Under the conditions of a global reduction in forest areas and climate change, it is important to preserve as many tree-covered areas as possible and understand change trends. The article purpose – aims at identifying forest area change trends of 19th –20th c. in the current forest land of the eldership Raudonė. In the research, historical topographic maps compiled during different periods, and 2019 data from the forest registry are used. The research method of a comparative analysis is employed. The change in forest areas was analysed, and forest areas that remained unchanged for 200 years were identified. The comparison of current forest areas reflected in the cadastral data and forest areas of the considered period allowed identifying the tendency of assigning land the purpose of forest land. During the research, the period with largest forest areas was determined to be the 19th c., and with the smallest – 1st half of the 20th c. During the Soviet period, forests areas were increasing, but did not achieve the same level as in the 19th c.

The need for recreational territories in urban areas has recently become increasingly relevant. In order to create and develop an effective urban green space system, it is necessary to study its main structural components. The aim of the research is to perform the analysis and evaluation of recreational territories of Biržai town. During the research, the territory of Biržai town, green spaces were analysed, the main cadastral data of recreational territories as real estate objects were determined: areas, land use purposes, land use types, special land use conditions and easements. The influence of cadastral indicators in adapting objects to recreation and tourism has been determined. Possibilities of recreational activities in Biržai town were evaluated. Following the SWOT, a generalized analysis of the situation was provided. The performed research revealed that the town of Biržai is dominated by built-up and water-occupied territories. The areas of the territories intended for recreation do not correspond to the areas provided for in the Master plan of Biržai town. The green space system is uneven; the recreational territories do not ensure a full life for the townspeople. The town lacks green spaces adapted to various activities, and the integration of water bodies into the urban living environment is moderate. It is proposed to activate communities in the development of living environment in Biržai.

The aim of the article is to assess tourism and recreation resources and possibilities of their development in the selected areas in Kretinga, Trakai and Kaunas district municipalities. Natural and separate zones’ landscape complexes in Lithuania are favourable for recreation and tourism. Although Lithuania’s territory in comparison with other countries is not large, it is characterized by a huge variety of geographical complexes and landscapes. By recreational potential Lithuania surpasses even numerous European countries, which are arranged along the northern coastline. Rivers, lakes and forests constitute 25 % of the total Lithuania’s area. Forests, parks, sea, other water reserves, geomorphological structures are aesthetically valuable landscape complexes in the Republic of Lithuania and make up one third of the total area. Having conducted assessment of the landscape in the selected territories and analysed territory-planning documents of Kretinga, Kaunas and Trakai municipalities with regard to recreation and tourism, it has been identified that although the main kind of recreational activity in the analysed municipalities is educational recreation, tourism infrastructure is not sufficiently developed and there is a shortage of accommodation-providing companies. After assessment of the landscape in recreational objects, it has been noticed that the assessed objects are characterized by high spatial flora variety, prevailing greenery and plants. In addition, landscapes are varied and not fully adjusted to recreation and tourism.

The aim of the article is to analyse the land use of selected areas and its impact on the ecological condition of the area. 3 (Ignalina, Molėtai and Zarasai) from 15 districts (which are characterized by considerable forest cover and exceptional recreational characteristics) of Lithuania were selected as the object of research. The largest part of the area of these districts (44–57%) consists of agricultural areas; a slightly smaller area (32–42%) is occupied by forests and other natural areas. Artificial covers occupy from 8 to 11 percent of the total area of districts. Analysing the change of these land cover areas over a period of 12 years, a practically stable (4-6%) decrease of agricultural areas and growth of forests and other natural areas (3–5%) as well as artificial covers (1%) in all three municipalities are observed. Taking into account the prevailing land cover structure in the districts in 2018, the estimated degree of polarization of all districts/ecological stability indicator of the area exceeded 0.67, i.e., areas have been found to be ecologically stable. However, after assessing the ecological stability of the surveyed areas using a multi-criteria analysis method and introducing more criteria influencing the ecological condition of the area, not only the land cover structure, it was found that the ecological condition of Molėtai district is still the worst according to the ranking indicators, while that of Zarasai and Ignalina districts is very similar. Such a negative multi-criteria assessment of the ecological condition of Molėtai district was influenced by all criteria: lower area of protected and natural territories, forests in the district, higher population density, road length, area of artificial covers and emissions (carbon monoxides, nitrogen oxides, etc.) quantity. Meanwhile, when assessing the ecological condition of Ignalina district, 4 criteria were favourable, namely: relatively low population density, road length, and lower emissions of gases and liquids, carbon monoxide, and for Zarasai district 7 criteria: higher areas of protected territories, forests and other natural, agricultural areas as well as artificial cover areas and lower population density, emissions of nitrogen oxides, gaseous and liquid substances. The results of the study unambiguously revealed that the ecological stability of the territory is influenced not only by the land use structure, but also by other environmental elements related to the area, therefore for full sustainable development, it is necessary to responsibly assess all possible factors influencing the ecological condition of the area.