MOLDOVA'S CODRY – PRIORITY REGION FOR BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION

One of the priority regions of biodiversity conservation in the Republic of Moldova is the Central Region of Codry, where unlike other regions, the share of natural ecosystems is satisfactory and their functionality is relatively optimal. In this context, ten protected natural areas, which are part of the Codry Forest District from Moldovan Central Plateau, were included in the researches. These areas belong to the following categories of protection: Monuments of Nature, Forest Natural Reservations and Landscape Reservations. The study is based on field and laboratory researches. The ecosystems were evaluated in the main phenological development phases of vegetation and animal life. The diversity of flora and fauna has been established. The emphasis is placed on assessing the valuable species of flora and fauna protected in this area and their abundance. As a result of the researches it was found that each of the evaluated areas has its role in preserving certain valuable species. As a component part of the same forest massif, similarly for the researched areas is the protection of the precious sectors with forest vegetation and the conservation the flora and fauna specific for the Codry area. The presence of certain rare species only in some reservations and their absence in others makes the difference between the valuable biological potential of the researched areas. A greater diversity of rare flora and fauna species has been recorded in Landscape Reservations.