ASSESSING DAMAGES TO ECOSYSTEMS CAUSED BY ARMED CONFLICTS

Abstract

It is well known that healthy ecosystems and biodiversity are fundamental to supporting and maintaining the well-being of people, their communities and their economies. However, the environment is under constant pressure, including armed conflicts. The environmental impact of armed conflicts themselves vary greatly. Assessing the negative impact of armed conflicts on the environment is an important task. The conflict in Ukraine has resulted in environmental damage, including pollution with heavy metals, air pollution, and contamination of water sources, leading to long-term harmful effects on ecosystems and biodiversity. The article analyzes existing international developments and experience in assessing ecosystems. The most common approaches to the monetary valuation of ecosystems in world practice are identified. Scientific approaches to assessing ecosystems in physical terms as a basic element of their economic assessment are considered. In the context of assessing the specific features of ecosystems, the experience of the New South Wales Conservation Fund (Australia) in determining the conservation value of biodiversity is analyzed. The following main components of the assessment of ecosystem losses in physical terms (as a basic element of their economic assessment) from the negative impact of armed conflicts are proposed: ecosystem type, since different types of ecosystems produce different sets of services in different quantities; changes in the extent (data on the extent or area of different ecosystem types, their decrease or increase) and condition (the quality of an ecosystem measured in terms of its abiotic and biotic characteristics – ecosystem’s composition, structure and function, which, in turn, underpin the ecosystem integrity of the ecosystem, and support its capacity to supply ecosystem services on an ongoing basis) of ecosystems; the type of environmental values on the property such as threatened ecological communities; landscape context represents how well-connected habitat is to other surrounding habitat in an area (a measure of the site’s contribution to the conservation values in the broader surrounding landscape).