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Forest resources and their use map

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Forest resources and their use

The Baikal basin is a truly enormous treasury of "green gold." As of January 1, 2011 the forest area is 32103.6 thousand hectares in the Russian part of the basin and 10354.3 thousand hectares in Mongolia. Total timber reserves in the Russian part of the basin are 2,795,800,000 m3, with a stock of the conifers 2.443.000.000 m3 (87.4 %). In Mongolia the total timber reserves is 1.373.100.000 m3.

The basic map shows the forests of nature conservation and other preservation patterns, as well as merchantable and other forests, suitable for commercial use, and reserved forests. It should be said that the division of forest lands into protected, merchantable and reserved is characteristic only of the Russian Federation. However, in the territory of Mongolia forests of special importance and in need of protection are distinguished, such as forest areas up to 100 hectares, forests on the slopes of the mountain areas of more than 30 degrees, etc.

Protected forests in Russia include forests subject to reclamation in order to maintain environmental, water protection, safety, sanitation, health and other useful features while using these forests providing compatibility with their intended purpose. Within the Baikal basin there is a high proportion of protected forests, due their ecosystemic, environment protection and water protection functions, as well as the important ecological role of montane forests. Merchantable forests are those which should be developed for the purposes of sustainable, maximum-efficiency rate production of high quality wood and other forest resources, as well as their conversion products ensuring the preservation of beneficial functions of forests. As far as the reserved forests are concerned, those are the forests not planned for logging for next twenty years. These forests are mostly located in the northern part of the region, in the permafrost zone, off-road area and are unattractive for development.

The insert map "Timber reserves by groups of the major forest forming species" shows the average reserves of softwood and hardwood forests (m3) per hectare of land covered by them. The average stand of timber per unit of the covered area is one of the indicators characterizing the productivity of forests, depending on growing conditions of stands, their species, and stands sparsity. The average stand of conifers and deciduous trees per hectare in the Russian part of the Baikal basin is 132.5 m3 (the global average is 100 m3/ha ), and it is fluctuating from 79-82 m3/ha (mostly in the steppe regions of Zabaikalsky krai, the Republic of Buryatia (Zaigraevsky, Chita districts) to 160 -170 m3/ha and up in the mid- and north areas (Uletovsky district of Transbaikalia, Kabansky and Severobaikalsky districts of the Republic of Buryatia, Irkutsky and Slyudyansky districts of Irkutsk oblast). Within the Mongolian part of the basin the average reserve of coniferous and deciduous tree stands is 126.6 m3 per one hectare with fluctuations in the aimaks from 81 to 205 m3 per ha. The highest average stand of timber per unit of forest area is characteristic of the northern mountainous areas of Mongolia.

Also this map shows the distribution of the total stand of timber by major groups of forest forming species (in million m3) with the method of cartodiagram. This index demonstrates forest-resource security area, which varies significantly in the districts of the Russian part of the basin and Mongolian aimaks (from 1.5 to 481 million m3). For correct depiction of the amount of total stand of timber within municipalities a conventional stepped scale for the circular cartodiagram was worked out, which enables to judge about the stands of timber for each group using the percentage between the major groups of forest forming species (coniferous, deciduous and shrubs).

Forest use is determined by the activities that have priority development within the forest vegetation areas. Timber harvesting is most developed among all kinds of forest utilization in the Russian part of the Baikal basin regulated by allowable cutting rates. Forests are actively used for recreation, hunting activities, etc.

In the analysis of forest utilization the following trends for all forests of the Baikal basin are revealed in recent years. They are reduction of coniferous stands, mostly maturing and mature stands; replacement of coniferous species by deciduous ones; widespread illegal logging, reduction of forested area due to fires, forest damage by pests, deforestation, and insufficient reforestation.

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Free medical care system map

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Healthcare

Harsh climatic conditions across the entire territory of the Baikal basin and the surface and ground water used for drinking and food purposes that do not meet the drinking water quality standards (first and foremost in Mongolia and Buryatia) coupled with atmospheric emissions from industrial facilities and motor vehicles (in some parts of the territory) are responsible for the state of human health influencing the organization of healthcare. The ecological situation becomes substantially worse during winter months, which is encouraged by the topography of the terrain. In Mongolia, the spring period is very hard time to bear, with sharp temperature differences, abrupt variations in atmospheric pressure, and frequent dust and magnetic storms.

The organizational pattern of healthcare in Russia and Mongolia has much in common. This is a result of the cooperation of the two countries in this sphere and the fact that medical education and healthcare in Mongolia are organized using Russian experience. Today, Mongolian medical facilities operate on the principles of the state-private partnership concurrent with the demonopolization of the state system of medical services. The country has a mandatory and voluntary medical insurance system, in which state-owned and private medical institutions take part. The country also has various health institutes and centers.

The territory of the Baikal basin is experiencing a deficit of medical workers. As of 2012, the availability of physicians varied from 13.8 to 30.1 per 10,000 people in Russian districts and from 16.1 to 29.0 per 10,000 people in Mongolian aimags. The availability of nurses varies from 25.1 to 112.2 per 10,000 people in Russian districts and from 26.4 to 38.2 per 10,000 people in Mongolian aimags. In Ulan-Ude, these indicators have the values of 53.9 and 117.3, while in Ulaanbaatar – 44.1 and 41.2, respectively.

The ratio of doctors and nurses in the Russian part of the basin is between 1:2 to 1:4, while in the Mongolian part it does not exceed 1:2. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that this ratio should be 1:4. A narrowing of this indicator causes imbalances in the healthcare system thereby limiting possibilities for further development of the after-treatment, casework and rehabilitation services.

Target indicators of healthcare activity are the standard volume of medical care per inhabitant. Currently, there are plans to decrease the per capita volume of in-patient services and increase the per capita volume of the hospital-replacing care. Accordingly, the number of hospital beds available 27/7 will decrease, while the number of beds in day hospitals will grow. Overall, the available number of hospital beds complies with the calculated standards and meets the demand of the population for the in-patient medical aid.

As of today, in Russia, there is an array of problems relating to the high level of illnesses and disability incidences among the population, and these indicators are continuously growing. Such a situation is the result of inadequate preventive measures. Another important contributing factor to this situation is the increase of the proportion of elderly population and the improved effectiveness of illness detection using new diagnostic methods in the process of the increased number of medical checkups.

The leading illnesses in the structure of morbidity are respiratory illnesses, bloodstream, eye, and digestive and musculoskeletal system diseases, as well as traumas. For many years, circulatory system diseases, neoplasms, and injuries have been the main causes of mortality and disability among the population.

A complex of anthropogenic environmental factors contributes to the growth of morbidity and disability rates among the population with the most important one being air pollution. According to the WHO, atmospheric air pollution is the cause of up to 23% of all illnesses. The amount of pollutant emissions in the atmosphere produced by static sources in different administrative divisions in the Baikal basin differs by more than a thousand times. The most polluted air in the Baikal basin is in the Selenginsky district of Buryatia.

The health of the population and further development of healthcare depend on ecological, social, and economic factors. These problems can be resolved only through comprehensive approaches to the improvement of the quality of life of the population.

The strategic goal of the healthcare systems of Russia and Mongolia is to build a system, which ensures the quality and accessibility of medical services, primarily first aid, and increases the efficiency of medical services, based on the improvement of territorial planning of healthcare. The volume, types, and quality of these services should correspond to the rate of morbidity, population requirements, and the latest achievements of medical science, based on perfecting the system of territorial planning of public health services.

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Functional-ecological settlement types map

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Functional types of settlements

The map “Functional types of settlements” is created using conventional symbols. It shows the distribution of settlements within the Baikal basin and their economic significance. The main content of the map is the network of urban and rural settlements with their population. The size of population is shown by the symbols of different sizes in accordance with the selected scale of nine gradations of the population size. The color of symbols shows the functional type of settlements determined based on the structure of employment of the local population in various sectors of economy.

A dominant role in the settlement network formed in the Baikal basin is played by large multi-functional industrial-transport, administrative-cultural, and scientific centers of the state (Ulaanbaatar) and regional (Irkutsk, Ulan-Ude, and Chita) significance.

Various specialized industrial and transport centers are almost exclusively confined to the railway lines. Local organizational-economic centers performing the nodal functions of serving their hinterlands are scattered over a greater part of the territory. The dispersed pattern of settlement is especially clear in the Mongolian part of the Baikal basin, where each aimag is dominated by a corresponding administrative center with a sparse network of agricultural settlements.

Quantitatively, the region’s territory is dominated by small rural settlements with agricultural functions; their predominance is especially high in Mongolia. They are scattered within the steppe areas and in the southern part of Buryatia, where they are confined to river valleys.

Settlements with the predominance of recreational functions are few in number and are mainly confined to the shore of Lake Baikal (Listvyanka, Utulik, Khuzhir), to the shore of Khovsgol (Khatgal), and to the Tunkinskaya Valley (Arshan).

Large-scale inset maps “Irkutsk”, “Ulan-Ude”, and “Chita” demonstrate functional types of settlement in the areas of direct influence of the respective regional centers, around which the specifics of the suburban type of settlement is clearly manifested.

 

The assessment of the demographic potential in the Baikal basin allows to identify the following key predetermining factors:

— Ultra-continental geographic location in harsh environmental conditions and at a very large distance from densely populated areas of Eurasia;

— Low investment activity, which slows down economic development and hampers structural shifts towards the innovation sector of the region;

— Low demand for the region’s workforce potential from the existing economy, which is indicated by low wages and continuous outbound migration from the Russian part of the Baikal basin;

— Territorial contrasts in the settlement patterns, social and demographic structures, employment, and living standards of the population between different localities, which is especially pronounced when comparing the Mongolian and Russian parts of the lake’s basin.

 

 

References:

Federal State Statistics Service. Database of municipal indicators. Retrieved from http://www.gks.ru/dbscripts/munst/munst.htm

Federal State Statistics Service. Retrieved from http://www.gks.ru/

Federal State Statistics Service. (2012). Population of the Russian Federation in municipalities as of January 1, 2012. Moscow: Rosstat. p 527.

Federal State Statistics Service. (2013). Population of the Russian Federation in municipalities as of January 1, 2013. Moscow: Rosstat. p 525.

All-Russia Population Census of 1989. (1991). Population and settlement patterns, groupings of districts and rural councils by population, groupings of urban and rural settlements by types and population. Vol. 1. Moscow.

Federal State Statistics Service. (2011). Results of All-Russian Population Census of 2010. Vol. 1. Population and settlement pattern. Retrieved from http://www.gks.ru/free_doc/new_site/perepis2010/croc/perepis_itogi1612.htm

National Statistical Office of Mongolia. (2011). Mongolian Statistical Yearbook 2010. Ulaanbaatar. p 463.

National Statistical Office of Mongolia. Retrieved from http://www.nso.mn/

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