Environmental consequences of the adverse impact of unauthorized amber mining on forest areas of Zhytomyr region

Amber mining has already led to a regional environmental disaster. According to official data, over a thousand hectares of land, which are mainly located in the central Polissia region (Zhytomyr region), have suffered very severe damage and need to be restored. The environmental significance of such territories has been lost, and further use for forestry or agriculture is very risky. To develop the norms of anthropogenic loads on landscapes, it is mandatory to investigate anthropogenic transformation by identifying their current ecological state, establishing the dependence of changes on the intensity of anthropogenic loads individually for each natural region. The source materials for obtaining results are field research materials, tax descriptions of plantings, satellite and aerial photographs, as well as laying temporary test areas according to the generally accepted method in forestry. As a result of unauthorized amber mining in Zhytomyr region, the anthropogenic load on forestry landscapes is rapidly increasing, which causes irreparable damage, leads to an environmental and economic crisis of the region, an imbalance in the social situation of the region residents, significant losses in the field of forestry, and creates grounds for related environmental issues. There are considerable changes in the structure and mineral composition of the soil layer of forest lands, the herbaceous ground vegetation and understorey are completely or partially destroyed, the undergrowth undergoes a considerable transformation of growing conditions and anthropogenic pressure. Violation of the ecological balance of the forest at various stages of biological development can lead to irreversible consequences in the forestry sector. The results obtained are promising for further development of the method for ecological and economic estimation of the damage caused, which results in illegal amber mining