Land as a production factor occupies a special position in the economic activities of the urban population. Land resources in big cities are not only territorial basis for placing industrial and production structures, but also a space for urban life in general. However, to assess the effectiveness of urban land use, primarily the ecological and economic potential of the use of the urban land resources should be determined aimed at sustainable development of urban agglomerations (Volodchenkov, 2010). The rapid pace of development of large cities in the world and an increase of their impact on the environment and society is accompanied by the set of economic, ecological and social problems which significantly influence the development of settlements in general (Stolʹberh, 2000; Onyshchuk, 2001). However, the process of urbanization as a result of rapid scientific and technological revolution requires large areas for deployment of large scale production facilities and urban settlements in the conditions of natural resource management (Kontorovich, Rivkin, 1986).

All land of the Republic of Belarus can be classified by categories (7 categories), types of lands (14 types), land users, forms of ownership and types of rights to land plots. The total area of land in the Republic of Belarus is 20760 thousand hectares, including agricultural land occupies 9103.0 thousand hectares (43.8%) of the total area of the republic; settlements, horticultural associations, dacha cooperatives – 849.0 thousand hectares (4.1%); industry, transport, communications, energy, defence and other purposes – 622.2 thousand hectares (3.0%); environmental, health, recreational, historical and cultural purposes – 868.7 thousand hectares (4.2%); forest fund – 8656.4 thousand hectares (41.7%); water fund – 37.3 thousand hectares (0.2%); reserve land – 623.4 thousand hectares (3.0%). The basis of the land resources used in the agro-industrial complex of the republic is arable land, meadows and land under permanent crops, which in general occupy 8387.1 thousand hectares, or 40.4% of the total area of land. The state owns 20683.6 thousand hectares (99.63%) of land, private property – 76.4 thousand hectares (0.37%) of the total area of all lands of the republic. In terms of environmental stability, the territory of the republic belongs to medium-stable territories, the coefficient of environmental stability is 0.63, and in terms of the degree of anthropogenic load – to territories with a relatively low anthropogenic load, the coefficient of anthropogenic load is 2.79.

The conservation and renovation of biological diversity of territories are of vital importance in Ukraine. The concept of ecological networks has laid the foundation of these issues. In Ukraine, the law “On the ecological network” was adopted, and ecological networks were developed at the regional level. However, most developments do not fully take into account the location of reserved territories and places of concentration of valuable flora and fauna, and also often do not correspond to the principle of formation of a holistic system, which significantly reduces their environmental significance and the expediency of practical implementation. The authors of the article consider that one should estimate the natural potential of the territories in detail and objectively, as well as provide recommendations for practical actions for the renovation of biological and landscape diversity. One can do it in the process of the development of local ecological networks (at the level of separate administrative regions and territorial communities). One has developed the structure of the ecological network on the example of Stryi district of Lviv region and determined the estimation of the spatial connectivity of its crucial elements. The problem is that most of the connecting territories are formed from semi-natural and unnatural lands (hayfields, pastures, arable lands), which complicates the practical side of the project implementation. One needs to develop an effective mechanism to encourage landowners and land users to carry out environmental activities; to increase investments in re-naturalization of lands; to conduct environmental education and environmental public awareness campaign; to provide local government and other stakeholders with consulting services for the development of ecological network development programs at the local level in Ukraine.

The research studies the issue of ecological stability of rural territories that is the most important component of the national environmental policy of Ukraine. A special attention is paid to degradation of arable lands as the main ecological problem of land management. On the example of Lviv region, the authors calculated the index of ecological nonconformity of current use of arable lands, proving a considerable excess of permissible ploughing of lands in the region. The carried analysis confirms that no measures were performed concerning land protection, including conservation that in the recent years. In this context it is necessary to improve land resources management on the basis of sustainable development. Integration is considered to be the main principle of land resources management. The research proves that solution of ecological problems of land management requires achievement of a set of coordinated targets concerning development of rural territories, land resources management and national environmental policy based on the principles of suitable development. The targets include: planning of land use outside settled areas on the landscape and ecological basis; land inventory; formation of the land bank of agricultural lands; development and support of alternative kinds of activity on rural area; development of an efficient mechanism to encourage performance of land protection measures; improvement of environmental responsibility of population and development of ecological education. The methodological basis of the research is the concept of sustainable development, which expects support for a continuous character of development in order to meet the current needs along with ensuring the needs of future generations. The fulfilment of the task requires examination of scientific works on the issue of sustainable management of land resources and an ecological component of rural territory development.

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.