Poljanskaya C. Landscapes of Desna river valley as environment and objects for conservation of nature

The river valleys still remain and continue to be the major geospatial assemblies of regional and local, and geologically componential, geo-factor, geomatics, biotic, and complex landscape manifestations of nature. River valleys require a wide range of research focused on landscapes and other historical and natural scientific aspects, that is, manifold interdisciplinary studies of environmental, social sciences and humanities. The purpose of such research is a comprehensive scientific rationale of landscape conservation, especially through finding ways of harmonious coexistence of man and nature in modern anthropogenically changed, or, in fewer cases, in industrial cultural environment. General preconditions for this dissertation research were accelerating reduction of natural landscapes areas in Ukraine, and significant percentage of anthropogenically modified and converted areas. Also, it becomes more and more difficult to create nature conservation objects that are valuable landscape-wise, in particular in Desna River valley which possesses a rarely preserved nature. The study of both ancient and modern nature of Desna River valley landscapes is important to preserve their current diversity and valuable properties. Logical line of reasoning here is as follows: from determination of past characteristics of object landscapes to understanding their current, human-impacted state; from ascertainment of history of Desna River landscapes' formation, and subsequent disclosure of their genesis and development, factors and processes of human impact on nature to landscape studies and humanistic scientific substantiation of optimal ways to restore, protect and preserve nature.