Comparison of municipalities within whose borders specially protected natural areas are located

Abstract

Purpose: is to present and to substantiate methodological approaches to comparing the municipalities by income, taking into account the specially protected natural areas (SPNA) located on them.Methods: the clustering method (k-means) is used to differentiate municipalities within groups built according to the SPNAs network scale. The method of full-time formalized interviews is used to compare the tourists` expenses at the SPNA of urban districts. The comparative analysis method is used to compare the economic parameters of municipalities involved in the overall ecotourism project.Results: the authors proposed three methodological approaches to comparing municipalities based on the income of local residents and the municipality as a whole. Within the first approach, characteristics of groups of municipalities formed according to the share of SPNA`s area in the area of the municipality were obtained. The group with the weakest position in terms of budget self-sufficiency is «10.1%– 15.0%», in terms of population changes – «15.1%–20.0%», in terms of residents` income level – «20.1%–30.0%». The second approach made it possible to estimate the income of urban districts from SPNA visits. Under the level of SPNA attendance and the number of tourists, the annual volume of tourist spending on SPNA ranges from 0.1 billion up to 0.5 billion rubles. The comparison of municipalities connected by a single project on SPNA revealed the data on the small businesses development and territory`s tax revenues, as well as the features in the local residents` income level changes.Conclusions and Relevance: the obtained characteristics of groups of municipalities indicate insufficient use of the potential of SPNA to generate income for the local residents (group «20.1%–30.0%») and income for the territory (group «10.1%–15.0%»). Urban districts` SPNA tourist visits can provide a significant revenue base for the municipality, but its volume is not always determined by the SPNA network scale. The development of eco-tourism in rural municipalities makes it possible to reduce the crisis periods` impact on the local budget filling and residents` income.