Arkhyz: Towards Sustainable Development

This report contains the results of the project "Conservation of the Natural Ecosystems of the Caucasian Ecoregion on the Basis of Development and Implementation of the Environmental Management." The work was carried out in the pilot territory of rural municipal district Arkhyz and was aimed at developing an economically efficient model of economic activity based on the sustainable use of natural resources and respecting the priorities for preserving the biosphere. For the first time, on the basis of information on the economic value and real users of natural resources and ecosystem services of the territory, on the relationship between the benefits of using natural complexes and the costs of maintaining them, proposals were made to give this territory an environmental status that, on the one hand, is in the interests of preserving biodiversity , on the other hand, does not destroy the existing balance of interests in the use of natural resources and does not carry the threat of potential social conflicts in environmental protection sphere, thereby providing a transition to sustainable development of the region. To a large extent, the project is pioneering. The report is of interest to specialists of the territorial environmental management, a wide range of public, business representatives and all interested persons, as well as students and postgraduates of economic, geographical and environmental faculties of universities. The report has been prepared and published with the financial support of the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF) and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). CEPF is a joint initiative of l'Agence Française de Développement, Conservation International, the European Union, the Global Environment Facility, the Government of Japan, the MacArthur Foundation and the World Bank. The main goal is to ensure the involvement of civil society in the conservation of biodiversity.

Key words: North Caucasus Federal District, Karachaevo-Cherkessia, rural municipal district Arkhyz, rational environmental management, ecoregion, sustainable development, biodiversity conservation, economic value, economic assessment, business model