ENVIRONMENTAL AND CULTURAL CONFLICTS OF INTEREST IN THE UNZHA RIVER VALLEY (KOSTROMA OBLAST)

Abstract

Four long-established environmental and cultural phenomena and a new one are characterized in the article. These phenomena represent some recurring patterns of activity or behavior of people, significantly altering the course of natural processes. They are generated by stable combinations of environmental conflicts inherent certain forms of nature management and economic activities such as land use, forest use, water use, waste management and others. Their transformative eff on the landscapes of theUnzhaRivervalley is shown on concrete examples. They illustrate the consequences of the barbaric forest use, reckless industrialization and decline of agriculture. The effect of these phenomena is extended to many territories of the Near North. It is typical for the nature management inRussiafor many years. The most longstanding phenomenon is a predatory forest use and its corollary, the shallowing of rivers. Phenomenon of antienvironmental industrialization acts also for a long time. The main conflicts that shape these phenomena are contradictions between the increase in material well-being of people and the violation of their health as a result of deterioration of the ecological situation. More youthful phenomenon of the destruction and running wild of the traditional rural landscape is conditioned by not so much environmental, how socioeconomic conflicts. A new phenomenon is formed as a consequence of the explicit conflict of environmental and cultural interests of two groups of population – decreasing indigenous peasant population and increasing dachas.