Historical aspect of environmental thinking and steppe forestry
Authors: Mytsyk L. P. , Yakovenko V. M. , Lisovets O. I. 
Published: February 2020

Positive and negative actions of man in relation to the environment didn’t appear suddenly. They are based on historical or rather genetic conditioning. Therefore, in order to understand the causes of certain processes or specific actions and formulate the right strategy for the sustainable development of mankind, you need to look into the past, trace the evolution of its relationship with the environment, understand the motivation for the corresponding behavior at different stages of the formation of society. Speaking about Ukraine, we note that already at the time of the Zaporizhzhya Troops they began not only to command landscape units, but also to restore their natural state. There is authoritative evidence that «in the famous Zaporizhzhya Sich» «steppe afforestation» was already practiced, for which, by special order («special orders were issued»), seedlings of forest plants were even grown and there was already a definite system of plantations for «forest and fruit trees». After the liquidation of the Zaporizhzhya Sich, secret distribution of land to private individuals began. Further, the all-encompassing plowing of the steppe, the destruction of forests and shrubs (the latter under the common name «blackthorns» in places rose up to the watersheds). The consequences of managing with the almost complete destruction of the natural state of the land manifested itself very quickly: low groundwater began, and hence the depletion of springs, dried up steppes and rivers. The first attempts to resist the above changes in the landscapes of Stepnaya Ukraine were intuitive. I.A. Danilevsky in 1804 p. over Siversky Donets planted more than 1000 acres of pine. The invention of world significance was the idea of creating forest belts V.Ya. Lomikovsky: in 1809 p. he planted their fields with them (Mirgorod district) and had stable and high yields. Since 1831 p. in the Katerinoslav province, the sands began to be fastened with shrubs of the shelva (acutifoliate willow) along the Volcha river. In 1843 p. the first steppe state forestry in the Russian Empire was founded (the village of Velikoanadol), and near the village of Velikomikhaylovka (the modern Pokrovsky district of the Dnipropetrovsk region) in 1858 Dibrivskoye lesnichestvo was founded. Despite these and other positive phenomena, in the 19th century they continued to destroy forests and plow up still untouched pieces of steppe or meadows. The result was massive soil erosion, the extreme manifestations of which are the formation of ravines, black storms and a number of lean years. The worst crop failure in the 19th century happened in 1891, covering the entire steppe zone of the Russian Empire. Only after that, the government allocated money for scientific research that could solve existing problems. Created expedition led by V.V. Dokuchaev, visiting the steppe regions, proposed a number of appropriate measures. But even after this change for the better did not occur immediately. In 1933 p. A.L. Belgard founded the Department of Geobotany at Dnepropetrovsk State University (DSU). The main motive for its creation is the development of a theoretical base for forest growing in the steppe zone. Later, for the same purpose, he founded the comprehensive expedition of the Dagestan State University, which covered with its research the space from the north of the Dnipropetrovsk region to the Kherson region and from the Rostov region to Moldova. However, it should be noted that the expedition as V.V. Dokuchaev and A.L. Belgard, their efforts were directed not only to the woody, but also to the grassy component of the medium. The recommendations of the first of them mention, among other things, the need to «use grassy vegetation for snow retention and erosion control» of the soil. A.L. Belgarde, exploring the steppe forests from different angles, also paid constant attention to grassy groups, urging to save the steppe virgin lands from further plowing. Immunity is also necessary because, he stressed, some species have found their ecological niche in this way. By destroying it, such taxa can be lost. Untouched steppe or meadow plots with undisturbed turf are a natural standard and model for recreation. Therefore, environmental stabilization of the environment is not possible without the presence of steppe plant groups. If not ideal, then the best option for the country’s landscape design should include nature reserves (such as Khomutovskaya Steppe or Askania-Nova), located uniformly 1-2 or more in the administrative region, but united by a dense network of tree, shrub and grass systems which do not open wide and directly contact with other untouchable areas (national parks, state reserves, natural monuments, «mini-reserves» of local subordination, etc.). Given the continuous plowing of zonal open spaces, to create new reserves it is necessary to remove the territory from agricultural use, as is already done on the island of Khortytsya (Zaporizhzhia). At the same time, it is necessary to recreate the steppe vegetation, taking into account the methods and experience already tested and successfully applied in Ukraine in the Donetsk Botanical Garden, the Steppe Department of the Nikitsky Botanical Garden and in Askania Nova. Hence, considering historical achievements in the field of nature conservation in Ukraine, it can be argued that in the 21st century, society entered, despite the well-known collisions, sufficiently prepared for further progress in relation to the environment, probably not least because of the genetically inherited the specifics of perception of reality of the natural environment.