ASSESSMENT OF GREEN AND BLUE INFRASTRUCTURE IN URBAN ECOSYSTEMS IN THE REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA AND THE IMPACT ON ECOSYSTEM SERVICES.

Green infrastructure is a key element of a sustainable urban ecosystem. It is recognized as an effective approach based on the way nature works, being an important source of ecosystem services provided to the population. Green and blue solutions are one of the new tools that can help cities increase their resilience and sustainability. The green infrastructure (forest plantations, forest-parks, agricultural land, hedges, lineaments, etc.), the blue infrastructure (lands under marshy waters, rivers, ponds) was evaluated and compared with the grey infrastructure (roads, streets and squares, constructions) in cities and rural areas in the development regions of the Republic of Moldova. The results show that the spatial share of green infrastructure in cities with a population greater than 30 thousand inhabitants (Chișinău city, Bălți city, Cahul city) represents about 25-35% of the total area, the share of grey infrastructure is 50-60 %, and the blue one only 2-4%. In smaller cities, the share of green infrastructure can reach values of up to 50-70 percent, and in rural areas, the share of green infrastructure reaches around 70-90%, blue infrastructure 2-3%, and the built one 10-12%. Cultural ecosystem services related to different types of ecosystems were identified in terms of supply, regulation and support. The dependence of the amount of ecosystem services (air purification, carbon storage, leakage retention) on the weight of the ecological infrastructure in the investigated ecosystems was investigated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]