Vilniaus želdynų perspektyva

The article presents regulations on the development of the Vilnius green areas and their functional purpose for 2015. Against the background of all the Lithuanian lands, a particularly rich natural variety manifests itself in Vilnius and its environs: the old valleys of the rivers Nėis, Vilnia and Vokė as well as the relief, which had formed its shape in the course of various ages and glacial epochs, and large forested areas. The cradle of Vilnius - the confluence of the rivers Neris and Vilnele. It was here, in the complex ravine embracing the open expanses of the valley and the prominent river slopes that it has recorded its first pages of the urbanised landscape. The southern and eastern outskirts of the city are the hilly Medininkai heights, the formation of which goes back to the Ice Age. In the North, in the valley of the upper Neris, there stretch the forest of Valakampiai - Nemenčinė. The terraced, wooded slopes of the Neris surround the city in the Western direction. This is the place where a geoecological boundary of the country runs. The perspective structure of the city green areas bases itself on a natural location of the territory, and it forms a geologically integral natural landscape system which serves for the urban and functional purpose of the city. The following functional zones can be singled out: 1. The central city park - a system of the objects belonging to the public green areas of all - the city importance. The nature and cultural values of the park as well as its favourable natural position facilitate to expand its cognitive and recreational functions with an advanced infrastructure of the service and a high quality of the equipment. The central park consist of ten bigger objects covering 2822 ha. 2. Regional parks are laid out on the basis of the existing naturally valuable territories. They have good communications both with residential complexes and the adjacent central city green areas. The parks are polyfunctional, i.e. they provide facilities for recreation, rest and sport. They are projected in every residential area, covering nearly 2153 ha. The objects of the central park, the regional parks as well as other public areas, such as squares, public gardens, green links and riverside belts form a system of continuous communications provided by the park roads. These roads have tracks for bicyclists and paths for pedestrians, and they make part of a general public transport system. 3. The green areas of a special profile, such as cemeteries and botanical gardens, belonging to a general system of green areas and are the structural components of separate objects. 4. In the course of a purposeful forest exploitation, the majority of the forests in the city and suburban zones can be successfully adapted for the purpose of rest, tourism and winter sports. As many as six forest parks, which cover 3580 ha, have been singled out according to their most valuable species of vegetation and the prominence of the relief. 5. In respect of the nature protection and heritage recommendations, the project singles out and respects the natural state - protected territories. Vilnius boasts of two regional parks - Verkiai. Park and Pavilnys Park; four nature reserves - the Karoliniškės landscape reserve, the Vanagine and Griovti geo-morphological reserve and the Advarčionys geomorphological - botanical reserve; and the nature monuments - the Šeškine crest and Vingis Park. Some nature objects, which present local importance, such as the Sapiega Park and Vilkpede Park as well as the Vingriai and Župtonys springs, etc. are at the disposal of the City Municipality. The historical national Pilių (Castles) Park looks forward to the approval by the Seimas of the Republic. Vilnius, which boasts of an exceptional variety of its natural landscape, has no all-round program up to the present time both for the improvement of a general ecological state of the city and the development of a separate system of green areas as well as for the arrangement of separate objects in the green areas. With the growth of the city, its natural green areas are gradually turning into natural deserts due to the failure to properly prepare them for exploitation. The guidelines on the prospect of the green areas presented in the article can serve as a basis for the drawing up of a program and the disposal of high quality green areas of the city.