According to the official statistics the areas of abandoned agricultural land in Lithuania are gradually decreasing, but very slightly. The aim of this study is to research spatial determination and abandoned land classification in the territory of Vilnius District Municipality. Vilnius District Municipality was chosen for the research because it, although located near the capital of the country and has a high population density, it is still the district having the largest percent of abandoned land plots. A fast, cost-effective and sufficiently accurate method for determination of abandoned land plots would allow to constantly monitoring, to fix changes and foresee the abandoned land plots reduction possibilities. In the study there was used the multispectral RGB and NIR colour Sentinel-2 satellite images, the layer of the administrative boundary of Vilnius County and layer of abandoned agriculture land, which is available in Lithuanian Spatial Information Portal (www.geoportal.lt). The data was processed by Geographic Information System (GIS) techniques using classical classification Region Growing Algorithm. The research shows that NIR image classification result is more reliable than the result from RGB images.

This article reviews the initiatives for setting up rational use and protection of agricultural lands in order to ensure accelerated growth of the agricultural sector of the Russian Federation, enhancing its sustainability, efficiency, competitiveness, and environmental safety. It is hereby proposed to complete the differentiation of public lands into federal property, property of the subjects of the Russian Federation, property of municipal settlements; as well as to conduct topographic survey of lands in the Russian Federation (to establish and locally document the boundaries of territories of the subjects of the Russian Federation; municipal settlements; communities; special-purpose lands; areas with special land use conditions; and to systematically (once every 5 years) perform agricultural land inventory in order to identify unused, irrationally used or non-purposely used lands, as well as land use in violation of the relevant permitted use of land plots; to relaunch land survey works relating with the performance of pedologic, geobotanical and other studies and research.

The article highlights the issue of accuracy of determining of the zones of restricted use of the territories along the transmission lines taking into account the magnetic field influence around the wires of transmission line during the passage of electric current. The procedure of establishing of such zones near transmission lines requires a clear substantiation of limits of physical parameters of the electric and magnetic fields` influence of transmission lines on human resources and environment that leads to the establishment of scientifically based boundaries of safe and rational management of land use. The authors` task was the substantiation of a mathematical expression that describes the relationship between the accuracy of determining the radius of dissemination of the magnetic field along the transmission lines and physical parameters of the magnetic field. As a result of the conducted research the formulas for determining the standard deviation (SD) of the radius of dissemination of the magnetic field were presented taking into account the value of magnetic induction, capacity, voltage and amperage that were inherent to the particular transmission line.

Having analysed research results, it is ensured that sustainable land use of US agricultural lands for the support to farmers to improve the efficiency of their major activities and adherence to the principles of soil protection and rational land use in farms. An analysis of the American experience allows us to make conclusions that the success of the process of improving land relations depends on the level of their scientific validity, the degree of balance of government regulation and the degree of coordination of participants’ interests in transformations and land market transactions. Land lease in the United States of America as one of the economic methods of land use regulation has been analysed in the article. It has been established that long-term lease relations are beneficial for both parties concerning soil improvement and pollution control in case of clear legislation. Having analysed foreign experience, the main measures of land use rationalization in the USA, which people can use in Ukraine, have been proposed. It is also possible to implement the US experience in actively controlling the ecological condition, intended use and other quality characteristics of agricultural land to improve regulation of land use in Ukraine. After analysing the measures for land protection in the United States, taking into account the considered and researched American experience of agricultural land use, ways to improve the existing system of use and protection of agricultural land in Ukraine are proposed.

Land use regulation is one of the most important state tasks and is aimed to ensuring the sustainable development of settlements. One of the mechanisms to solve this task is land use limitations establishment by restricted the possibility to carry out some activities, on certain territories or separate land plots, which would lead to negative ecological and social consequences. Such activity is becoming more and more urgent in the face of increasing ecological problems. Land use limitations could be considering in different areas. On one hand, the feasibility of land use is governing by the methods of spatial planning, based on natural and anthropogenic conditions. On the other hand, land use limitations are the result of location of object is which could be either source of negative influence or the object is requiring being protected (mode-forming objects). The aim of the article is to determine the impact of land use limitations on the various components of society, taking into account the environmental, economic and social components of sustainable development. Environmental and socioeconomic impact of land use limitations formation on the example of limitations caused by the activity of a mode-forming object is described in the study. The results of the study illustrate that the establishment of limitations on the land use can solve mainly environmental and social problems.

The solution of preserving and restoring the soil fertility problem of agricultural lands in the process of economic activity is one of the main tasks in achieving global food security. Implementation of a complex of soil protection measures, as a rule, ensures the preservation and even growth of soil fertility. Therefore, the purpose of the article is to determine the economic efficiency of introducing soil protection measures in the use of agricultural land. For this purpose, the following tasks were set and solved: the analysis of the current state and trends of the land resources use in agriculture; to investigate the tendencies of carrying out measures on preservation of soil fertility and prevention of its degradation; to substantiate scientific and methodical estimation principles of economic efficiency of introduction of soil protection measures in the conditions of Ukraine. The following basic methods were used to solve the research objectives: monographic analysis – when developing scientific publications on environmentally friendly use of agricultural land; comparative and statistical analysis – in studying the dynamics of the structure of the land fund of Ukraine by main types of land and economic activity; system-structural analysis and grouping – in the study of the nature and content of ecological and economic consequences of soil degradation, as well as approaches to assessing the economic effectiveness of soil protection measures; economic analysis and calculation of relative indicators – to evaluate the economic efficiency of soil protection measures in the process of agricultural land use; abstract-logical method − for theoretical generalizations and conclusions formation, etc. Established that soil degradation is now one of the most important industrial and environmental issues, which is the main reason for the inability to achieve high rates of environmental and economic efficiency of land use in the future. It was also substantiated scientific and methodical approach to determining the economic efficiency of soil conservation measures in the current market conditions, which is based on the additional income that is received as a result of increase crop yields on protected lands. It is established that effective protection of soils from degradation is possible with the systematic implementation of soil protection measures complex, developed taking into account the specific natural and economic conditions of each region or agricultural enterprise. The priority directions of realization measures on land protection are given.

The result of the long existence of legal restrictions on the agricultural land market in Ukraine was the formation of a specific leasehold system of land use. Agricultural enterprises and farms do not have land owned. Instead, the peasants who became owners of land during the distribution of collective farms, mostly do not process these parcels of land on their own, but also deprived of the right to alienate them (to sell, give, change). The study shows the development of leased land use of agricultural enterprises in Ukraine, which currently covers 16.8 million hectares of private land and about 1 million hectares of state-owned land. Since 2003, the civil law of Ukraine permitted to apply not only the lease of agricultural land, but also the emphyteusis right (the alienated right to use someone’s land for agricultural purposes), the process of transformation of lease into emphyteusis was started, especially in large agricultural holdings. The main advantages of emphyteusis as a substantive law and its attractiveness for agribusiness are considered. The suggestions on improving the legal regulation of land use under conditions of emphyteusis are given.

The article presents the analysis of the change of land users in the Republic of Lithuania during the period between 1919 and 1940. The main factor affecting the relationship of land and its use was the political changes in the country, whereas economic and social aspects had less influence. During the period between 1919 and 1939 the land reform of independent Lithuania not only strengthened the country's agriculture, but also laid the foundations for the entire nation-state, it was one of the most significant achievements of independence, a real agrarian revolution, which intensified the land use. The main goal of the land reform was to alienate and distribute the state land and the land of large estates to peasants and to complete distribution of village land into individual farmsteads. Landlords were left inalienable 80 hectares (later 150 ha) of land area. The land from the State Land Fund was distributed to volunteers and new settlers (the landless) peasants up to 8-10 ha, to estate workers and rural craftsmen – up to 1.5-2 ha, as well as to poor peasants, state enterprises, farms and forestries, etc.

The article defines that the land inventory allows to form land plots of state and communal property, to fill the State Land Cadastre with information about objects and subjects of land relations and to eliminate existing errors. The aim of the article is to improve the procedure of conducting the land inventory in Ukraine, taking into account modern technologies within the current regulatory framework. The methodology of land inventory using modern technologies has been developed, which includes the following components: surveying of the inventory object, topographic and geodetic works, vectorization of its territory using remote sensing data, project works, creation of a consolidated inventory plan, development of technical documentation, its state expertise, adjustment and approval, entering data into the State Land Cadastre. It is established that an effective method of implementation of topographic and geodetic works during updating of the cartographic materials is a combined method, which includes the use of aerial images with simultaneous geodetic surveying of complex areas. The use of geoinformation technologies and remote sensing data is allowed to optimize the duration and frequency of land inventory. In particular, the classification of land should be performed in the attribute tables. Ways to solve problems of protection and rational use of the lands of the inventory object have been developed. They include registration of land plots without cadastral numbers; control of compliance of land and environmental legislation, taking into account the results of land inventory for updating statistical cadastral information and making changes of the State Land Cadastre data.

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.