Assessment of the state and prospects of ecological tourism within the territory of the Kabardino-Balkar high-mountain reserve

Ecotourism in specially protected natural areas (SPNA) located in the mountains seems very promising due to their natural diversity and aesthetic attraction power. While planning ecological routes in such places, it is necessary to take into account the functioning of natural mountain landscapes, the priority of their environmental role and the combination of tourism with traditional types of environmental management. There are 16 protected areas in the mountainous part of the Northern Caucasus; each of them faces the task of both nature conservation and the development of sustainable tourism, which is the most effective in the form of ecotourism. The Kabardino-Balkar State High Mountain Reserve is among the most typical ones and has high potential for the development of ecological tourism. Three ecological and tourist areas were identified within the reserve, differing in natural conditions, landscape diversity and area, number and value of cultural-historical objects, touristic attractiveness and the quality of recreation infrastructure. The western Chereksky section, bordering North Ossetia, is the most promising for the development of ecological tourism and the construction of ecological trails. Five ecological routes are proposed for it, namely along the Karasu river valley, along the L’kezi river valley, to the Lekhanovtsek Mount, to the Krivosivtsek Pass and to the ancient outpost of Karaul-Kala. Four of them are one-day trips for moderately prepared tourists and one is a three-day trip for well-prepared tourists, accompanied by an instructor. Each route involves demonstrating altitudinal zones, natural monuments, the effects of hazardous natural processes and traditional environmental management; they also have good landscape viewing points. To preserve the ecological potential of the territory, it is necessary to control grazing, recreation and tourism. Reasoning of specific indicators and their quantitative values is a primary practical task that can be solved by systematizing empirical data on the impact of tourism on the natural landscapes.

1. Aseres S.A., Sira R.K. Ecotourism development in Ethiopia: Costs and benefits for protected area conservation, Journal of Ecotourism, 2021, vol. 20, no. 3, p. 224–249, DOI: 10.1080/14724049.2020.1857390

2. Baryshnikov A.P. Perspectiva [Perspective], Moscow, Iskusstvo Publ., 1955. 200 p. (In Russian)

3. Beaumont N. The third criterion of ecotourism: are ecotourists more concerned about sustainability than other tourists? Journal of Ecotourism, 2011, vol. 10, no. 2, p. 135–148, URL: https://doi.org/10.1080/14724049.2011.555554.

4. Borisova M.V. Motivy vybora mesta otdykha v vysokogornykh i srednegornykh landshaftakh Zapadnogo Kavkaza (na primere verkhov’ya Kubani) [Motives for choosing a vacation spot in the high-mountain and mid-mountain landscapes of the Western Caucasus (case study of the upper reaches of the Kuban River)], Nauka. Innovatsii. Tekhnologii, 2013, no. 3, p. 85–90. (In Russian)

5. Campbell L.M. Ecotourism in rural developing communities, Annals of Tourism Research, 1999, vol. 26, no. 3, p. 534–553, URL: https://doi.org/10.1016/S01607383(99)00005-5.

6. Carrier J.G., MacLeod D.V.L. Bursting the bubble: The sociocultural context of ecotourism, Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, 2005, vol. 11, no. 2, p. 315–334.

7. Ekologicheskiy turizm na puti v Rossiyu [Ecological tourism on the way to Russia], Tula, Grif and K° Publ., 2002, 284 p. (In Russian)

8. Gratzer G., Keeton W.S. Mountain Forests and Sustainable Development: The Potential for Achieving the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda, Mountain Research and Development, 2017, vol. 37, iss. 3, p. 246–253.

9. Gunya A., Gairabekov U., Karaev Y. et al. Post-Soviet Transformations in Pastoral Systems in the North Caucasus: The Development of Hybrid Institutions, Mountain Research and Development, 2019, no. 39(4), p. 49–59, DOI: 10.1659/MRD-JOURNAL-D-20-00047.1.

10. Gunya A., Lysenko A., Lysenko I. et al. Transformation of Nature Protection Institutions in the North Caucasus: From a State Monopoly of Governance to Multi-Actor Management, Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, no. 2, p. 12145, DOI: 10.3390/su132112145.

11. Karachayevsko-Balkarskiy fol’klor. Khrestomatiya [Karachay-Balkar folklore. Reader], T.M. Khadzhieva (comp.), Nal’chik, El-Fa Publ., 1996, 592 p. (in Karachay-Balkar)

12. Karavaev V.A., Voskova A.V., Gunya A.N., Bulanov S.A. [Ecological tourism in the Kabardino-Balkarian high-mountain reserve], Materialy Vserossiyskoy nauchno-prakticheskoy konferentsii “Ekologicheskiy turizm: sovremennyye vektory razvitiya” [Materials of the All Russian scientific and practical conference “Ecological tourism: modern vectors of development”], Ekaterinburg, April 26–29, 2022, Ekaterinburg, Ural state pedagogical Universitet Publ., 2022, p. 98–103. (In Russian)

13. Karavayev V.A., Fedin A.V., Seminozhenko S.S. Novyytsikl opasnykh protsessov v vysokogor’ye Tsentral’nogo Kavkaza [A new cycle of hazardous processes in the highlands of the Central Caucasus], Life of the Earth, 2020, vol. 42, no. 2, p. 136–142. (In Russian)

14. Mondino E., Beery T. Ecotourism as a learning tool for sustainable development. The case of Monviso Transboundary Biosphere Reserve, Italy, Journal of Ecotourism, 2018, vol. 18, no. 2, p. 107–121.

15. Plotnikova V.S., Vasilyeva A.V. Rekreatsionnaya yomkost kak organizatsionno-ekonomichesky instrument razvitija turizma na osobo okhranyayemyh prirodnyh territorijah [Recreational capacity as an organizational and economic tool for the development of ecological tourism in a specially protected natural area], Economicheskie otnoshenija, 2019, vol. 9, no. 3, p. 2191–2202. DOI: 10.18334/ eo.9.3.40950. (In Russian)

16. Ramírez F., Santana J. Environmental Education and Ecotourism, Cham, Springer International Publ., 2019, 59 p., DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-01968-6.

17. Sanjay K. Nepal. Mountain Ecotourism and Sustainable Development, Mountain Research and Development, 2022, vol. 22, iss. 2, p. 104–109.

18. Shil’nikov D.S., Liksakova N.S., Doroshina G.Y.A., Shchukina K.V. Flora i rastitel’nost’ torfyanogo bolota Kashirty (Tsentral’nyy Kavkaz) [Flora and vegetation of the Kashirty peat bog (Central Caucasus)], Ekosistemy: ekologiya i dinamika, 2021, vol. 5, no. 4, p. 58–77. (In Russian)

19. Suprunenko Yu.P. Gory zovut… [The mountains are calling...], Moscow, Trovant Publ., 2003, 368 p. (In Russian)

20. Tsepilova Ye.S., Ayrapetyan V.G. Razvitiye ekologicheskogo turizma v Sochinskoy destinatsii v 2022 godu – munitsipal’nyy god ekologii [Development of ecological tourism in the Sochi destination in 2022 – the municipal year of ecology], Servis v Rossii i za rubezhom, 2022, vol. 16, no. 3(100), p. 89–100, DOI: 10.24412/1995-042X-2022-3-89-100. (In Russian)

21. Voskova A.V., Gunya A.N., Karavaev V.A., Maryinskikh D.M. Zemlepol’zovaniye i vozmozhnosti regulirovaniya antropogennoy nagruzki na gornyye landshafty Severnogo makrosklona Bol’shogo Kavkaza (na primere doliny r. Karasu) [Land use and possibilities for regulating anthropogenic load on mountain landscapes of the Northern macroslope of the Greater Caucasus (case study of the Karasu River valley)], Ustoychivoye razvitiye gornykh territoriy, 2021, vol. 13, no. 1(47), p. 16–24. (In Russian)

22. Vysokogornyye perevaly [High mountain passes], L.B. Director (comp.), Moscow, Profizdat Publ., 1990, 576 p. (In Russian)

23. Web sources

24. Bolee 490 tysyach turistov posetilo Teberdinskii zapovednik [More than 490 thousand tourists visited the Teberda Reserve], URL: https://countryscanner.ru/490-tysyach-turistov-posetilo-teberdinskiy-zapovednik/ (date of access 20.03.2024).

25. Chislo posetitelei Kavkazskogo zapovednika v 2022 godu prevysilo rekord 2021 goda [The number of visitors to the Caucasian Reserve in 2022 exceeded the record of 2021], URL: https://www.kavkazzapoved.ru/ news/chislo-posetiteley-kavkazskogo-zapovednika-v-2022-godu-prevysilo-rekord-2021-goda (date of access 11.03.2024).

26. Ekoturizm v Rossii vyiros na 40%. Kakiye regiony, zapovedniki i natsparki Rossii voshli v TOP-10 v 2022 godu? [Ecotourism in Russia has grown by 40%. Which regions, nature reserves and national parks of Russia are included in the TOP 10 in 2022?], URL: https://www.atorus.ru/ node/50962 (date of access 23.03.2024).

27. Federal’nyi zakon “Ob osobo okhranyayemykh prirodnykh territoriyakh” ot 14.03.1995 № 33-FZ [Federal Law “On Specially Protected Natural Areas” dated March 14, 1995 no. 33-FZ], URL: https://www.consultant.ru/document/ cons_doc_LAW_6072/ (date of access 14.12.2023).

28. GOST R 56642-2015. Ekologicheskiy turizm [Ecological tourism. General requirements], URL: https://docs.cntd. ru/document/1200124943/ (date of access 28.08.2023).

29. Gosudarstvennyi zapovednik “Utrish” [State Reserve “Utrish”], URL: https://utrishgpz.ru/docs (date of access 11.03.2024). Gosudarstvennyi zapovednik Dagestanskii [Dagestan State Reserve], URL: https://dagzapoved.ru/ (date of access 01.04.2024).

30. Kabardino-Balkarskyi vysokogornyi gosudarstvennyi zapovednik [Kabardino-Balkarian High Mountain State Reserve], URL: https://zapovednik-kbr.ru/ (date of access 01.04.2024).

31. Ministerstvo prirodnyih resursov Rossiiskoi Federatsii nazvalo samuie populiarnuie natsionalnuie parki i zapovedniki v 2023 godu [The Ministry of Natural Resources of the Russian Federation has named the most popular national parks and reserves in 2023], URL: https://otr-on-line.ru/news/minprirody-rf-nazvalo-samye-populyarnye-nacparki-i-zapovedniki-2023-goda-227620.html (date of access 23.03.2024).

32. Osobo okhranyayemyye prirodnyye territorii i ob’yekty Rossii (OOPT) [Specially nature protection areas and ob jects of Russia (SNPA)], URL: https://www.mnr.gov.ru/ activity/oopt/ (date of access 21.12.2023). (In Russian)

33. Teberdinskiy natsional’nyi park [Teberda National Park], URL: https://tgpbz.ru/ (date of access 01.04.2024).

34. Zapovednaia Osetia – Alania [Zapovednaya Ossetia – Alania], URL: https://alaniazapoved.ru/ (date of access 01.04.2024).