ECOLOGIZATION OF GEOGRAPHY AND SOME THEORETICAL ASPECTS OF GEOECOLOGY

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PUBLISHED DATE: - 14-07-2024

https://doi.org/10.37547/tajiir/Volume06Issue07-03

PAGE NO.: - 13-19

ECOLOGIZATION OF GEOGRAPHY AND SOME
THEORETICAL ASPECTS OF GEOECOLOGY

Elyor Sobirov

Lecturer, Department of Geography and methods of its teaching, Tashkent State Pedagogical

University, Uzbekistan

INTRODUCTION

It is known that a person turns to regular science

so that he\she better adapts to the natural and
social environment, does not become helpless in

the face of the unruly forces of nature. Science is a
system of scientific knowledge, the main elements

of empirical and theoretical scientific knowledge
include facts, laws, theories, methods and scientific

landscapes of the universe. Objectivity, reliability,
systemicity, logicity, determination of scientific

thought validity in experience, ownership of field
methods and concept-terminology apparatus are

important signs of any discipline. The description,

systematization, explanation, application in
practice and forecasting of new aspects of the

reality of Nature, Society and thinking and
knowledge are included in the main tasks of the

sciences [1; 2]. All the features mentioned above
also fully apply to the science of geography.
Geography is a system of natural and social, i.e.

natural-geographical and economic-geographical

sciences that study the geographical shell of the

Earth, territorial natural and industrial complexes
and their components. In other words, geography

is a set of natural and social sciences that study the
structure, functioning and evolution of the

geographical crust, the relationship and
distribution of natural and natural-social

geosystems and their components in space. Due to
the fact that natural geography belongs to the

natural sciences, socio-economic geography
belongs to the socio-humanitarian sciences,

geographical science is simultaneously included in
the system of both natural and socio-humanitarian

sciences. Also, an integral part of geographical
science is research cartography, which displays

through geographical maps the territorial location,

interrelation and interrelation of natural
phenomena and society. According to N.N.

Baranskiy, ”the map is

the second language of

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Open Access

Abstract

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geography“, ”any geographical study begins with a

map and ends with a map" [3; 42

–

p.].

Geography is the only fundamental science that

comprehensively studies the territorial aspects of

the interaction of nature and society, always being
a companion to the evolution of man and humanity.

There are concepts such as place, area, border,
land, country, country or space, Territory that

cannot be separated from each other, that is,
geography means territory, territory means

geography. After

all, ”geography is a science that

studies

territorial

differences,

territorial

composition and territorial systems at all

times“[4],"... territorial thinking on various scales is

a fundamental prerequisite of geographical

science”, "a geographer is a doct

or of the territory

who must know and treat it" [5; 177-179-p.[6; 294

p.], ”When and where they talk about the territory,

the science of geography is certainly considered as

priority" [6; 294 p.].
From a pragmatic point of view, any territory

means a resource, raw materials or habitat. Hence

the problem of territory or geography

–

one of the

eternal and eternal problems of mankind.

However, the scientific misunderstanding of the
true nature of geography, i.e. the view of it as a

descriptive science that has existed all its life,
somewhat limits the scientific nature of this

ancient science. In particular, when understanding

the unity and interrelation of nature and society,
when developing a Strategy for the socio-economic

development of a country or territories,
geographical law, the consequences of ignoring or

ignoring laws are taken into account (for example,
a decrease in natural runoff in the Amu Darya and

Syr Darya, the drying up of the Aral Sea, the crisis
of Aral ecosystems (landscapes), a man-made

disaster on a tank, becoming a desert - Dust storms
observed in Uzbekistan, increased processes of

secondary soil salinization, etc.) occur in front of
today's generations. All these processes are

directly or indirectly related to man and his
economic activities, with improper management,

blind, merciless use of resources, irresponsible

attitude to nature and the environment, in other
words, Over the past half century, citizens,

especially those responsible for state and economic
management, lack geographical and ecological

(geo-ecological) culture. this happens as a result of
the fact that the level has not been formed.
Foreign scientists had different views on the

common object of geography. For example, the

zone of mutual penetration of the lithosphere,
atmosphere,

hydrosphere,

biosphere

and

anthroposphere as an object of study of
geographical science (P. James, J. Martin) or the

spatial-territorial organization of human society
and its relationship with the environment (P.

Hagget) [7; 11].
Based on the analysis of the points that we have

outlined above, geographical science studies

geographical objects, processes and phenomena in

a geographical shell, four main there are
geospheres in this shell that are interconnected

and interact

–

the atmosphere (an air shell

consisting of a mixture of gases surrounding the

Earth), the lithosphere (the solid shell of the Earth
containing the crust and part of the upper mantle),

the hydrosphere (the water shell of the Earth in a
solid (icy), liquid (aqueous), gaseous (vapor) state)

and the biosphere (the Earth's shell, in which living
organisms live and includes natural and

anthropogenic geosystems of various scales, which
are formed in their interaction.
The subject of geographical science is the study of

the territorial-temporal (or spatially modern)

features of the emergence, functioning, pace of
change and development processes of natural and

social geosystems.

The concept of “Geosystem” in this definition

covers the components of a geographical shell that

are interconnected and interconnected with the

flows of matter, energy and information, more
precisely, a set of relatively integral territorial

formations formed as a result of the interaction and
unity of nature, population and economy, while the

concept of "geographical environment" refers to a
set of structures of a geographical shell, in that or

to some extent assimilated by a person involved in
social production. It represents a part of human

society that participates and forms the material
basis of its existence. In particular, E.B. According

to Alaev, the geographical environment is a part of
the geographical shell, to one degree or another

assimilated by a person (society) and participating

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in social production [8].
The complexity of the object and the breadth of the

subject of geographical science, as we can see, led

to the differentiation of groups and specialized

branches of specific areas in this science. In
particular, within the framework of science, groups

of general geographical, natural geographical and
socio-economic geographical sciences, as well as

mixed and interdisciplinary scientific directions
have been formed.
At the modern civilizational stage, when scientific

and technological progress, differentiation of the
needs and interests of mankind are increasing,

geographical science is undergoing fundamental

changes both in content and in structural terms. If
earlier it was traditionally believed that geography

consists of natural and economic directions, now in
geographical science, as a result of the intensive

processes of environmentalization, socialization
and politicization, new directions with general

geographical and integrative (borderline, close,
interrelated) content appear, on which research is

conducted. Modern geographical science is, in fact,
a complex of sciences, which remain characterized

by the processes of stratification and integration
into a common scientific system. However, despite

this, controversial and contradictory opinions have
arisen about the internal structure of modern

geographical science.

As A.G. Isachenko very correctly noted, “geography

is a science rich in changes, which develops without
abandoning previously proven theories and

proven methodological principles, but constantly
enriching itself with new approaches, ideas and

theories. Life poses new challenges for him,
especially in the field of studying the interaction of

society and nature. It is in this area that we should
look for a point of growth and prospects for the

integration of this science” [9, 4

-p.].

From this point of view, a new scientific direction

in the system of geographical sciences, studying the
geographical environment, territorial aspects of

the interaction of nature and society, is geoecology,
i.e. the formation of geographical ecology is a

natural process, the object of which is the
geographical shell or geoecosystems in the

geographical environment, the subject is natural,

natural

–

anthropogenic

and

anthropogenic

geoecosystems [10; 11]. Therefore, due to the fact

that the object and subject of geoecology are
changes caused by human activity in the

geographical (natural) environment, territorial
environmental problems, their inseparable unity

and interrelation with all geographical scientific
directions, it is advisable to include it in the block

of natural and social sciences in the system of

geographical sciences.
The formation of geoecology is associated with the

greening of geographical science, a process that

determines the current trends in its development.
Greening is an unprecedented process in the

history of science and society, encompassing not
only all sciences, but also modern public

consciousness. This process arose as a result of the
global systemic, crisis development of civilization

of the XX century. The greening of human economic

activity, that is, environmental management, is
carried out in various sectors (industry, agriculture

and forestry, transport, etc.).k.) provides for the
introduction

of

special

approaches,

environmentally

friendly

methods

and

technologies.
Ecologization of environmental management is the

implementation of environmental management
based on the principles of preserving the quality of

the environment, aimed at preserving resources

and fully ensuring the existence of a healthy
society.

When

ecologizing

environmental

management, the following principles are used:
1) harmonization of relations between nature and

production through the creation and functioning of

various systems (natural-technical, geotechnical,
ecological-economic) formed from elements of the

production and natural environment;
2) consolidation of production by creating

territorial production complexes based on the
rational integrated use of raw materials, energy

and natural resources available in a particular
economic area;
3) by reducing the amount of waste generated in

the production process and the full use of raw

materials, the rate of production of useful products
is faster than the rate of preparation and extraction

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of raw materials;
4) optimization of environmental management -

making optimal decisions on the use of certain

resources based on simultaneous environmental

and economic approaches and forecasting the
development of industries and geographical

regions;
5) rational use of renewable (with precise

consideration of the scale of annual reproduction)

and non-renewable (through economical use or
replacement with other) resources;
6) the principle of regionality - the need for strict

consideration of local and regional conditions for

the use and protection of natural resources;
7) a systematic approach is the use and protection

of available resources based on a comprehensive

assessment of the impact and consequences of
production

on

the

environment,

their

interrelationships.

The main meaning of the word ”ecologization"

refers to the consistent introduction of the ideas of
ecology, rational nature management, nature and

environmental

protection

and

sustainable

development into the worldview system, into

legislation, management, technology, economics,
science, education (education, upbringing),

spirituality, culture and other fields [12].

According to V.A. Vronskшy, ecologization

is the

strengthening of the ecological orientation of
various branches of science and human economic

activity aimed at preserving nature and the
effective use of its resources [13, 381-p.].
N.F.Reimers believes that the only way to solve

global environmental problems is integrated

greening, that is, the ecological reorientation of all
types of human activity: science and knowledge,

industry,

agriculture,

transport,

urban

development and demographic policy [14, 57

–

b].

The greening of sciences is ensuring the active

participation of various sciences in solving
environmental problems. In other words, the

greening of geography is nothing more than the
introduction of an ecological approach into it. The

ecological approach in geographical science as a

method of cognition, like other scientific

approaches, is based on the objective unity of the
principles of interaction of a geosystem (or

geoecosystem) with a geographical shell
(environment) of any level belonging to the

geographical form or organizational structure of
the movement of matter.
I.P. Gerasimov paid great attention to this issue. In

his scientific article ”methodological problems of

ecologization of modern science“, published in the
journal ” Problems of Philosophy “ in 1978, the

concept of ecology and its genesis are analyzed in

detail, it is argued that ”the ecological approach to

the study of wildlife has long gone beyond the
biological sciences and has a clear tendency to

spread to other fields of scientific knowledge“,

therefore,"the interpretation of ecology as a

specific general approach to the study of various
objects of nature and society for example, the

systemic and cybernetic approaches, in my

opinion, the ecological approach”, and also "the

purpose of the ecological approach is to identify

and study the existing links between the object
studied by a particular science and its

environment" [15].
If the interaction of nature and society is analyzed

from the point of view of a geographically changing

equilibrium, they talk about a geoecological
approach. I.P. Gerasimov defined the content of the

geoecological approach as [16]:
1) control of environmental changes, i.e.

conducting anthropogenic monitoring;
2) forecasting the effects of human economic

activity on the environment;
3) prevention of natural disasters, reduction and

elimination of their consequences;
4) optimization of the environment of the created

natural and technical systems.

In the world scientific education, the

greening of modern geography is rightfully
considered its most important direction. The

increase in the scale and level of the practice of
transforming nature by man has led to the

emergence of catastrophic situations in various
regions of the planet Earth, such as the Aral Sea and

the Aral Sea region, and this process has been
assessed as an environmental crisis of a planetary

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scale [17]. Understanding such dangers and the
need to eliminate them in a timely manner have

made the main focus of geographical research the
territorial aspects of the relationship between

nature and society.

Geographical science in Uzbekistan, unlike

the geography of the countries of America and
Europe or Russia, was somewhat scientifically and

theoretically ready to accept progressive
environmental ideas, solve regional, national and

local environmental problems (for example, the
problems of the Aral Sea and the Aral Sea region),

but the greening of this science began relatively
late. The reason for this, in our opinion, was a

subjective factor, i.e. the political and ideological
control of the leadership of sciences during the

period of the former salt regime. Because under the
conditions of the socialist system and the economy,

there can be no unresolved environmental

problem; it has been firmly established that such
problems arise as a result of the abuse of natural

resources under the capitalist regime. After the
removal of political and administrative control

over the sciences during the period of
independence, geographical science in Uzbekistan

went through a process of literal greening, a new
scientific direction arose -geoecology, combining

the interests of natural and socio-economic
geography.
Knowledge or understanding of the true nature,

scientific and theoretical foundations of geoecology

begins with a scientific explanation of the origin of

this term. After all, the word “geoecology” has three

bases: geo/ECO/logy. The kernels of this word can
be considered as specific features explaining the

concept of "geoecology". Simply put, the core of

“geo” supposedly refers to abiotic (inanimate)

nature, and the core of "ECO" refers to biotic
(living) nature. In this sense, the combination of

“geoeco” reflects the unity of inanimate (dead) and

living (living) nature, and this combination also

reminds us of the dependence of the state of our
"home", that is, planet Earth, on human activity. On

the other hand, the core of the "Logos" in

"geoecology" means teaching or science.

The emergence of the term "geoecology" in

geography is directly related to the emergence of

the scientific field landscape ecology in 1939. The
founder of landscape ecology is the German natural

geographer K.A troll. He believes that the analysis
of environmental changes occurring in landscapes

by region is a process that “landscape ecology”
should study, and uses the word “geoe

cology" as a

synonym [18]. K.Troll believes that any landscape
should be studied based on an analysis of the

ecological relations between plants and the abiotic

environment, as well as the extent of natural and
anthropogenic impacts on landscape components

through an analysis of the balance of matter and
energy. This approach closely links the biological

productivity of landscapes with the edaphic and
climatic conditions of the environment.
Actually, the term "geoecology" K. Troll introduced

two approaches,

namely the “recumbent”

(horizontal) approach, studying the territorial

relationship of natural phenomena, and the

“vertical” (vertical) approach, studying the

relationship between phenomena occurring in

ecosystems of various spatial scales, in order to
prove the necessity and expediency of their

unification. The main reason was that both of these
approaches are partially considered in the context

of landscape science and biogeocenology. The term
was introduced at that time to compare with fully

branched structural bioecology (ecology of plants,
animals and microorganisms), that is, in contrast to

them.

Since the 80s of the XX century, geoecology

has begun to study systemic territorial phenomena
and processes resulting from the interaction of

nature and society, namely geoecosystems
(natural,

natural-anthropogenic

and

anthropogenic geoecosystems), their interrelation,
dynamics and stability. However, there are

different points of view and definitions of the
object, subject, purpose and objectives of

geoecology (K.Troll (1972), E.B.Alaev (1983),
N.F.Reimers (1990), V.S.Preobrazhensky (1990),

S.V.Clubs (1993), L.L.Prozorov (1993), V.I.Osipov
(1993), A.A.Rafikov (1997), S.P.Gorshkov (1998),

B.I.Kochurov

(1999),

A.I.Zhirov

(2001),

N.M.Davidenko (2003), N.A.Yasamanov (2003),
K.M.Petrov

(2004),

V.B.Pozdeev

(2004),

I.A.Karlovich

(2005),

G.N.Golubev

(2006),

L.L.Rozanov (2006), V.M.Kotlyakov (2007),

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A.I.Komarova (2007), S.Babbasov (2007), I.Ye .
Timashev

(2008),

V.T.Trofimov

(2014),

O.A.Klimanova (2014), Y.I.Akhmadaliev (2014),
Sh.M.Sharipov (2014), A.N.Nigmatov (2018, etc.),

and so far the only generally accepted definition
has not been fully formulated [19].
In particular, B.I. According to Kochurov,

geoecology is the science of territorial-temporal

(spatio-temporal) patterns of interaction of living
organisms with the abiotic environment in which

they live [20]. If this is the most complete
definition, then the object of geoecology is the

environment of the geographical shell in which the
activity of living organisms (including humans)

takes place, and the geoecosystems of various
scales of which it consists. Then the goal of

geoecology becomes to coordinate the negative
and positive effects of human economic activity on

the environment in order to effectively use

geoecosystems. This implies an ecological balance
that supports the physical, biological possibility of

life processes in the environment. In our opinion,
modern geoecology, as an interdisciplinary

scientific field that studies geoecosystems of
various scales in the integration of natural, social

and technical sciences, is engaged in research and
environmental assessment of the geographical

consequences of natural, anthropogenic and man-
made environmental changes.

Currently, several following points of view

have been formed, allowing us to understand

geoecology as a science (or scientific direction)::
1. Geoecology as a branch of general ecology

belongs to the category of environmental sciences.

The object of geoecology research in this case is
large-scale ecosystems, the subject of which is to

study the general patterns of interaction of abiotic
and biotic components in such high-level

ecosystems as the biosphere, mainland, ocean,

biome.
2. Geoecology as a geographical science belongs to

the category of geographical sciences. Currently,

geoecology is considered by some scientists as the
fourth component of geography (such as natural

geography, economic and social geography,
cartography). The object of geoecology research in

this case is geoecosystems, the subject is the study

of the patterns of natural, natural-anthropogenic
and anthropogenic geoecosystems.
3. Geoecology is a scientific field formed at the

junction of the sciences of geology and ecology -a

section of ecological geology that studies man-
made changes in the geological environment. The

object of geoecology research in this case will be
the geological environment, and the subject is the

study of the natural relationship of the geological
environment with other environments in the

atmosphere, hydrosphere and biosphere and the
assessment of the impact of human economic

activity on the geological environment.
4. Geoecology is an independent branch of

environmental science, at the junction of which
geography, ecology, biogeography, soil science and

geological sciences go hand in hand, at the junction
of which the object of research is a natural system

(geoecosystem), and the subject is natural systems
that

have

undergone

anthropogenic

transformation, i.e. geoecosystems - integrated
(synthetic) science.
The object of modern geoecology, according to

most scientists and our opinion, is the

geoecosystem. A geoecosystem is understood as a
natural system under the direct and indirect

influence of human economic activity, as well as an
anthropogenic (completely man-made) system,

which is a set of naturally anthropogenic (naturally
modified) or interconnected three (nature,

population, economy).

Geoecosystems such as “natural

-socio-economic

system”,

“natura

l-socio-

production

system”,

“natural

-

economic system”, “geoecosocial system”,

“integrated Geosystem", "complex ecological

-

economic system", in the interaction of two major

systems called "nature" and "society they
distinguish. Also, according to the organizational

structure, global, regional, national or local geo-
ecosystems can be distinguished. Geoecosystems

are characterized by such characteristics as that
they are in a state of internal variable equilibrium,

have few significant changes, are resistant to
external influences, restore their original state, and

also transition from one state to another.
The main task of geoecological research is the

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search for optimal, rational interaction between
nature, the population and the economy, whose

interests contradict each other. One of the
important aspects of the theory of geoecology is the

methodology of science and practice. This means
that while the methodology of science in

geoecology defines the conditions, directions and
methods of solving geoecological problems for

practice (society), the methodology of practice

provides geoecologists with information about the
expediency

of

methodological

complexes,

technologies for transforming geoecological
reality. The interrelation of the methodology of

science and practice makes it possible to introduce
innovations in geoecological activities (practice).

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