Nature Reserve Fund Condition within Kirovohrad Oblast in Relation to Regional Development Objectives

This study aims to assess the current condition of the nature reserve fund within Kirovohrad oblast considering the newly created administrative raions, with due regard for the regional development prospects enshrined in laws, regulations, and territorial planning documents. Open data from the nature reserve fund cadastre reveals that the development of the nature reserve fund in Kirovohrad oblast over the past 10 years has shown positive and sustainable progress in increasing the number of objects and their areas. However, the low annual growth rate of nature reserve areas has not yet allowed for the achievement of the target indicators planned for 2020 (7.1% of the oblast conservation area). Under current conditions, it is essential to accurately interpret the obtained indicators for assessing the nature reserve fund condition, with respect to regional development goals and objectives. Therefore, scales for verbal characteristics of assessment indicators have been developed. The results of the structural analysis and spatial arrangement assessment of the nature reserve fund within Kirovohrad oblast show the following characteristic features and shortcomings: territory fragmentation, low level of conservation, non-uniform territorial representation of numerous nature reserve ob- jects in the oblast (mostly small and isolated), and low to medium verbal characteristics of the assessment indicators. The comparative analysis of the nature reserve fund structure in terms of administrative and territorial regions reveals its regional features. Oleksandriya raion is characterized by a high level of conservation, with the prevailing number of objects in Kropyvnytskyi raion. In contrast, the Golovanivka raion has the worst indicators, and the Novoukrainka raion shows a very low level of conservation. The article considers the prospects for the nature reserve fund development in light of the regional development goals of Kirovohrad oblast, with specific proposals for achieving the target indicators. These include: increasing the number of nature reserve fund objects by establishing new ones in areas promising for conservation. The Emerald Network, water and wetlands, as well as forested lands, are considered the closest reserve for new nature reserve objects within the oblast.