NATURE MONUMENTS: PROBLEMS OF PROTECTION AND USE
The article provides an assessment of the possibilities and limitations for the development of ecotourism on the territory of the monuments of the Chita district of the Transbaikalia region. For the period of measures taken to reduce the spread of COVID-19, residents of Chita began to visit nature sites near the city more often, including protected areas. As a result, the need arose to determine the load on natural monuments. In the course of the work, popular tourist routes to natural monuments were considered, as well as groups of visitors who went out to them were identified. Organizations and other persons organizing trips to the objects under study are presented. At the moment, tourist routes and trails to natural monuments are not marked and equipped. In the course of the study, the number of visits to 10 natural monuments per year and by seasons was calculated. A number of reasons are presented as a result of which the anthropogenic load on natural monuments increases, and also proposed measures to eliminate them. One of such measures will be the construction of ecological paths. Currently, work is underway on a voluntary basis to arrange tourist routes. To regulate the flow of tourists, methods have been identified such as calculating the permissible capacity of an ecological path and charging fees for visiting natural monuments. Using the example of the natural monument Kadalinskiye skaly «Dvortsy», the permissible capacity of the ecological path was calculated and the income from the visit fee was determined. The assessment of natural monuments showed the need for the development of ecological tourism on the territory of the natural monuments of the Chita region.