Object: process of formation of the system of recreational nature use on rural areas of Ukraine; goal: developing and substantiating theoretical and methodological principles of forming a system of sustainable recreational nature use on rural areas of Ukraine; methods: systemic and structural analysis, synthesis, induction, comparing, generalization, grouping, economic and mathematical modeling and forecasting, graphical, cartographic, mathematical, statistical analysis, correlation, regression, cluster analysis; novelty: multilevel algorithm for the integrated classification of rural areas has been developed; relation between conceptions of the sustainable recreational nature use with socio-ecological imperatives and the paradigm is proved; methodological principles of step-by-step organization of the system of recreational nature use are substantiated; theoretical approach to define content, structure and functions of recreational nature use, system of criteria and indicators to form recreational potential of regions and the sustainable recreation-and-tourism sector, methodical approach to assessment of the sector’s functioning and green rural tourism, and mathematical gravity model of recreational migration have been improved; methodological approaches to forecast the development of recreation-and-tourism sector, conceptual validation a rural territory is of high importance for recreational nature use, strategic priorities and practical recommendations for organization of sustainable recreational use of natural resources on rural areas have been advanced; results: content, structure, and functions of recreational nature use and its relation to recreational activities have been defined; recreation-and-tourism potential of the territories is estimated, and the system of target criteria and indicators of its sustainable use is presented; national and foreign policy on rural areas’ development have been analyzed, and their complex classification has been elaborated according to indicators of socio-economic development and natural recreational potential; assessment of provision with recreational resources and forecast of the recreation-and-tourism sector by Ukraine’s regions are applied; gravity mathematical model of estimation of recreational attractiveness of different types of territories has been improved; the concept of sustainable recreational nature use is extended and the mechanism of its elaboration on the example of rural territories is presented; practical recommendations to organization of sustainable recreational use of natural resources on rural areas in current situation are proposed; introduction into economic practice: key results of the thesis were applied in work of Public institution "Institute of Economics of Natural Resources Use and the Sustainable Development of National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine", Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine, National Science Center "Institute of Agrarian Economics", Union of Economists of Ukraine, Mykolayiv Charity Fund for development and support of communities’ initiatives, Union of landowners "Semenivska Goduvalnytsia", and higher educational institutions.
