1LAND-USE AND LAND-COVER CHANGE STUDY IN THE TRANSBOUNDARY ZONE OF

The research was done at one of the local level case study areas and devoted to the assessment and mapping of the Land-Use and Land-Cover Change (LUCC) in the boundary zone of the North-West Russia (Murmansk region) and Norway (Finnmark) according the plans of the Land-Use and Land-Cover Change Commission of International Geographical Union (IGU) to conduct concrete local to regional LUCC studies for better understanding of their global significance from environmental and socio-economic points of view. Landscape methodology has been used on the base remote sensing of different spatial and temporal resolution, traditional maps and in-field data to explain relationships between Land-Use practices and land-Cover patterns and to consider Land-Use change as driving forces of land-Cover status and trends. Contemporary (present-day) landscape chosen as the core unit of LUCC classification comprises various aspects of natural and socio-economic environment. The global, country, regional and local investigations using this methodology are described. The main types of human activity, Land-Cover changes under human impact and coincidental, present-day landscape spatial patterns at the case study area were analyzed and mapped. Transboundary investigations serve as a scientific base for more effective use of the natural potential to avoid unfavorable consequences of land degradation. 1