Annotation. The article considers the issues of increasing the contribution of specially protected natural areas (SPNA) to the socio-economic development of regions based on the development of ecological and other types of tourism. The relevance of the problem, the general state of tourism development in general, including in SPNAs, are presented. Information is provided on the development of ecological tourism in Belarus, Kazakhstan, and China. An analysis of the regulatory framework in the field of ecological tourism is given, including the implementation of the national project "Ecology" and federal projects. The study is described based on the National Park (NP) "Smolenskoye Poozerye" in order to develop a Methodology for assessing the contribution of SPNAs to the socio-economic development of the region. Calculations are given using the example of NP "Smolenskoye Poozerye", and recommendations are given for the further development of ecological tourism in SPNAs. Recommendations are offered for the development of cooperation between Russian and Chinese national parks.  

Key words: SPNA, tourism, ecological tourism, national park, national project, federal project, assessment methods, region, calculations, cooperation.

In recent years, the role of both the tourism industry as a whole, and ecotourism, and tourism in other areas in specially protected natural areas (SPNA) in the economy of many countries has been growing.

According to some estimates, the cost of services related to tourism and travel in the world is estimated at almost 10 trillion US dollars. In some countries, tourism revenues approach 14% of their GDP. Thus, in France they are estimated at 8.5%, in China - at 11.3%, in Spain - at 14.3%. At the same time, due to changes in consumer behavior associated with trends in eco-consciousness and restoration of the ecosystem of Man and Nature, the contribution of ecotourism is very large. Ecotourism, including visiting SPNA, brings very tangible benefits. According to some estimates, back in 2015, the cost of ecotourism was estimated at 600 billion US dollars [1]. Now this figure has increased significantly. This is due to the formation of a new culture of travel to natural areas: the desire of people to spend more free time in nature, to visit unusual and simply attractive and beautiful natural areas, to get acquainted with rare natural objects and the animal world of territories unaffected by economic activity, as well as the development of a comfortable infrastructure for travel, transport accessibility of these territories. In addition to providing opportunities for recreation and studying nature, tourism in protected areas can contribute to the physical, mental and cultural well-being of a person and improve the health of the population. The cost of medical services provided in protected areas through nature tourism is estimated at 8% of the total world GNP in 2017 [1]. A direct consequence of the increase in tourist activity in protected areas was the consideration of ecotourism as an important tool for implementing the principles of sustainable development and preserving biological diversity. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) links ecotourism in protected areas with increased efficiency of protected area management based on principles of sustainable development, since it creates financial conditions and sources for the protection of nature and biodiversity in such areas, and also provides an opportunity to implement entrepreneurial initiatives and create new jobs for local populations in economically underdeveloped and depressed regions.

The contribution of tourism to the Russian economy has also been consistently increasing in recent years and currently accounts for about 4% of the country's GDP [2]. A significant part of this contribution comes from ecotourism and people visiting various categories of specially protected areas. All Russian protected areas of various levels, including reserves in terms of specially designated areas, tourist and ecological trails, are important tourist destinations, which is confirmed by statistical data on the growth in the number of visitors to such areas.

However, the real significance of ecotourism in Russia has not yet been assessed or measured in economic indicators. There is also an opinion that protected areas remove significant territories from economic circulation and create big problems for local population and business due to direct prohibition of economic activity, and thus slow down economic growth and development of regions.

At the same time, there are no assessments of the contribution of protected areas to the socio-economic development of regions. This situation leads to a lack of understanding of the need for investment in this area of development of protected areas and justification of their volumes both for individual territories and for the country as a whole. In particular, this is a factor that slows down such an area as international cooperation of national parks in promoting transboundary ecological, active, health, scientific and educational tourism in natural areas.

In this regard, it is very important for the development of tourism in protected areas to have methodological documents that provide the necessary calculations for the economic assessment of the activities of protected areas and the effectiveness of possible investments.

In total, there are 295 federal specially protected natural areas in Russia (108 state nature reserves, 63 national parks, 60 federal sanctuaries, 17 natural monuments, 47 dendrological parks and botanical gardens) and almost 12,000 natural areas of regional significance of various categories. [3] The share of the area of specially protected natural areas of federal, regional and local significance in the total area of the country is 14.3 percent.

Russian scientists and specialists have completed a study and prepared a draft methodology for assessing the contribution of protected areas to the socio-economic development of regions. The methodology is planned to be tested in the coming years in pilot regions.

Literature

 1. Assessment of the contribution of protected areas to the socio-economic development of the region. Methodology and techniques. / Ed. A.V. Shevchuk. - M., Publishing House "Roliks", 2024. - 230 p.

2. Vedomosti. Rosstat will assess the contribution of tourism to the regional economy for the first time. https://www.vedomosti.ru/economics/articles/2022/01/25/906372-rosstat-vpervie-otsenit

3. Environmental protection in Russia. 2024: Stat. collection / Rosstat. - 0-92 M., 2024. - 118 p., (p. 54).

4. Agreements between the Government of the Russian Federation and the Government of the People's Republic of China on cooperation in the field of tourism" dated 03.11.1993.