ABSTRACT
Land-use structure is the result of interactions between nature and society over a long period of history. Therefore land-use changes reflect not only different phases of social, economic, and political development at all regional levels, but also environmental changes in different landscapes. Thus, land-use investigation is an analysis of the given state of environmental health and socioeconomic stage of development both in natural and socioeconomic spheres. A knowledge of historical and dynamic land use and land cover is essential for environmentally and economically sustainable management and exploitation of landscapes. This also applies to biosphere reserves that are cornerstones of sustainable development at all regional levels.
