2026 Issue №3

The Yantarny Urban District occupies a distinctive position within the tourism cluster of the Kaliningrad Region. The key features of the area include extensive and well-maintained beaches along the Baltic Sea coast, a unique arboretum, a number of historical buildings and museums, as well as an amber mining and processing plant extracting the semi-precious gemstone amber by open-pit mining. One of the major challenges remains the geographical location of the district, which is accessible only by regional roads frequently congested during the tourist season; the railway connection that existed until the 1990s has been discontinued. There is a pressing need to develop a concept for improving transport accessibility in order to increase the popularity of the beaches and tourist attractions of the Yantarny Urban District among both tourists and local residents, as well as to enhance the investment attractiveness of the construction and development of accommodation facilities in the area. The authors have developed alternative, faster bus routes connecting popular tourist resort towns, including Yantarny. They propose branded express bus services operating from the resort towns of Svetlogorsk and Zelenogradsk, featuring increased service frequency. For the first time, a scientifically grounded solution to the problem of transport accessibility to the Yantarny Urban District is proposed through passenger transportation based on a unified coordinated timetable involving two or more modes of transport. The proposed innovations will optimize the organization of the tourist space and may also be applied to other coastal areas facing similar challenges.

The article analyzes the influence of capital-adjacent location on the socio-economic development of territories. The aim of the study is to identify the nature of this influence, which manifests itself both in stimulating economic growth and in generating social disparities. The study employs a comparative methodology based on the analysis of statistical indicators of capital-adjacent regions and their respective capital cities. The findings confirm that proximity to the capital provides access to agglomeration advantages, as reflected in higher macroeconomic indicators, including average wage levels and gross regional product per capita, as well as in a more adaptive economic structure. It has been established that capital-adjacent regions exhibit increasing specialization in trade, services, and manufacturing industries. At the same time, the study reveals that this development is accompanied by the intensification of social problems, including an overheated real estate market characterized by inflated property prices, growing social inequality, lagging infrastructure development, increasing commuter migration, and mounting demographic pressures. The article emphasizes the dual and non-linear nature of the development of capital-adjacent territories, arguing that addressing the identified challenges requires targeted public policies aimed at economic diversification and infrastructure development in these regions.

The river network of the Kaliningrad Region, located in a zone of excessive moisture, is predominantly composed of small watercourses, among which the Prokhladnaya River is one. The river is subject to the full range of anthropogenic impacts typical of the region, the most significant of which is agricultural activity. The river’s chemical runoff exerts a considerable influence on the ecosystem of the Kaliningrad Lagoon. Previous studies of the Prokhladnaya River have been fragmentary and sporadic. For the first time, an analysis of the river’s chemical pollution has been carried out on the basis of systematic monitoring that meets spatial coverage criteria. The aim of the study is to identify the spatial differentiation of chemical pollution and to assess the water quality of the Prokhladnaya River on the basis of chemical analyses of water samples collected during the spring hydrological season of 2025. The calculation of the integrated Water Pollution Index demonstrated that water quality varies from the “clean” to the “polluted” category. Polluted waters were recorded in the upper reaches of the river, where oxygen deficiency and exceedances of the standards for chemical oxygen demand, ammonium, and iron were observed. In the middle reaches, the water was classified as “moderately polluted” and “clean.” In the river mouth area, the water again fell into the “moderately polluted” category, although close to the lower threshold of this class, with exceedances in nitrite concentrations and elevated sodium levels. The principal contributors to the pollution of the watercourse are high and elevated values of chemical oxygen demand, iron, biochemical oxygen demand, and, in isolated cases, nitrites, as well as low concentrations of dissolved oxygen in the water. Exceedances of the maximum permissible concentrations for these parameters are attributable to the combined influence of natural and anthropogenic factors.

An assessment of the degree of recreational degradation of natural complexes was carried out in the Vishtynetsky National Park within the area of three proposed ecological trails: Protochnoye Lake, Three Pines, and Marinovo Lake. The methodological framework of the study was based on the stage-based assessment method for the recreational degradation of forest biogeocenoses developed by N. S. Kazanskaya and co-authors, adapted for linear features, as well as the method for assessing informal access trails proposed by A. S. Kuznetsova and E. A. Biktasheva. Field surveys conducted in August 2025 included route-based inspections with profiling of buffer zones and an inventory of informal access trails. The results showed that natural complexes along the Protochnoye Lake trail correspond to Stages I—II of recreational degradation, with Stage I (background conditions) predominating; two informal access trails with a Level II degree of disturbance were recorded. Along the Three Pines trail, the degree of recreational degradation corresponds to Stages I—III, and two informal access trails with Level II—III disturbance were identified. Along the Marinovo Lake trail, Stage I of recreational degradation predominates, while Stage II is confined to the hiking trail; Stage III was recorded locally in the vicinity of visitor attractions, along informal access trails leading to the lake, and at motorcycle access points. A total of six informal access trails were documented, three of which (leading to the lake and extending along the forest road) correspond to Level III disturbance, while the remaining three (motorcycle access points) correspond to Level IV disturbance. Based on the findings, differentiated recommendations were developed for trail infrastructure improvement and recreational load management aimed at conserving the natural complexes.

Against the backdrop of intensifying climate change and increasing anthropogenic pressure on ecosystems, nature-based solutions have become an essential instrument for sustainable development and climate change adaptation. Nevertheless, the existing methodological approa­ches to the selection and implementation of nature-based solutions are often fragmented and insufficiently account for the long-term effects of their implementation, as well as for regional ecosystem characteristics and the socio-economic context. The study proposes a methodology for the selection and justification of nature-based solutions for the agricultural sector, taking regional specificities into account and comprising eight sequential stages. The proposed me­thodology will enable stakeholders to analyze ecosystem characteristics, plan the implementation of nature-based solutions for climate change adaptation in specific agricultural areas, and contribute to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.

The article presents a review and analysis of publications in the state-owned mass media of the Republic of Belarus devoted to various aspects of ecology, environmental protection, and sustainable development published between 2021 and 2025. In addition to statistical data on publications addressing individual issues, the study provides a qualitative analysis of the article texts. The priorities set forth in the National Strategy for Sustainable Development of the Republic of Belarus, the country’s development plan, the Constitution, and the laws of the Republic of Belarus are compared with the thematic focus and the nature of the information disseminated by the Belarusian Telegraph Agency (BelTA), as well as by national and regional state-owned print media

The study investigated the effect of a polysaccharide isolated from the fruiting bodies of the oyster mushroom (Pleurotus ostreatus P-88) on the rhizogenesis of peach cuttings of two cultivars, Yubileiny Ranniy and Novoselkovsky. The aim of the study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the polysaccharide as a root formation regulator under different application methods. The results demonstrated that the polysaccharide exerted a pronounced stimulatory effect on root system development, with the greatest effect observed when it was applied in combination with indole-3-butyric acid (IBA). The highest rooting rates in both cultivars were achieved following treatment with a solution containing both the polysaccharide and indole-3-butyric acid, whereas the application of a polysaccharide-based film coating in combination with an indole-3-butyric acid solution also produced high, although slightly lower, rooting performance. The combined application of the polysaccharide and indole-3-butyric acid promoted callus formation and reduced the incidence of planting material decay.

The cultivation area of clary sage (Salvia sclarea L.), a promising essential oil crop, has been steadily expanding in Crimea. However, its resource potential as a source of sugars for melittophilous insects remains insufficiently studied. The present study aims to address this research gap. Nectar production in flowers located in different parts of the plant, as well as the effect of individual plant variability, was assessed using a well-established nectar extraction method based on glass microcapillaries. The results demonstrated that flowers in the upper part of the plant accumulated a statistically significantly greater volume of nectar, while the contribution of individual plant variability accounted for 8.9 % of the total variation. Nectar volume was measured at two-hour intervals over a complete 24-hour period. At most sampling times, the distribution of this variable was close to normal, both at the beginning and in the middle of the flowering period. The diurnal dynamics of nectar sugar concentration were determined by refractometry. Statistically significant negative correlations and regression relationships were established between the trends in nectar sugar concentration and nectar volume. The mean sugar production per flower was estimated at 0.82 ± 0.14 mg within a 95 % confidence interval. Based on the data obtained in this study on the amount of sugars produced per flower, together with additional biological parameters, the potential honey productivity of clary sage plantations was estimated to range from 65 to 328 kg/ha per season.