Integral Assessment of Anthropogenic Impact on the Baikal Natural Territory: Methodological Approaches and Typology of Municipal Units

Abstract

The article developed an algorithm for the integral assessment of anthropogenic impact (AI) with spatial discreteness for municipalities of the Baikal Natural Territory (BNT). It includes 21 normalized indicators for the 2014–2020 period, aggregated into 7 sub-indices (impact on the atmosphere, water, forest resources, agricultural impact, solid waste, disturbed lands and objects of accumulated harm, as well as background impact). To determine the weight of the indicators, a survey was conducted of experts representing the scientific community (specialists in the field of integrated assessments of certain types of impacts or in the field of environmental problems of the BNT), the expert community (leading rating agencies) and representatives of the environmental management system of the regions included in the BNT. The integral indicator made it possible to build a rating of municipalities and identify key factors in the formation of the environmental situation. According to the integral index, five types of territories are identified, subtypes are distinguished by the nature of the impact on the environment. A high level of AI is typical for large cities and localities of enterprises, especially mining, in which a full set of load components operates. The increased level is observed in cities, suburban municipalities with a high burden from the vital activity of the population, as well as in large agricultural areas with a developed extractive industry. The average level of AI is typical for a small number of rural areas and small towns due to the load from agriculture and forestry. The reduced level of impact is formed mainly in semi-peripheral areas, where the load on forest resources plays a special role, and some suburban areas with more developed agriculture. A low level of AI is typical for peripheral, sparsely populated municipal units with a noticeable proportion of pollution from heating oil in residential housing. For BNT, a special role in the formation of the ecological situation is played by large tracts of disturbed land, high volumes of solid waste generation and objects of accumulated damage left over from the period of Soviet industrialization.