Volumen 10 (2022): Edición 4 (December 2022)

Since the mid-twentieth century, the Polish rail network has been experiencing a systematic decline of its lines and this includes railway lines serving only freight services. One of the most striking examples of freight transport is the sand railways in southern Poland. This world-unique system for transporting backfill sand used in hard coal mining was one of the most spectacular types of specialized rail transport. The general crisis of railways in Poland, the restructuring of the hard coal mining industry and changes in the technology for securing the underground parts of mines, have all resulted in a sharp decline in the role of sand railways as the carrier of backfill sand. The infrastructure system, as well as the companies involved in the exploitation of sand and its transport, have had to face the fundamental question about their future. This article indicates the essence of these challenges in the context of the role of sand railways in the freight rail system in general. The function of sand railways in the rail transport system has been recognized in relation to their specific unique features that have constituted important elements of their functional and spatial existence.

Among the protected sites of the Eastern Carpathians, the Synevyr National Nature Park (NNP) in the Zakarpattia region of Ukraine is one of the most valuable and was created to preserve its unique mountain beech and spruce forest communities. The importance of the conservation of typical natural virgin forest ecosystems of the Central European mountain systemis emphasized. The aim of this article was to determine the state of the naturalness of virgin forests in the territory of Synevyr NNP, to analyse their syntaxonomy, and to establish the floristic and geobotanical characteristics of its virgin forests and to distinguish the existing biodiversity threats. It was established that the studied plots of beech and spruce forests within the territory of the Synevyr NNP have a distinct virgin nature based on their structure, forest valuation parameters, spontaneous dynamics and other features. Syntaxonomically the virgin forests of the park belong to two associations: Symphyto cordati-Fagetum Vida (1959) 1963 (alliance Fagion sylvaticae Luquet 1926, order Fagetalia sylvaticae Pawłowski 1928, class Сarpino-Fagetea sylvaticae Jakucs ex Passarge 1968) and Luzulo luzuloidis-Fagetum (Du Rietz 1923) Markgraf 1932 (alliance Luzulo-Fagion sylvaticae Lohmeyer & Tx. in Tx. 1954, order Luzulo-Fagetalia Scamoni & Passarge 1959, class Quercetea roboripetraeae Br.-Bl. & Tx. ex Oberd. 1957). The natural and anthropogenic biodiversity threats of these virgin forests are summarized. The results of the research formed the basis for the inclusion of the beech virgin forests of Synevyr NNP as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the list of objects on “Beech virgin forests and ancient forests of the Carpathians and other regions of Europe”.

The study sought to understand the spatio-temporal variation of land use and land cover (LULC) and its drivers under watershed management activities in Becho district, in Ethiopia’s Central Highlands. To gain a better comprehension of the subject, two micro watersheds were chosen to test the effectiveness of watershed management activities (treated-Shankur Tareqo and untreated-Mende Tufessa). LULC changes were detected using aerial photography (1973), and satellite images from Landsat 5 TM (1990), Spot 5 (2005), and Landsat 8 OLI (2021) obtained from the Ethiopian Geospatial Information Institute and the United States Geological Survey. In addition, key informant interviews (KII) and focus group discussions (FGD) were used to elicit LULC drivers. Between 1973 and 2021, the total area of woodland, and cultivated and rural settlement land LULC classes in the treated micro-watershed decreased by 24.65% (171.9 ha) and 7.34% (759 ha), respectively. Though, grassland, forestland, and barrenland increased by 30.83% (179.52 ha), 1% (3 ha), and 183.14% (755.28 ha), respectively. The overall area of LULC class for woodland, grassland, forestland, and cultivated and rural settlement decreased by 50.36% (316.16 ha), 41.23% (196.46 ha), 2.43% (11.85 ha), and 1.35% (138.6 ha), respectively, in the untreated micro-watershed, while barrenland increased by 175.86% (666.55 ha). According to KII and FGD, the drivers of LULC changes were identified as the expansion of cultivated land, population pressure, and government policy. According to the findings, local-scale watershed management activities was not as effective as expected. As a result, in order to achieve the desired outcome, the concerned stakeholders should reconsider how watershed management activities is undertaken.

The article contains a comparative analysis of climate change education in geography education in Czechia and Poland. The topic of climate and its changes is one of the most current challenges for school education at the beginning of the 21st century. The aim of the research was to establish the similarities and differences in the content of teaching climate change in the core curricula and selected textbooks for teaching geography in both countries. Using the method of text analysis, the study covered the core curricula of geography and 22 geography textbooks for primary and secondary school students, including 11 Czech and 11 Polish. The quantitative analysis of the content (the term “climate” and its derivatives, and “climate change”) and the qualitative analysis of the content of curriculum documents and school textbooks led to the basic conclusion that Czech and Polish students using textbooks for learning geography have the opportunity to learn content on: 1/ factors influencing climate change, 2/ causes of climate change, 3/ global warming, 4/ deforestation, 5/ desertification, 6/ melting of glaciers, 7/ consequences of climate change, and 8/ methods of counteracting climate change. By implementing the assumptions of the geography core curricula relating to climate change education and using textbooks during geography lessons, teachers can influence the pro-ecological attitudes of school children.

Data on the spontaneous distribution (529 sites) of Impatiens glandulifera in the territory of Ukraine have been collected and studied comprehensively. I. glandulifera invades plant communities of the Phragmito-Magnocaricetea class (1 alliance), Salicetea purpureae (1 association), Alnetea glutinosae (1 association), Robinietea (2 associations), and Epilobietea angustifolii (2 associations). The species phytoindicative assessment, which considered 12 ecological factors, revealed that in its secondary distribution range I. glandulifera shows charactericstics of a stenotopic hygromesophyte, subacidophile and is a semi-eutrophic species. In the studied areas, the environmental niche of I. glandulifera is limited mainly by soil water response (Hd) and saline (Sl) regimes, and soil carbonate content. A thermal regime (Tm) response of the species to an increase in the average annual air temperature by 1, 2, and 30С has been predicted. A temperature increase of 20С could, lead to a critical shift in the values of soil acidity (Rc) and salinity regimes (Sl) that might cause a decline of the species’ potential niches in the studied area. The obtained data have the potential to be useful in limiting the spread of I. glandulifera into new territories and reducing its transforming effect in plant communities of river valley corridors.

The suburbanization of cities began in many countries after World War II and was caused, among other things, by the growing popularity of the motor car, the development of transport networks, and the growth in human populations. In post-socialist countries, this process started later (mainly after the collapse of socialism). Suburbanization was often an uncontrolled phenomenon (due for instance to an ineffective urban spatial policy), which contributed to urban sprawl, and in which developers played a significant role. The growing costs of city maintenance have prompted local authorities to undertake planned activities for re-urbanization. The increase in development activities in recent years encourages reflection on their importance in these processes. This article aims to outline the role of developers, responsible for the new construction and the reconstruction of existing facilities, in the process of city re-urbanization, using the city of Łódź, Poland, as a case study. It is an example of a post-industrial city in which, the process of suburbanization, combined with the phenomenon of urban sprawl, proceeded rapidly after 1989. The phenomenon of depopulation has also been observed in Łódź for several years. Therefore, re-urbanization may be an antidote to some of Łódź’s population and spatial problems. The methods of desk research and a case study were used to achieve the aim.

The reforming of the armed forces caused huge and continuous cuts to the manpower and to the finances. Which resulted of the decommission of numerous barracks throughout the country. The size and structure of these forces was not appropriate for the threats that the country faced, and country did not have the required resources to develop a new form for its armed forces. The aim of this article was to investigate opportunities in the case of decommissioned barracks, which point to the possibility of re-using abandoned buildings and sites and reducing the environmental damage that can still be found there. Due to changes in the economy and society of Hungary at the end of the 20th century, the number of barracks/garrisons and the structure of the Hungarian Defence Forces have changed substantially over the intervening years. Most of the garrisons in the countryside have been downsized by hasty decisions, leaving behind non-utilized and unsalvaged areas and in many cases a vast infrastructural heritage. Opportunities for the utilization of these abandoned facilities and the amelioration of environmental damage must be sought. Therefore, it was necessary to map and investigate the current conditions of these former garrisons. The author visited most of the closed barracks in all the counties of Hungary. The author also searched for information about Hungarian and Soviet barracks and examined the condition of decommissioned barracks at first only the possibility of their utilization was considered, later, an environmental point of view was added.