Assessment of the State of Green Spaces of the Park-Monument of Landscape Art of National Importance “Skala-Podilsky Park”

Abstract

Green spaces of ancient parks are not only an important ecological component of the human environment, but also a cultural-historical factor of national identity. The history of landscape art in Ternopil region demonstrates the close ties of Ukrainian culture with Polish, Lithuanian, and Western European. Galicia is rich in architectural monuments of the past: fortresses, castles, defensive ramparts, courtyards, fortifications, fortified monasteries and temples, mansions and estates of the local gentry. Decorative parks, fruit orchards, and collections of medicinal plants were laid near such structures. Most of the old parks have undergone substantial negative changes due to the turbulent historical events in the 20th century, but some objects, even if in a neglected state, have been preserved and need restoration and maintenance. Skala-Podilsky park-monument of landscape art of national importance was laid at the end of the 17th century. Since that, the park was repeatedly reconstructed. During this time, many ornamental and fruit-berry trees and shrubs, including exotic ones, were acclimatised. During the period of independence of Ukraine, the plantings were not properly cared for, which led to the destruction of the park’s infrastructure and a decrease in the number of valuable taxa. A tax inventory of its dendroflora was conducted, and the vital and phytosanitary condition of trees and shrubs was determined on the Alekseev scale to organise the territory and reconstruct the park. 63 taxa of trees, shrubs, and lianas were identified. It is established that the overall indicator of the relative living condition of the park’s plantings is 57.7% and corresponds to the category “weakened”. Among the tree stands of the park, 800 trees with defetiveness (20% of all trees) were identified. According to the assessment of the phytosanitary condition of trees and shrubs, 41% belong to the category of “satisfactory”, 34% – “good”, 25% – “unsatisfactory”. Thus, a quarter of the registered trees require health-improving measures or removal from the plantings. The obtained materials indicate the need for accounting and inventory of all ancient parks in Ukraine and the development of a system for their geoinformational monitoring to streamline revitalisation.