RECREATIONAL AND ECOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT OF RELIEF AS THE KEY FACTOR OF TOURISM DEVELOPMENT (THE EXAMPLE OF TOMSK AREA)

Abstract

The paper discusses the relief of Tomsk administrative area of Tomsk Region as an important tourist and recreational resource. It aims to carry out a recreational and ecological assessment of the Tomsk area relief. The assessment algorithm is defined by of E. V. Kolotova’s (1999) methodology of recreational assessment with the author’s additions and specifications. The ecological condition of a relief is supplemented by the following criteria: existence and expansion of modern erosive and accumulative processes (landslides, ravines). The author used the materials from the funds of Tomsk Region Department of Natural Resources and Environment Protection and the cartographic materials of A. E. Tyabyaev (2004) and O. V. Hromykh, V. V. Hromykh (2011). The recreational and ecological assessment showed that the relief of Tomsk area is rather favourable for the organization of tourist and recreational activity, which, in turn, is defined by the physiographic features of the territory and not always a safe ecological state of the environment. The stated theoretical generalizations and algorithm of recreational and environmental assessment of the relief can be used in the development of programs for the development of recreation in the specially protected natural territories. This work can form a basis for a similar assessment of the relief of other administrative regions of Russia for effective tourist and recreational activity.