ensuring nature protection in all its forms and manifestations, from geological and landscape diversity to the conservation of populations of certain species and scenic value areas. This approach is implemented through the creation of protected area networks, the effectiveness of which is determined by the total area and share in the land area of a particular country, the effectiveness of management, and the diversity and validity of protected area categories. For the Ukrainian context, the system of protected area categories is not particularly diverse, and has hardly changed over the past thirty years. In addition, the existing categories do not allow for effective protection of the most vulnerable types of protected areas, such as rivers, lakes, marshes, aesthetically valuable landscapes, certain types of soil, and landforms. This study is a rationale for expanding the list of official categories of the nature reserve fund of Ukraine, in particular, to identify those types that can more effectively protect the integrity of river systems, scenic value areas, and habitats for species of aesthetic value. The selection of the types of dams was based on international experience and proposals made by Ukrainian scientists and practitioners in recent decades. In particular, it is proposed to expand the national list with such new types as «free-flowing rivers», «geomorphological, pedological and natural archaeological natural monuments», «scenic parks», and «protected habitats». The main criterion for the allocation of such categories is the need for a separate inventory of natural objects with different values and different conservation priorities. In the future, such an inventory should be the basis for making informed management decisions aimed at maximizing the conservation of each of these types of natural objects without loss to other ecosystem components. To this end, it is proposed to grant multiple conservation statuses to protected areas based on an assessment of their importance for all natural objects that are present in them and should be protected.