Novelty Position of European Chestnut Forests in Russia (Western Caucasus) and Perspective of Their Protection and Sustainable Development

Most part of forests accessible for exploitation were undergoing clear or selecting cutting with heavy tractors being used as transport. Similar pressing has negative consequences for chestnut: development in essential size of chestnut illness, especially blight by infection of Cryphonectria parasitica. During about 40 years of work in the region and receiving new results and analyzing research on chestnut forests and empirical generalization some natural regularity of the dynamic of forest native stands and experience of chestnut culture are obtained. The most interesting results of analysis of more than 50 sample plots (net of monitoring) on a common area about 45,000 ha of Russian Western Caucasus (in Krasnodar region and Republic Adygeia) are: 1) unique biodiversity as much more forest types chestnut formation and number of species of different plants, animals and mushrooms in either of them; 2) new population genetics analysis of chestnut population and determination most sustainable from them on parameters of productivity (nuts and woods) and tolerance against illness and pests; 3) systems of measures on protection and sustainable development: modernization of legislation and technology of management of forestry, and regime of protection in different divisions of state category of lands (reserves, forestry, national parks, hunting protected areas). The most reliable measure will have to be solved on the level of the Russian Government and the European Council for economy and ecology with the task on declaration of the chestnut formation as European mining forest formation and to elaborate the special legislation for its protection and sustainable ecosystem management.