Tourism is the key factor of human presence in the Arctic region. The number of tourist visits has been growing extensively since the end of XX century. The Arctic region is not regarded only as prospective region for oil and gas industry but now it is also recognized as the region with high potential for tourism development. The research is dedicated to the assessment of the spatial distribution of human presence within the Arctic region on the basis of statistical analysis of population and tourist visits in different parts of the Arctic. Taking into account the uncertainty of regional Arctic borders definition, which are commonly determined in accordance with given purposes and tasks, we assessed the population and tourist visits for the Arctic Zone of the Russian Federation as administrative union as well as for the Arctic region as physic-geographical region.

The growing number of tourists in the Arctic region influences future development prospects of the region. In 2017 the Arctic region with population of 4.3 million people was visited by 10.2 million tourist. While the favorable environmental conditions of Arctic ecosystems exist, the Arctic region should be considered as the source of nature resources for tourism and various recreational activities. Modern technologies enable the development of travel industry in the region, and therefore the industrial paradigm of “conquer” and “utilization” should be replaced with the axiological paradigm of “Arctic beauty” and recreational resource value.

The model of regional economic development in the Lipetsk region based on the allocation of industry and agriculture production in Special Economic Zones has shown its effectiveness for the development of the whole region. However, this model was helpless to introduce any significant breakthrough changes in the structure of the economy. Currently there has been an attempt to apply the same allocation model to tourism segment objects. It is shown that tourist entities unlike industrial and agricultural have different development imperatives. The main condition for the successful formation and functioning of tourist objects on a territory is their interconnected interaction within a tourist cluster. A tourist cluster can not be created at the only site. Tourist objects of a tourist cluster must be distributed according to tourist destinations and integrated through a well-developed infrastructure in a single functional system. When applying the special economic zone model to a territory it is necessary to make adaptations in accordance to the specifics of the allocated objects. The conclusion is that the application of the same management model for different economy segments needs adjustment. It is also important to distinguish a “Cluster” which is a geographic concentration of interconnected companies and a “Special Economic Zone” which is a territory with economic preferences.

In this paper we suggest a formula to evaluate the recreational possibilities of natural recreational systems (NRS). The formula depends on economic activity, accessibility, climate, relief and landscape attraction of unsettled territories. Unsettled territories are consisted with unpopulated areals with different scales and at the most remote points from any infrastructure, the center of unpopulated areals are situated. The aggregate of these unpopulated areas constitutes a natural recreational system - a natural area slightly modified by human economic activities in which recreation can be still carried out.

The formula will allow choosing natural fit territories to develop recreational and tourist activities and create protected natural areas. Evaluation of the Perm region natural recreational system was conducted with the help of this formula. As a result, a map of the Perm region was portrayed on which there are some separate sections of similar NRS qualities. Most part of the region (48%) is at the average level of NRS quality. Only the north-eastern and a few particular sites on hills not affected by economic activities, are up to a high quality level (5%). None of the Perm region reaches the maximum score, due to climate severity and inability to fully use the territory for touristic activities throughout the whole year.

The article endeavours to identify and characterise selected national associations of municipalities across Europe, as well as to provide typical models of municipalities being associated into large groups representing their interests in relations with central government. A study that addressed 26 European countries has helped identify four principal organisational models of associations of local structures. These are as follows: (1) the consolidated model (existing in Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden), (2) the bipolar model (in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Estonia, Italy, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Switzerland), (3) the federative model (in Austria, Belgium, Germany, Spain), and (4) the fragmented model (to be found in France, United Kingdom, Poland, Hungary, and Romania).

In the Himalaya diversity of plant species is very rich in length and breadth of its spatial extent. Study area forms a part of the Central Himalaya where altitude is varying in between 1940m to 2615m. Changing slope aspect and altitude (microclimate) have a close bearing on the distribution of species. Distribution of plant species was identified with the help of quick bird data with detailed goundtruth verification. Whereas, habitat characteristics i.e. altitude and slope aspect are identified using Survey of India topographical map. Finally, the analysis and interpretation part is carried out with the help of GIS software. Study reflects that Cupressus torulusais found above 2190m concentrating in the southern and south eastern slope aspect areas only. However, presence of Quercus Leucotricophorais found everywhere without having any control of altitude and slope aspect. Earlier workers reported that picea smithian (Spruce) growth is limited from 2400m to 3600m. In the Himalayan region but in the study area we found its natural growth in the height of 2005m.

According to the the biome concept, the idea of the orobiome and its significance in the evaluation of the biodiversity for mountain territories are disclosed. Altitudinal gradients of vegetation with certain altitudinal limits of development are the basis for analysing the floristic and coenotic diversity of the orobiome and the ecological and geographical patterns of its spatial organization at the regional level. Based on the example from Kodar-Kalar orobiome, an altitudinal composition of the vegetation of the Northern Transbaikalia has been identified using thematic maps. The statistical evaluation of the altitudinal distribution of 4 vegetation belts (the upper tundra belt, the tundra belt, the sub-tundra belt and the mountain taiga belt) has been made. The regional features of the altitude position of the basic vegetation types forming the belts have been determined for the orobiome. They are reflected in three geographical variants. Orographic conditions and the history of the territory development have been discussed in the analysis of regional features of altitudinal spectra difference.

Through a prospective study, structural issues that move Amazonia’s ecological and cultural complexity and its internationalization are analyzed in this article. Its predatory development in a global context permeated by sustainability is presented. It shows that capitalism has no heuristic reach to economically exploit Amazonia preserving its biomes. It prioritizes issues such as: What are the political foundations that permeate Amazonia’s global economic insertion? What are its links with the scientific and technological processes imbricated in worldwide environmentalism? Many proposals and uncertainties concerning Amazonia’s ecological issues are presented. The environmental and social impacts of the large socioeconomic development projects implemented in the region are shown. Technical elements to clarify the sustainability concept and its correlation with the development of Amazonia are presented and analyzed. Amazonia’s importance for the future of Brazil and the mankind, and the controversies on political and economic issues that impede its economic development are also discussed.