Abstract
The role of geospatial modeling as a basis for the effective management of sustainable development is examined in the paper. The timeliness of geospatial modeling for planning regional natural resource management is stated. A new term is proposed: a natural resource geospatial model (NRGM). The purposes and main structural elements of the model are described. Relevance and reliability criteria of NRGM data are given. The significance of natural resource geospatial models as a tool for integrating heterogeneous data (e. g., Earth remote sensing data, state cadastral data, government statistics) are emphasized. The main tasks associated with optimizing natural resource management by using NRGM are listed. A case study of forest resources modeling in the Novosibirsk Region (Russia) is described.