Environment Index

This study presents a series of oil spill indexes for the characterization of physical and biological sensitivity in unsheltered coastal environments. The case study extends over 237 kmof Lithuanian-Russian coastal areas subjected to multiple oil spill threats. Results show that 180 km of shoreline have environmental sensitivity index (ESI) of score 3. Natural clean-up processes depending on (a) shoreline sinuosity, (b) orientation and (c) wave exposure are favourable on 72 km of shoreline. Vulnerability analysis from pre-existing Kravtsovskoye D6 platformoil spill scenarios indicates that 15.1 km of the Curonian Spit have high impact probability. The highest seafloor sensitivity within the 20 m isobath is at the Vistula Spit and Curonian Spit, whereas biological sensitivity is moderate over the entire study area. The paper concludeswith the importance of harmonized datasets andmethodologies for transboundary oil spill impact assessment.

Fires are important but socially and economically unwanted disturbances of the ecosystems. They cannot be considered as a problem, they are global phenomena. Protected areas are created to protect biodiversity, and strict protection is often applied, forgetting that fire had shaped that that we aim to protect. This harsh protection is producing important changes in the protected habitats and is increasing their vulnerability to destructive wildfires. Thus, it is of major interest to incorporate fire management in the protected areas plan, including the (re)use of prescribed fire and traditional burning in order to reintroduce fire regimens, fundamental to the landscape sustainability. This incorporation represents an enormous step in the habitats sustainability. Policies should be more focused on fire prevention than on its suppression.

This study analyses the legal aspects of managing recreational forests in Lithuania. As a case study, it selects the forests under the management of Vilnius town. The paper discusses the division of forests into groups and sub-groups depending on their functional purposes and management objectives, the adaptation of Vilnius town forests to meet the requirements of social, recreational, cultural and ecological needs depending on forest farming intensity. The objective is to examine the balancing act between individual forest functions, which in many instances may be even contradictory: forest utilisation for wood harvesting, forest protection, provision of recreational service, etc. Conclusion is drawn that a single entity could be charged with the task to manage all state forests located in the territory of Vilnius town. The second proposed alternative is to enhance forest policy development and supervision functions within the administration of Vilnius town and then to contract one or several companies for implementation of these policy objectives.

Development of Lithuanian state forestry sector is a subject, examined in this paper. Common management principles and challenges related to decisions on public sector management as well as implementation of such decisions are surveyed. State forest sector management models of European Union states are analysed as well as possibilities to accommodate those models in Lithuania under conditions of globalization and changing market economy. The new state forestry sector management model would make it possible to use state forests more effectively, harmonizing economic, ecological and social functions of forest recourses.

Development trends of the European Union society show that tourism has the highest increase rate. Tourism is an important branch of every country’s economy, because tourism consumption spreads over a large number of goods and services. In the last years development of country tourism in Lithuania has had a strong support from the government as well as the EU funds. The effect of economic variables on forecasting accuracy of guest numbers in Auk taitija National Park is examined using ARMA models. The empirical results show that country tourism has a positive linear trend and the consumer price index can be used as an explanatory variable forecasting country guest number.