Search Results (16)

The impact of high temperatures on tourist flows in urban and rural areas is both complex and multi-dimensional, yet research remains limited regarding their spatial and temporal differences. This study aims to analyze the changes in tourist flows between urban and rural areas under high-temperature conditions and to identify the key factors driving these patterns, contributing to climate-resilient tourism planning. Using Shanghai, China, as a case study, we constructed an attraction-based tourist flow model with Baidu migration data, integrating a self-organizing feature map for urban–rural classification and Pearson correlation analysis to examine influencing factors. The results showed that high temperatures significantly reduced tourist flows in both urban and rural areas, with a more pronounced impact observed in rural areas. This reduction altered spatial patterns, shifting from a multicentric distribution to an urban-centered concentration. Furthermore, high temperatures affected the timing of tourist flows differently across regions. In urban areas, tourist flows tended to start earlier, and key driving factors, such as facility services and economic levels, remained stable and continued to exert a dominant influence. In contrast, rural tourist flows were delayed under high-temperature conditions, with tourists showing a preference for cooler attractions further from urban centers. These findings highlight the need for targeted climate adaptation strategies, including improving cooling infrastructure in urban areas and promoting eco-friendly, sustainable tourism initiatives in rural regions. This study offers empirical evidence to support policy efforts aimed at fostering coordinated urban–rural tourism development and advancing sustainable adaptation to climate change. Full article

The effective allocation of labor and cultivated land resources to ensure food security is a global concern. Understanding the relationship between rural labor off-farm employment and the eco-efficiency of cultivated land use (ECLU) is critical, yet current research in this area remains insufficient. This study explores the dynamics between off-farm employment and ECLU using the North China Plain as a case study, analyzing panel data from 2001 to 2020 through spatial econometric models. The findings reveal significant temporal expansion and spatial differentiation in off-farm employment, with growth rates gradually slowing and spatial disparities diminishing. The average ECLU initially declined from 2001 to 2003, followed by fluctuating increases, with a notable acceleration in growth after 2017. A “U-shaped” relationship between off-farm employment and ECLU was identified, with a turning point at an off-farm employment ratio of 40.73%, occurring around 2003–2004 based on regional averages. Before this threshold, off-farm employment negatively impacted ECLU, while beyond this point, the impact became positive. The study also observed significant spatial spillover effects of off-farm employment on ECLU in the North China Plain. These findings underscore the complex interplay between rural labor migration and agricultural productivity. To maximize the benefits of off-farm employment, policies should encourage the reinvestment of income into sustainable agricultural practices. Furthermore, the significant spatial spillover effects call for enhanced regional coordination and tailored policy interventions to optimize labor allocation and improve ECLU. Full article

High nature value farmland (HNVf) plays an important role in improving biodiversity and landscape heterogeneity, and it is effective in curbing soil non-point source pollution and carbon loss in sustainable eco-agricultural systems. To this end, we developed high-resolution (2 m × 2 m) indicators for the identification of potential HNVf based on GF1B remote sensing imaging, including the land cover (LC), normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), Shannon diversity (SH), and Simpsons index (SI). The statistical results for LC with high resolution (2 m × 2 m) showed that there was 41.05% of intensive farmland in the study area, and the pixel proportion of the HNVf map (above G3) was 44.30%. These HNVf patches were concentrated in the transition zone around the edge of the intensive farmland and around rivers, with characteristics of HNVf type 2 being significantly reflected. Among the real-life areas from Map World, elements (i.e., linear forests, rivers, and semi-natural vegetation etc.) of HNVf accounted for more than 70% of these regions, while a field survey based on potential HNVf patches also exhibited significant HNVf characteristics in comparison with intensive farmlands. In addition, from 2002 to 2020, the total migration distance of the gravity center of intensive farmland in the study area was 7.65 km. Moreover, four landscape indices (patch COH index, landscape division index, SH, and SI) slowly increased, indicating that the species richness and biodiversity were improved. It was also found that a series of ecological protection policies provide effective guarantees for an improvement in species diversity and the development of HNVf in the study area. In particular, the average contents of As, Cr, Cu, Ni, and Zn in the HNVf were 20.99 mg kg⁻¹, 121.11 mg kg⁻¹, 21.97 mg kg⁻¹, 29.34 mg kg⁻¹, and 41.68 mg kg⁻¹, respectively, which were lower in comparison with the intensive farmland soil. This is the first HNVf exploration for landscape and soil pollution assessment in a coastal delta in China, and could provide powerful guidance for the ecological protection of farmland soil and the high-quality development of sustainable agriculture. Full article

Agricultural development is a necessary component of national development efforts to fight food crises and promote poverty reduction in many developing countries. However, many developing countries have fallen into a stalemate between modernization and development—modernized areas are less capable of driving regional development despite their abundant land and rich population. Striking a balance between agricultural technology and environmental protection is a key feature of sustainable land development. Based on the social–ecological resilience theory, this study takes Cambodia as an example and aims to establish a comprehensive evaluation index system to measure the agricultural production, regional road construction, and agricultural eco-environment in Cambodia. The coupled coordination model and gray relation analysis model are utilized to explore the interaction between agriculture, roads, and the agricultural eco-environment. The results show that (1) Cambodia has road environmental risks, and there is a need for rural labor migration in areas with higher levels of economic development. (2) The main agricultural production areas are faced with the dilemma of lagging infrastructure development, such as roads, and a huge potential for agricultural development. (3) In the plains areas, the growing population has caused tension between food security, fertilizer abuse, and deforestation, which intensified the disturbance of the agricultural ecological environment. In summary, based on their own developmental needs, developing countries at different stages of development can explore the interaction between agricultural production, infrastructure development, and the agricultural eco-environment in the process of agricultural development. This study attempts to provide a set of practical development policy implications for developing countries that are seeking to enhance the coupling relationship between agricultural production, infrastructure, and the agricultural eco-environment. Full article

In the Yangtze River Delta region, where the agricultural economy is well developed and agricultural pollution and carbon emissions are significant, a regional study of AEE (Agricultural Eco-Efficiency) is crucial to reducing agricultural environmental pollution, improving the rationalization of agricultural production layout, and promoting the realization of low-carbon goals. The SBM-Tobit model and GIS were employed to analyze AEE based on the carbon emission evaluation system in the spatial and temporal characteristics, as well as the influencing factors and the migration path of the center of gravity in the “low carbon” context. A rational plan of agricultural production was proposed according to the results. The following results were obtained: (1) The level of AEE in the Yangtze River Delta region was high, and the region exhibited a U-shaped curve change from 2000 to 2020, with a fluctuating decrease from 2000 to 2003 and a fluctuating increase from 2004 to 2020. The regional spatial development balance was enhanced, while there was a spatial incongruity in the development process of AEE enhancement, high in the southwest and low in the northeast; (2) AEE generally had a high regionalized agglomeration of low–low in the southwest and high–high in the northeast. Nonetheless, temporal heterogeneity was observed in spatial correlation, and the correlation weakened with time variation; (3) Urbanization level, agricultural production structure, crop cultivation structure, and fertilizer application intensity were the main factors influencing AEE in the Yangtze River Delta region; (4) The center of gravity of AEE in the Yangtze River Delta region shifted to the southwest under the influence of “low-carbon” related policies. Therefore, the improvement of AEE in the Yangtze River Delta region should focus on inter-regional coordination and linkages, rational planning of production factors, and the formulation of measures under relevant carbon policies. Full article

Background. In China, the policy of ecological migration is a new approach to protect the urban ecological environment. However, the changes in livelihood capital before and after migration and the matching relationship between the livelihood capital and livelihood model of migrants are rarely explored. Our study aims to address these research gaps to determine factors affecting the urban integration of eco-migrant families and their means of sustainable livelihood. Methods. We used the survey data of migrant households in China in 2017 and 2018. Heckman’s two-stage model and the endogenous transformation regression model were applied for data analysis. Results. First, most migrants are willing to integrate into urban life after relocation, but the efficiency of their integration into urban life needs to be improved. Second, differences in demographic background and geographic location significantly affect the decisions of migrants in urban integration. Third, family heterogeneity has the greatest impact on the degree of urban integration, followed by geographical location. Lastly, the high degree of urban integration of migrants has a significant impact on their household income. Conclusions. Local governments and communities should provide immigrant families migrating from rural to urban China with more social and economic resources for their better socioeconomic integration. Full article

The mining industry is one of the pillar industries of Guangxi’s economic and social development. The output value of mining and related industries accounts for 27% of the whole district’s total industrial output value. Therefore, the mining eco-efficiency measurement in Guangxi can be of great significance for the sustainable development of Guangxi’s mining industry. This study adopted Meta-US-SBM to measure the mining eco-efficiency in Guangxi from 2008 to 2018, including economic efficiency, resource efficiency, and environmental efficiency. It used the standard deviation ellipse model to simulate the migration trend of four efficiencies in Guangxi and used GeoDetector and Tobit models to explore the internal and external factors that affect the mining eco-efficiency. The four efficiencies in Guangxi show large temporal and spatial heterogeneity, and the internal and external factors that affect the mining eco-efficiency are different. The following conclusions can be drawn. (1) Environmental efficiency and mining eco-efficiency are improving, while economic efficiency and resource efficiency are deteriorating. Cities bordering other provinces have a significantly better mining eco-efficiency than non-bordering cities. (2) The development center in Guangxi has migrated to the Beibu Gulf Economic Zone. (3) Natural resources index and mining economic scale have a great impact on the mining eco-efficiency, and with the increase of the mining economic scale, the mining eco-efficiency showed a typical “U-shaped” curve. Finally, this study put forward corresponding policy recommendations to improve the mining eco-efficiency in Guangxi from four aspects: opening-up, technological progress, regional coordination, and government control. Full article

Immigrants are a special group whose livelihood stability is crucial to local sustainable development. To understand the positive effect of eco-migration policy on the immigrants, we innovatively selected the perspective of stability and quantified immigrants’ livelihood stability with relevant concepts, including livelihood capitals and strategies, response capacity, and land-use efficiency, which helped identify the problems and put forward suggestions to enhance livelihood sustainability, achieve better social integration, and promote the sustainable development of the rural resettlement areas. Huanjiang County was used as a study case as it is the largest and most representative eco-migrant resettlement county of the southwestern karst region, China. Aided by participatory rural appraisal (PRA), this paper explores the livelihood stability of immigrants and takes natives as the reference group. The results show that the livelihood stability values of immigrants were less than that of natives, but the gap was smaller than ten years ago; the natural, social, and other capitals owned by immigrants were almost the same as those of natives, demonstrating that the Chinese government’s poverty alleviation policies have benefitted immigrants. However, both immigrants and natives were found to have less natural and social capitals; high income dependency and an unbalanced proportion of income sources in addition to low land-use efficiency. Therefore, there are several suggestions put forward to achieve stable livelihood and rural sustainable development, and these items should be given increased consideration by both the government and households in resettlement areas. Full article

To maintain sustainability and availability of regional water resources, appropriate integrated water resource management (IWRM) should be based on an assessment of water resource background and responses to regional development and utilization policies. The study proposed an assessment method combining hydrological variation analysis with a system dynamics (SD) model to support IWRM in the Baiyangdian Region, Northern China. Integrated variation analysis and attributive analysis were used to identify variation time and causes of runoff. Then, based on the current water resource situation, an accessibility analysis examined the possibility of achieving a water resources supply and demand balance of social economic development and the ecological environment within individual internal management. Finally, an SD model simulated water resource response to development policies to predict future policy impacts. Results showed that 65.18% of the impact on runoff was from human activities. Sustainability goals were impossible through internal management, but with eco-migration policies and 1 × 10⁸ m³ inter-basin transferred water, it could quickly be achieved, and water ecosystem function could also be recovered. Establishment of the Xiong’an New Area necessitated introduction of integrated cross-basin management to protect the Baiyangdian Region from degradation of its ecological function. Our study proposed a new method for comparation of internal and cross-basin IWRM. Full article

Long-term land changes are cumulatively a major driver of global environmental change. Historical land-cover/use change is important for assessing present landscape conditions and researching ecological environment issues, especially in eco-fragile areas. Arable land is one of the land types influenced by human agricultural activity, reflecting human effects on land-use and land-cover change. This paper selected Zhenlai County, which is part of the farming–pastoral zone of northern China, as the research region. As agricultural land transformation goes with the establishment of settlements, in this research, the historical progress of land transformation in agricultural areas was analyzed from the perspective of settlement evolution, and the historical reconstruction of arable land was established using settlement as the proxy between their inner relationships, which could be reflected by the farming radius. The results show the following. (1) There was little land transformation from nonagricultural areas into agricultural areas until the Qing government lifted the ban on cultivation and mass migration accelerated the process, which was most significant during 1907–1912; (2) The overall trend of land transformation in this region is from northeast to southwest; (3) Taking the topographic maps as references, the spatial distribution of the reconstructed arable land accounts for 47.79% of the maps. When this proxy-based reconstruction method is applied to other regions, its limitations should be noticed. It is important to explore the research of farming radius calculations based on regional characteristics. To achieve land-system sustainability, long-term historical land change trajectories and characteristics should be applied to future policy making. Full article

Given its associated burden of disease, climate change in South Africa could be reframed as predominately a health issue, one necessitating an urgent health-sector response. The growing impact of climate change has major implications for South Africa, especially for the numerous vulnerable groups in the country. We systematically reviewed the literature by searching PubMed and Web of Science. Of the 820 papers screened, 34 were identified that assessed the impacts of climate change on health in the country. Most papers covered effects of heat on health or on infectious diseases (20/34; 59%). We found that extreme weather events are the most noticeable effects to date, especially droughts in the Western Cape, but rises in vector-borne diseases are gaining prominence. Climate aberration is also linked in myriad ways with outbreaks of food and waterborne diseases, and possibly with the recent Listeria epidemic. The potential impacts of climate change on mental health may compound the multiple social stressors that already beset the populace. Climate change heightens the pre-existing vulnerabilities of women, fishing communities, rural subsistence farmers and those living in informal settlements. Further gender disparities, eco-migration and social disruptions may undermine the prevention—but also treatment—of HIV. Our findings suggest that focused research and effective use of surveillance data are required to monitor climate change’s impacts; traditional strengths of the country’s health sector. The health sector, hitherto a fringe player, should assume a greater leadership role in promoting policies that protect the public’s health, address inequities and advance the country’s commitments to climate change accords. Full article

The Three Rivers Source Region of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is a key area that has extensive impacts on much of the population and economy of China as well as several Southeast Asian countries. The rangeland in this area has undergone degradation, the driving factors of which have been extensively investigated in previous studies. However, the effect of policy on rangeland was not analyzed by subdividing the study period according to the timing of the rangeland policies. The role of dry conditions during the process of degradation has not been studied. Therefore, the period from 1984 to 2009 was subdivided into five periods according to the timing of the relevant government policies based on long-term field investigation. The mean annual normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and its relationship to dry conditions, policy, temperature, precipitation, and moisture index were analyzed for the five periods. According to our analysis, dry conditions mainly occurred in non-vegetation-growing months, and they did not affect the status of the rangeland. The privatization of rangeland and livestock caused the number of livestock to increase, resulting in a decrease in the mean annual NDVI from 1984 to 1993. The policies of “Green-to-Grain” and eco-migration caused livestock numbers to decrease and the NDVI to increase after 1994. Physical factors such as temperature, precipitation, and moisture also affected the status of the rangeland. Increased temperature had positive effects on rangeland in most areas, but its effect was offset by increased numbers of livestock from 1984 to 1993. Precipitation had positive effects only in drier areas in which the precipitation in the vegetation-growing months was less than 400 mm. In general, the policies of “Green-to-Grain” and eco-migration improved the status of rangeland, and helped improve sustainable use of the rangeland. The methods used in this study could be applied to other case studies of rangeland. Governments should continue to implement compensation policies to maintain the improved condition of rangeland in the area and expand those policies to other rangeland areas. Full article

This paper analyzes public awareness and perception about current issues of environmental and water resources in China in comparison to the socio-economic issues. The ranking, Likert scale, and ordered logit analysis were applied to data from 1773 sample residents in northwest China. The results show that the residents rank the degradation of the ecological environment and water resources as the most important issue, and education, political involvement, gender, employment, and residential location play significant roles in explaining the observed differences in concern. Of the possible environmental and water resource restoration policies, residents ranked water quantity and quality, agricultural and industrial water use, erosion control, vegetation restoration, wildlife habitat, animal brooding and migration services, biodiversity landscape, and eco-tourism from one to nine in order of importance, respectively. The results are relevant for policymaking and imply that environmental restoration is a high public demand. Welfare gains from investments in it would be higher or equal to gains from other socio-economic and livelihood activities. Thus, public policies must emphasize restoring and maintaining a sustainable ecological environment. Full article

In past decades, ecological services and functions of alpine grassland in the Three-River Headwater Region (TRHR), Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, have been severely degraded due to overgrazing and overuse of yak dung as a fuel. Therefore, the eco-migration project has been implemented by the national government for improving eco-environmental quality in this region. This paper examines the carbon cycle change from clean energy use of households and assesses its influence on the local grassland ecosystem. Based on the data of household fuels from questionnaire surveys and local statistical yearbooks, we have calculated carbon emission and the ecological benefits by using clean energies. The results showed that total carbon in the process from Net Primary Productivity (NPP) of the ecosystem to dung fuel decreases sharply, and carbon emission from dung is approximate 6% of ecosystem NPP. Reducing the use of yak dung as a fuel has no significant influence on carbon emission, but improves the ecological benefits of the grassland ecosystem, because it is a very important part of the ecosystem carbon cycle. With the most abundant solar energy resources in China, the region should make full use of its advantage for improving ecosystem service values of alpine grassland by making more dung returns to grassland. In conclusion, a clean energy policy (CEP) can effectively improve the ecological services and functions of alpine grassland in the TRHR. Full article

Ecological migration policy has been proposed and implemented as a means for depopulating ecological restoration areas in the arid Northwest China. Migration intention is critical to the effectiveness of ecological migration policy. However, studies on migration intention in relation to ecological migration policy in China remain scant. Thus this paper aims to investigate the rural residents’ migration intentions and their affecting factors under ecological migration policy in Minqin County, an ecological restoration area, located at the lower terminus of Shiyang River Basin in arid Northwest China. The data for this study come from a randomly sampled household questionnaire survey. Results from logistic regression modelling indicate that most residents do not intend to migrate, despite rigid eco-environmental conditions and governance polices threatening livelihood sustainability. In addition to demographic and socio-economic factors, the eco-environmental factors are also significantly correlated with the possibility of a resident intending to migrate. The implications of the significant independent variables for the sustainability of ecological migration policy are discussed. The paper concludes that ecological migration policies may ultimately be more sustainable when taking into account household interests within complex migration intention contexts, such as household livelihoods dynamics and environmental change. Full article