Search Results (977)

In rapidly urbanizing regions, escalating land use conflicts have raised concerns over sustainable development and ecological security. This study focuses on the Chang-Ji-Tu Development and Opening Pilot Zone in Jilin Province, aiming to reveal the spatiotemporal evolution of land use conflicts and identify their driving factors, based on land use data from 2000 to 2023. The study employs land use data, the PLUS model, SCCI, and the geographic detector to analyze conflict dynamics and influencing factors. Cropland and forest land have steadily declined, while construction land has expanded. Conflicts exhibit a spatial gradient of “western pressure, central alleviation, and eastern stability,” with hotspots in Changchun, Jilin, and Yanji. Conflict evolution is categorized into three phases: intensification (2000–2010), peak (2010–2015), and mitigation (2015–2023), as shaped by industrialization and later policy interventions. Among four simulated scenarios, the Sustainable Development (SD) scenario most effectively postpones conflict escalation. Population density and DEM emerged as dominant driving factors. Natural factors have greater explanatory power for land use conflicts than do socio-economic or locational factors. Strengthening spatial planning coordination and refining conflict governance are key to balancing human–environment interactions in the region. Full article

Land use/land cover (LULC) change constitutes a critical driver influencing regional carbon cycling processes. Optimizing LULC structures represents a significant pathway toward the realization of carbon neutrality. This study takes Liaoning Province as a case area to analyze LULC changes from 2000 to 2020 and to assess their impacts on land use carbon emissions (LUCE) and ecosystem carbon storage (ECS). To accelerate the achievement of carbon neutrality, four development scenarios are established: natural development (ND), low-carbon emission (LCE), high-carbon storage (HCS), and carbon neutrality (CN). For each scenario, corresponding optimization objectives and constraint conditions are defined, and a multi-objective LULC optimization coupling model is formulated to optimize both the quantity structure and spatial pattern of LULC. On this basis, the model quantifies ECS and LUCE under the four scenarios and evaluates the economic value of each scenario and its contribution to the carbon neutrality target. Results indicate the following: (1) From 2000 to 2020, the extensive expansion of construction land resulted in a reduction in ECS by 12.72 × 10⁶ t and an increase in LUCE by 150.44 × 10⁶ t; (2) Compared to the ND scenario, the LCE scenario exhibited the most significant performance in controlling carbon emissions, while the HCS scenario achieved the highest increase in carbon sequestration. The CN scenario showed significant advantages in reducing LUCE, enhancing ECS, and promoting economic growth, achieving a reduction of 0.18 × 10⁶ t in LUCE, an increase of 118.84 × 10⁶ t in ECS, and an economic value gain of 3386.21 × 10⁶ yuan. This study optimizes the LULC structure from the perspective of balancing economic development, LUCE reduction, and ECS enhancement. It addresses the inherent conflict between regional economic growth and ecological conservation, providing scientific evidence and policy insights for promoting LULC optimization and advancing carbon neutrality in similar regions. Full article

This study investigates the concept of landscape services (LS), which integrate environmental and sociocultural dimensions of sustainable development. Recognizing landscapes as essential to daily life and well-being, the research aims to support sustainable spatial planning by analyzing both their potential and their actual use. The study has three main objectives: (1) to assess the potential of 16 selected landscape types to provide six key LS through expert evaluation; (2) to determine actual LS usage patterns among the local community (residents); and (3) to identify agreements and discrepancies between expert assessments and resident use. The services analyzed include providing space for daily activities; regulating spatial structure through diversity and compositional richness; enhancing physical and mental health; enabling passive and active recreation; supporting personal fulfillment; and fostering social interaction. Expert-based surveys and participatory mapping with residents were used to assess the provision and use of LS. The results indicate consistent evaluations for forest and historical urban landscapes (high potential and use) and mining and transportation landscapes (low potential and use). However, significant differences emerged for mountain LS, rated highly by experts but used minimally by residents. These insights highlight the importance of aligning expert planning with community needs to promote sustainable land use policies and reduce spatial conflicts. Full article

The intersection of sports and natural forests and green spaces represents an emerging interdisciplinary field with implications for public health, environmental science, and sustainable land management and refers to the variety of cultural ecosystem services demanded by people from ecosystems. This manuscript presents a systematic bibliometric and thematic analysis of 148 publications for the period 1993–2024 identified through Web of Science and Scopus, aiming to evaluate the current state of research on sports activities conducted in natural forest environments. Findings indicated a marked increase in scientific interest of this topic over the past two decades, with key contributions from countries such as England, Germany, China, and the United States. Researchers most frequently examined sports such as hiking, trail running, mountain biking, and orienteering for their capacity to provide physiological and psychological benefits, reduce stress, and enhance mental well-being. The literature analysis highlights ecological concerns, particularly those associated with habitat disturbance, biodiversity loss, and conflicts between recreation and conservation. Six principal research themes were identified: sports in urban forests, sports tourism, hunting and fishing, recreational sports, health benefits, and environmental impacts. Keyword and co-authorship analyses revealed a multidisciplinary knowledge base with evolving thematic focuses. In conclusion, the need for integrated approaches that incorporate ecological impact assessment, stakeholder perspectives, and adaptive forest governance to ensure sustainable recreational use of natural forest ecosystems is underlined. Full article

As part of the post-conflict reconstruction and recovery, the development of Kabul New City aims to bring relief to the existing capital city, Kabul, which has experienced exponential population growth, putting heavy pressure on its existing resources. Kabul New City is divided into four subsectors, and each of them is being developed and is expected to reach a target population by 2025, as defined by the master plan. The study’s objective is to determine which of the four zones are in demand and need to be prioritized for development, as per the model results. The data collection involves an online questionnaire, and the responses are collected from residents of Kabul and Herat. Agent-based modeling (ABM) is an emerging method of simulating urban dynamics. Cities are evolving continuously and are forming unique spatial patterns that result from the movement of residents in search of new locations that accommodate their needs and preferences. An agent-based model is developed using the weighted random selection process based on household size and income levels. The agents are the residents of Kabul and Herat, and the environment is the land use classification image using the Sentinel 2 image of Kabul New City. The barren class is treated as the developable area and is divided into four sub-sectors. The model simulates three alternative growth rate scenarios, i.e., ambitious, moderate, and steady. The results of the simulation reveal that the sub-sector Dehsabz South, being closer to Kabul city, is in higher demand. Barikab is another sub-sector high in demand, which has connectivity through the highway and is an upcoming industrial hub. Full article

National parks represent a global initiative for biodiversity conservation and environmentally sustainable societal development, with China having launched its own national park program. The establishment and operation of these parks significantly impact local residents’ livelihoods. Based on DFID’s Sustainable Livelihoods Framework, an assessment tool introduced by the UK Department for International Development (DFID) for evaluating the livelihood standards of residents, this study constructs a structural equation modeling (SEM) framework to analyze how national parks affect residents’ livelihoods, discussing livelihood risk management and feasible capacity-building interventions. Focusing on the Northeast Tiger and Leopard National Park as a case study, the research reveals that indirect wildlife-inflicted damage poses more pronounced negative impacts on local communities than park establishment policies. Both regulatory land-use restrictions and wildlife conflicts disrupt land-based livelihood activities, ultimately affecting residents’ livelihood stability. Mitigation requires comprehensive measures, including retaining essential farmland; providing vocational skill training; offering specialized loans; diversifying employment channels; and improving compensation mechanisms to safeguard residents’ livelihood security. Full article

The multi-scale characteristics of remote sensing imagery have an inherent correspondence with the hierarchical structure of land cover classification systems, providing a theoretical foundation for multi-level land cover classification. However, most existing methods treat classification tasks at different semantic levels as independent processes, overlooking the semantic relationships among these levels, which leads to semantic inconsistencies and structural conflicts in classification results. We addressed this issue with a deep multi-task learning (MTL) framework, named MTL-SCH, which enables collaborative classification across multiple semantic levels. MTL-SCH employs a shared encoder combined with a feature cascade mechanism to boost information sharing and collaborative optimization between two levels. A hierarchical loss function is also embedded that explicitly models the semantic dependencies between levels, enhancing semantic consistency across levels. Two new evaluation metrics, namely Semantic Alignment Deviation (SAD) and Enhancing Semantic Alignment Deviation (ESAD), are also proposed to quantify the improvement of MTL-SCH in semantic consistency. In the experimental section, MTL-SCH is applied to different network models, including CNN, Transformer, and CNN-Transformer models. The results indicate that MTL-SCH improves classification accuracy in coarse- and fine-level segmentation tasks, significantly enhancing semantic consistency across levels and outperforming traditional flat segmentation methods. Full article

The change in the socio-political formation of Russia from a socialist planned system to a capitalist market system significantly influenced agriculture and one of its components—arable land. The loss of the sustainability of land management for arable land led to a reduction in sown areas by 38% (from 119.7 to 74.7 million ha) and a synchronous drop in gross harvests of grain and leguminous crops by 48% (from 117 to 61 million tons). The situation stabilized in 2020, with a sowing area of 80.2 million ha and gross harvests of grain and leguminous crops of 120–150 million tons. This process was not formalized legally, and the official (legal) area of arable land decreased by only 8% from 132.8 to 122.3 million ha. Legal conflict arose for 35 million ha for unused arable land, for which there was no classification of its condition categories and no monitoring of the withdrawal time of the arable land from actual agricultural use. The aim of this study was to resolve the challenges in the method of retrospective monitoring of soil–land cover, which allowed for the achievement of the aims of the investigation—to elucidate the history of land use on arable lands from 1985 to 2025 with a time step of 5 years and to obtain a detailed classification of the arable lands’ abandonment degrees. It was also established that on most of the abandoned arable land, carbon sequestration occurs in the form of secondary forests. In the course of this work, it was shown that the reasons for the formation of an array of abandoned arable land and the stabilization of agricultural production turned out to be interrelated. The abandonment of arable land occurred proportionally to changes in the soil’s natural fertility and the degree of land degradation. Economically unprofitable lands spontaneously (without centralized planning) left the sowing zone. The efficiency of land use on the remaining lands has increased and has allowed for the mass application of modern farming systems (smart, precise, landscape-adaptive, differentiated, no-till, strip-till, etc.), which has further increased the profitability of crop production. The prospect of using abandoned lands as a carbon sequestration zone in areas of forest overgrowth has arisen. Full article

Community-Based Forest Management (CBFM) efforts are critical for sustainable natural resource governance in Northwest Ethiopia. This study investigated the various aspects of CBFM, emphasizing practical implementation in the context of the Awi Administrative Zone, Northwest Ethiopia. A structured questionnaire was handed out to 412 farmers across three districts—Dangila, Fagita Lokoma, and Banja. The quantitative data was analyzed using the Likert scale with SPSS version 23 software. Findings indicate that insufficient financial support (44%), limited community participation (30%), and weak institutional arrangements (19%) are the major factors impeding effective CBFM, with statistically significant regional variation (χ² = 242.8, df = 3, p = 0.000). On the other side, increased awareness and international support (34%) and enhanced local participation (36%) were the leading facilitators (χ² = 512.05, df = 11, p = 0.000). We look at the practical aspects of CBFM, from community-led conservation efforts to sustainable harvesting techniques, emphasizing the importance of indigenous knowledge alongside modern methodologies. The CBFM project in the northwest part of Ethiopia have facilitated biodiversity protection and environmental resilience by integrating local perspectives with broader developmental goals. However, obstacles such as land tenure, resource conflicts, and capacity restrictions continue, requiring adaptive methods and legislative reforms. This paper contributes to the ongoing discussion on sustainable natural resource management by offering empirical insights into the dynamics of CBFM in the Awi administrative zone of northwest Ethiopia. Full article

As human activities increasingly encroach on ecologically sensitive lake zones, China’s lake-ring urban agglomerations struggle to balance the intensifying human footprint (HF) and declining habitat quality (EQ). Addressing the spatiotemporal interactions between HF and EQ is essential for achieving human–environment coordination. This study examined five major freshwater lake-ring urban agglomerations in China during the period from 2000 to 2020 and developed an HF–EQ assessment framework. First, the coupling coordination degree (CCD) model quantified the spatiotemporal coupling between HF and EQ. Second, GeoDetector identified how HF and EQ interact to influence CCD. Finally, the four-quadrant static model and CCD change rate index formed a dual-dimensional management framework. The results indicate that the spatiotemporal evolution patterns of HF and EQ are highly complementary, exhibiting a significant coupling interaction. High-CCD zones expanded from lakeside urban areas and transport corridors, while low-CCD zones remained in remote, forested areas. HF factors such as GDP, land use intensity, and nighttime lights dominated CCD dynamics, while EQ-related factors showed increasing interaction effects. Five human–environment coordination zones were identified based on the static and dynamic characteristics of HF and EQ. Synergy efficiency zones had the highest coordination with diverse land use. Ecological conservation potential zones were found in low-disturbance hilly regions. Synergy restoration zones were concentrated in croplands and urban–rural fringe areas. Imbalance regulation zones were in forest areas under development pressure. Conflict alert zones were concentrated in urban cores, transport corridors, and lakeshore belts. These findings offer insights for global human–environment coordination in lake regions. Full article

This study investigates the gendered nexus between climate change, food insecurity, and conflict in Plateau State, Nigeria. This region in north-central Nigeria is marked by recurring farmer–herder clashes and climate-induced environmental degradation. Drawing on qualitative methods, including interviews, gender-disaggregated focus groups, and key informant discussions, the research explores how climate variability and violent conflict interact to exacerbate household food insecurity. The methodology allows the capture of nuanced perspectives and lived experiences, particularly emphasizing the differentiated impacts on women and men. The findings reveal that irregular rainfall patterns, declining agricultural yields, and escalating violence have disrupted traditional farming systems and undermined rural livelihoods. The study also shows that women, though they are responsible for household food management, face disproportionate burdens due to restricted mobility, limited access to resources, and a heightened exposure to gender-based violence. Grounded in Conflict Theory, Frustration–Aggression Theory, and Feminist Political Ecology, the analysis shows how intersecting vulnerabilities, such as gender, age, and socioeconomic status, shape experiences of food insecurity and adaptation strategies. Women often find creative and local ways to cope with challenges, including seed preservation, rationing, and informal trade. However, systemic barriers continue to hinder sustainable progress. This study emphasized the need for integrating gender-sensitive interventions into policy frameworks, such as land tenure reforms, targeted agricultural support for women, and improved security measures, to effectively mitigate food insecurity and promote sustainable livelihoods, especially in conflict-affected regions. Full article

In the context of global “dual carbon” objectives, land use dynamics exhibit a strong correlation with regional carbon storage. Facing significant ecological–economic conflicts, the Chengdu–Chongqing Economic Circle in western China necessitates multi-scenario modeling of carbon storage. This research integrates the PLUS model (simulation accuracy Kappa = 0.84) and InVEST model to project land use and carbon storage trajectories under natural development (NDS), urban development (UDS), carbon peak (CPS), and carbon neutrality (CNS) scenarios from 2030 to 2060, leveraging historical data from 2000 to 2020. The results show the following: (1) The study area is dominated by forest land and cultivated land (accounting for more than 90%). From 2000 to 2020, cultivated land decreased, and construction land increased; construction land continued to expand under all future scenarios. (2) Carbon storage showed a trend of first increasing and then decreasing, reaching 4974.55 × 10⁶ t in 2020 (an increase of 4.0 × 10⁶ t compared with 2000). The peak carbon storage in the CPS scenario reached 5015.18 × 10⁶ t, and the overall spatial pattern was “high around and low in the middle”. (3) The CPS achieved a carbon peak through intensive land use and ecological restoration, and the CNS further strengthened carbon sink protection and promoted carbon neutrality. Constructing a multi-scenario coupling model chain provides a new method for regional carbon management, which has important guiding significance for the low-carbon development of the Chengdu–Chongqing Twin Cities Economic Circle. Full article

Historic centres are extremely complex parts of contemporary cities, particularly from morphological, architectural, and cultural points of view, where a significant proportion of the land area may be occupied by built heritage sites that require protection and conservation. These urban contexts are also characterised by scarce green and public open spaces endowment, a high proportion of private property, and high levels of natural risk exposure. From a climate change adaptation perspective, Nature-based Solutions (NbS) have emerged as measures to manage urban ecosystems to address environmental and societal challenges. To overcome the conflicting objectives of climate change adaptation and built heritage preservation, this study proposes a three-step methodology applied to the historic centre of Catania (Italy): (i) Land-Use/Landownership and Land Cover/Maintenance and Quality analyses; (ii) Land Transformability Assessment; (iii) Land Transformation Scenarios Assessment. According to this methodology, five Land Transformation Scenarios have been drawn up: (1) NbS full installation; (2) NbS installation with some limitations; (3) NbS installation after re-arrangement; (4) NbS installation strongly limited; (5) NbS installation not viable. This approach allowed us to identify the most feasible and suitable buildings and open spaces, while distinguishing public and private properties, to implement a more comprehensive integration of NbS and built heritage preservation in historic cities for mutual benefits. Full article

Cropland abandonment (CA) has become a significant threat to agricultural sustainability, particularly in metropolitan suburbs where urban expansion and cropland preservation often conflict. This study examines the Chengdu Directly Administered Zone of the Tianfu New Area in Sichuan Province, China, as a case study, utilizing high-precision vector data from China’s 2019–2023 National Land Survey to identify abandoned croplands through land use change trajectory analysis. By integrating kernel density estimation, spatial autocorrelation analysis, and geographically weighted regression modeling, we quantitatively analyzed the spatiotemporal patterns of CA and the spatial heterogeneity of driving factors in the study area. The results demonstrate an average annual abandonment rate of approximately 8%, exhibiting minor fluctuations but significant spatial clustering characteristics, with abandonment hotspots concentrated in peri-urban areas that gradually expanded toward urban cores over time, while exurban regions showed lower abandonment rates. Cropland quality and the aggregation index were identified as key restraining factors, whereas increasing slope and land development intensity were found to elevate abandonment risks. Notably, distance to roads displayed a negative effect, contrary to conventional understanding, revealing that policy feedback mechanisms induced by anticipated land expropriation along transportation corridors serve as important drivers of suburban abandonment. This study provides a scientific basis for optimizing resilient urban–rural land allocation, curbing speculative abandonment, and exploring integrated “agriculture + ecology + cultural tourism” utilization models for abandoned lands. The findings offer valuable insights for balancing food security and sustainable development in rapidly urbanizing regions worldwide, particularly providing empirical references for developing countries addressing the dilemma between urban expansion and cropland preservation. Full article

As an important part of the emerging energy portfolio, the coordinated development of the photovoltaic (PV) industry and ecological environment is a core factor in realizing the high-quality development of the energy industry. Xinjiang, located in northwestern China, possesses vast open land, abundant solar radiation, and low land-use conflict, making it a strategic hub for large-scale PV power station deployment. However, the region’s fragile ecological background is highly sensitive to land-use changes induced by PV infrastructure expansion. Therefore, scientifically evaluating the ecological impacts of PV construction is essential to support environmentally informed operation and maintenance (O&M) strategies.This study investigates the spatial distribution of PV installations and their macro-scale ecological effects across Xinjiang from 2000 to 2020. Utilizing multi-temporal satellite remote sensing data and geospatial analysis techniques on the Google Earth Engine (GEE) platform, we constructed a Remote Sensing Ecological Index (RSEI) model to quantify the long-term ecological response to PV development. It was found that PV installations were concentrated in unutilized land (37.10%) and grassland (34.45%), with the smallest proportion being found in forested land (1.68%). Nearly 70% of the PV areas showed an improving trend in the ecological environment index, and there were significantly more ecological quality-improving areas than degraded areas (69% vs. 31%). There were significant regional differences, and the highest ecological environment index was found in 2020 for the Northern Xinjiang Altay PV area (0.30), while the lowest (0.10) was observed in Hetian in southern Xinjiang. The results of this study provide a spatial optimization basis for the integration of PV development and ecological protection in Xinjiang and provide practical guidance to help the government to formulate a comprehensive management strategy of “PV + ecology”, which will help to realize the synergistic development of clean energy development and ecological safety. Full article