Stativka O. Legal regime of the Nature Reserve Fund as an integral part of the ecological network of Ukraine.

The complex research of legal regime of the Nature Reserve Fund as an integral part of the ecological network of Ukraine has been conducted. The doctrine approaches to concept and essence of the Nature Reserve Fund has been analyzed and the range of issues requiring theoretical interpretation has been outlined. The partial adaptedness to European environmental legislation has been exposed during the research and taking in account of inconsistencies and legal gaps has been pointed out on necessity of amend legislation acts. A special place of the Nature Reserve Fund in the structure of the ecological network has been substantiated and the axiological role for habitats conservation of flora and fauna has been proved. The instruments of improvement of procedural legal means regulation in this sphere has been proposed. The author’s definition of the concept «national ecological network» is formulated as the management strategy that promotes to overcome the fragmentation of protected areas of Ukraine by integrating them into a single territorial system, which, in the inseparable unity of its components, ensures effective conservation of biological and landscape diversity, species of wild flora and fauna, as well as natural habitats, increase of natural resources potential, ensures environmental and sustainable development and composes an integral part of the Pan-European Ecological Network. The current trends of econetwork legal regulation has been described and the proposals of its improvement have been formed. The major role of Nature Reserve Fund for mechanism of formation, conservation and usage of ecological network has been determined. The European legal standards in this sphere has been examined and their classification has been carried out. The criteria and fundamental principles of Emerald network and Natura–2000 formation has been characterized. The expediency of using the design «protection of species of wild flora and fauna» has been substantiated instead of the construct «preservation of the gene pool of animal and plant life». The use of such design will correspond to a number of international documents, to which Ukraine is a party. In order to implement the habitat concept in accordance with Council Directive 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992 on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild flora and fauna into the Ukrainian system of the environmental police there has proposed to unify such a term as natural habitats (growth) because there are different variations of this term in the legislation of Ukraine. In consequence of study it is possible to substantiate a number of proposals to improve the current legislation of Ukraine, in particular: a) balancing of recreational load on the territory of the Nature Reserve Fund as an element of ecological network; b) prevention of unjustified removal of the protected areas and use them exclusively for their purposive appointment; c) improvement of public relations in the field of formation, storage and use of the ecological network in order to implement differentiated and integrated approaches to the concept of the ecological network.