Natural and cultural heritage objects and aesthetically valuable landscapes on the territory of the Vorobyovy gory Nature Reserve in the atlas information system

Abstract

The Vorobyovy Gory Nature Reserve is a specially protected natural area with a unique location near the center of Moscow (6 km from the Kremlin) and configuration in the form of a narrow strip along the Moscow River on the high right bank. In 1998, by decree of the Moscow Government, the territory of the Vorobyovy Gory received the status of a natural reserve of regional significance. Currently, the reserve is experiencing anthropogenic pressure, which intensified with its transfer in 2013 to the free use of the Central Park of Culture and Recreation “Gorky Park”, which sharply changed the vector of use of the territory from environmental to recreational. Compromise solutions are needed, which are possible only if all participants in land use are provided with data on the characteristics of protected areas and on geo-ecological threats to it. All this data can be comprehensively presented in an atlas information system (AIS)—a computerized geographic information system associated with a specific territory or topic, combined with a narrative part where maps play a dominant role. When including a large amount of various non-cartographic information, AIS is classified as multimedia (MAIS), the creation of which has certain prospects for Vorobyovy Gory. Materials on the natural and cultural heritage of the Vorobyovy Gory were collected and the possibility of their inclusion in the AIS was assessed. The data collected, organized and processed during the study of the territory and the compiled map formed the basis of the designed AIS, for which a thematic structure was defined. On the territory of the natural reserve there are many valuable objects of natural and cultural heritage (animals and plants of the Red Book of Moscow, historical and cultural objects, including those of federal significance, associated not only with Moscow, but also with Russian history). Information about valuable natural objects was assessed from the point of view of threats due to recreational impact. It was found that areas with the greatest biodiversity also experience the greatest recreational pressure. Large-scale construction works pose the greatest danger to natural objects. A gestalt assessment of the aesthetic value of the landscapes of the reserve was carried out, and the most valuable of them from the point of view of recreational visitors were identified.