Mikhail Sergeyevich Kuznetsov

On the basis of testing various varieties of ecological and economic assessment of lands on the territory of the Russian
Plain, their systematization was carried out both fr om the standpoint of the ratio of profi t and loss associated with
nature management, and the attribution of these varieties to the areas of economic science that diff erently determine
the role of human economic activity in ecological systems.
The predominance in the Russian Federation of those techniques and methods of ecological and economic assessment,
which are associated with the defi nition of damage/ harm from pollution, degradation and cluttering of land plots, is shown. Th e results of the approbation of the «Methodology for determining the extent of damage from
soil and land degradation» (1994) for agricultural farms located in various regions of the Russian Federation — in the Volgograd, Belgorod, Kaliningrad and Penza regions are presented. It has been established that the damage caused to agricultural lands in all the studied regions is due to the low level of agrotechnical measures carried out
here — mainly insuffi cient application of organic and mineral fertilizers, liming of acidic soils (for example, in the
Kaliningrad region) and gypsum of saline soils (in the Volgograd region).
Methods wh ere the comparison of income and losses is carried out (methodology Y. von Braun, adjusting the value
of land based on information about their ecological condition), are the most diffi cult to implement, but the most promising from a practical point of view. The results of the adjustment of the cadastral value of the lands of the Western Administrative District of Moscow based on the calculation of the indicator of loss of ecological quality of soils are presented. In some cases, the decrease in the cadastral value of land plots was 71% compared to the initial value. It has been established that the assessment of environmental damage refers to the direction of «environmental economics», the assessment of ecosystem services of soils and lands, the adjustment of the value of land based on
information about their ecological condition, the assessment of environmental tax/environmental payments, — to
the direction of «ecological economics», the methodology of J. von Braun and the assessment of environmental risks
of pollution, degradation and littering of land — towards the direction of «green economics».

The Department of Erosion and Soil Protection has developed the main scientific directions – «Assessment of ero- sion processes in soils of various bioclimatic zones», «Study of the basics of sustainable land use» and «Ecological and economic assessment of soil and land degradation». It is proposed to develop both existing areas of scientific research with a certain adjustment of their names and problems («Analysis and modeling of erosion processes in soils, including in the context of climate change», «Development of the concept of sustainable land use in the context of food security», «Ecology, economics and socio-demographic features of land use in the context of climate change and soil degradation»), as well as new directions that have some research history at the department — «Development of principles of soil protection», «Development of methodological foundations of land reclamation». The necessity of creating a holistic concept of soil protection is considered in particular detail. This concept should include both the formulation of legal (legislative and regulatory-methodological) principles of soil protection, and the definition of criteria for assessing soils under which their protection can be carried out, and the development of soil protection systems (first of all, from the manifestation of erosion processes) in various bioclimatic and administrative-territorial conditions.