Search Results (364)

The phenomenon of arable land non-agriculturalization has become increasingly severe, posing significant threats to the security of arable land resources and ecological sustainability. This study focuses on Dachang Hui Autonomous County in Langfang City, Hebei Province, a region located at the edge of the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei metropolitan cluster. In recent years, the area has undergone accelerated urbanization and industrial transfer, resulting in drastic land use changes and a pronounced contradiction between arable land protection and the expansion of construction land. The study period is 2016–2023, which covers the key period of the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei synergistic development strategy and the strengthening of the national arable land protection policy, and is able to comprehensively reflect the dynamic changes of arable land non-agriculturalization under the policy and urbanization process. Multi-temporal Sentinel-2 imagery was utilized to construct a multi-dimensional feature set, and machine learning classifiers were applied to identify arable land non-agriculturalization with optimized performance. GIS-based analysis and the geographic detector model were employed to reveal the spatio-temporal dynamics and driving mechanisms. The results demonstrate that the XGBoost model, optimized using Bayesian parameter tuning, achieved the highest classification accuracy (overall accuracy = 0.94) among the four classifiers, indicating its superior suitability for identifying arable land non-agriculturalization using multi-temporal remote sensing imagery. Spatio-temporal analysis revealed that non-agriculturalization expanded rapidly between 2016 and 2020, followed by a deceleration after 2020, exhibiting a pattern of “rapid growth–slowing down–partial regression”. Further analysis using the geographic detector revealed that socioeconomic factors are the primary drivers of arable land non-agriculturalization in Dachang Hui Autonomous County, while natural factors exerted relatively weaker effects. These findings provide technical support and scientific evidence for dynamic monitoring and policy formulation regarding arable land under urbanization, offering significant theoretical and practical implications. Full article

European pig farmers are challenged by increasingly stringent EU regulations to protect the environment from pollution, to meet animal welfare standards and to make pig farming more sustainable. Economic sustainability is defined as the ability to achieve higher profits by respecting social and natural resources. This study is focused on the analysis of the economic resilience of intensive and extensive farming systems, based on data collected from 56 farms located in Denmark, Poland, Italy and Spain. Productive and economic performances of these farms are analyzed, and economic resilience is assessed through a survey including a selection of indicators, belonging to different themes: [i] resilience of resources, [ii] entrepreneurship, [iii] propensity to extensification. The qualitative data from the questionnaire allow for an exploration of how production systems relate to the three dimensions of resilience. Different levels of resilience were found and discussed for intensive and extensive farms. The findings suggest that intensive farms benefit from high standards and greater bargaining power within the supply chain. Extensive systems can achieve profitability through value-added strategies and generally display good resilience. Policies that support investment and risk reduction are essential for enhancing farm resilience and robustness, while strengthening farmer networks can improve adaptability. Full article

The establishment and management of nature reserves play a crucial role in protecting biodiversity and supporting sustainable agriculture. This study focuses on 2538 nature reserves in 22 provinces, 5 autonomous regions and 4 municipalities directly under the central government in mainland China. Integrating GIS spatial statistics, imbalance index, and geodetector models, we reveal critical insights: (1) Pronounced spatial inequity is observed, where a small number of eastern provinces dominate the total reserve count, highlighting significant regional disparities in ecological resource allocation. The sparse kernel density in western regions, indicating sparse reserve coverage. The Standard Deviation Ellipse highlights directional dispersion and human-ecological conflicts in high-density zones. (2) Key sustainability indicators driving reserve distribution include: total water resources, water resources per capita, forest area. (3) The spatial distribution of China’s nature reserves, along with factors such as altitude, river distribution, and transportation infrastructure, plays a crucial role in their development. This research provides theoretical support for the scientific planning and policy-making of nature reserves in China and offers practical guidance for optimizing and adjusting sustainable agricultural development. The study emphasizes the vital functions of nature reserves in maintaining ecosystem balance, enhancing regional climate resilience, and serving as biodiversity reservoirs. This research offers strategic insights for integrating nature reserve spatial planning with sustainable agricultural development policies, providing a scientific basis for optimizing the eco-agricultural interface in China. Full article

Amidst the escalating global challenges of deforestation and climate change, effective forest governance has become a critical global imperative. As a key actor in this arena, China presents a crucial case for understanding state-led environmental governance. This study addresses the thematic evolution and governance structure of China’s forest policy planning from 1980 to 2024. Grounded in multi-level governance (MLG) theory, we apply the Non-negative Matrix Factorization (NMF) topic model to a corpus of 1265 policy documents sourced from the PKULaw database, spanning four administrative levels from central to county. An analysis of 13 core policy themes reveals a significant transition, shifting from early regulatory development and resource utilization to a modern emphasis on ecological protection, scientific monitoring, financial support, and governance innovation. The findings delineate a complex governance architecture: a vertical division of labor (central guidance, local implementation), a horizontal model of inter-departmental interaction where specialized management coexists with comprehensive coordination, and adaptive governance reflecting regional heterogeneity. These results illuminate the dynamic evolution of power allocation, central–local relations, and synergy within China’s forest sector. This study not only provides new empirical evidence and an analytical framework for understanding China’s natural resource policy transition but also offers scientific insights for optimizing multi-level forest governance systems and enhancing policy synergy and efficacy. Full article

Against the backdrop of the accelerated transition to sustainable development in global emerging markets, the synergistic mechanism between environmental governance innovation and corporate green transformation has become a key issue in realizing high-quality development. As the world’s largest emerging economy, China’s new Environmental Protection Law (EPL), implemented in 2015, has promoted green technology innovation and performance improvement of heavily polluting enterprises by strengthening environmental regulation. This paper takes Chinese A-share listed companies as samples from 2012–2023, treats the EPL as a quasi-natural experiment, and applies the DID method to explore the path of its impact on the performance of heavily polluting firms, with a focus on analyzing the mediating effect of green technological innovation and the moderating role of firm size and regional differences. The study revealed the following findings: the implementation of the EPL significantly improves the performance of heavily polluting enterprises, which verifies the applicability of “Porter’s hypothesis” in emerging markets; green technological innovation plays a partly intermediary role in the process of policy affecting enterprise performance, indicating that environmental regulation achieves win–win economic and environmental benefits by driving the innovation compensation mechanism; and there is significant heterogeneity in policy effects, with large-scale firms and firms in the eastern region experiencing more pronounced performance improvements, reflecting differences in resource endowments and institutional implementation strength within emerging markets. This study provides empirical evidence for emerging market countries to optimize their environmental governance policies and construct a “regulation–innovation–performance” synergistic mechanism, which will help green economic transformation and ecological civilization construction. Full article

The forestry industry, both primary (sawn wood production) and secondary (output of reels, pallets, boxes, cooperage, and tool handles), is growing in importance in Honduras. In 2023, exports from this industry were mainly destined for Central America (58.19%), followed by North America (22.92%) and the Caribbean region (17.20%), with hardly any Honduran wood reaching Asia or Europe. Objective: The goal of this paper is to analyze the current situation of the Honduran timber industry, which is defined by its environmental deterioration caused by the overexploitation of timber resources. Methodology: Using secondary data from official national and international sources regarding the forestry industry in Honduras, we conducted a Welch’s ANOVA analysis added to two post hoc tests (Tukey and Bonferroni), complemented by a linear regression analysis using JASP software, version 0.19.3.0. to carry on our analysis. Findings: The results of our analysis underscore the urgent need to implement a series of public policies in both the medium and short term to strengthen the forestry industry in Honduras. One of Honduras’ greatest strengths is its civil society, particularly its indigenous communities, which are actively working to protect their land from deforestation and soil degradation. If public policies are not implemented in collaboration with private firms to foster the Honduran forest industry cluster, it could lead to significant socioeconomic and environmental consequences. These may include increased pressure on natural forests, rising unemployment, and the loss of an essential income source for forest owners, ultimately exacerbating poverty. Full article

The landscape of the Warmian municipality of Dobre Miasto has significant natural and cultural value. However, the municipality’s tourism potential remains untapped. The absence of comprehensive local zoning plans covering the entire municipality or most of its territory has disrupted the landscape, leading to the emergence of visually discordant elements. Due to rapid land-use changes in the Region of Warmia, the protection and preservation of its rich natural and cultural heritage are increasingly challenging. The aim of this study was to assess the impact of natural and cultural resources, as well as tourism infrastructure, on the development potential of rural tourism in Dobre Miasto municipality in Poland’s historical region of Warmia. Attempts were made to identify spatial disparities in tourism attractiveness and to determine the ways in which the local environmental and the cultural landscape may support sustainable tourism planning. The results provide valuable insights for implementing appropriate land-use strategies and setting new directions for future development. Tourism infrastructure has to be modernized, expanded, and adapted to new projects, while ensuring that planning and tourism management align with the principles of sustainable development. The growth of tourism creates new opportunities for stimulating rural areas, but it requires careful planning and the implementation of policies that effectively regulate tourist flows while maintaining ecological and cultural integrity. Full article

Resource-exhausted cities face dual crises of economic stagnation and ecological degradation, which is primarily attributable to the inefficient use of industrial land. The redevelopment of industrial land has emerged as a crucial solution to the “resource depletion-urban decline” dilemma. The issue of inefficient industrial land use in resource-exhausted cities is of great significance as it directly impacts both economic development and ecological protection. Therefore, finding effective ways to redevelop this land is essential for the sustainable development of these cities. This research takes Hegang, a representative resource-exhausted city in China, as a case study. A multi-dimensional evaluation framework and an adaptive redevelopment strategy system are constructed in this research. By integrating data related to land use status, land use efficiency, policy constraints, and development potential, a parcel-scale assessment model is established. This model consists of 4 primary indicators and 13 secondary indicators. Through this model, 11.01 km² of inefficient industrial land in the main urban area of Hegang is identified. Standard deviation ellipse and kernel density analysis are employed to reveal the spatial pattern of inefficient land. The results show that the inefficient industrial land in Hegang exhibits a pattern of “overall dispersion with localized agglomeration”. It is found that idle and abandoned land are the dominant types of inefficient industrial land in Hegang’s main urban area, accounting for 69.7% of the total. This finding provides a clear understanding of the nature of the inefficient land use problem in resource-exhausted cities. A strategic framework is proposed, which incorporates classified governance, dynamic restoration, and multi-stakeholder collaboration. This framework offers a governance toolkit with both theoretical depth and practical value for resource-exhausted cities. Breaking the locked relationship between industrial land and resource dependence promotes the deep integration of spatial restructuring and sustainable transformation. The findings of this research provide significant scientific insights for similar cities worldwide to address the challenges they face and achieve harmony between human activities and land use. Future research could focus on further refining the evaluation framework and redevelopment strategies based on different regional characteristics and resource endowments. Full article

Climate change poses substantial threats to natural ecosystems and human livelihoods, particularly in coastal regions, by intensifying coastal erosion. This process leads to land loss, infrastructure damage, and habitat destruction while amplifying challenges such as sea-level rise, flooding, desertification, and salinization. In Vietnam’s Red River Delta (RRD), the dynamic interplay between erosion and accretion presents a highly complex challenge, necessitating effective risk assessment and management to safeguard communities and resources. Using the principles of natural disaster risk assessment and comprehensive analysis, this study develops a coastal erosion risk assessment framework incorporating hazard, exposure, and vulnerability dimensions. The framework integrates 17 indicators, including human activities, socioeconomic factors, shoreline type, and vegetation cover, with indicator weights determined through expert evaluation and the analytic hierarchy process. The application of this framework reveals that coastal erosion risk in the RRD is relatively high, with greater risk concentrated in the central and northern segments of the coastline compared to the flanking areas. This framework offers valuable insights for coastal erosion prevention, mitigation strategies, and the optimization of coastal spatial planning. The application of coastal erosion risk assessment methods provides a relatively complete foundation for developing comprehensive prevention and adaptation solutions in the future. Through the system of parameters and corresponding weights, it provides an overview of potential responses to future impacts while identifying current high-risk zones specifically and accurately, thereby assessing the importance of each parameter on that impact. Based on specific analysis of assessment results, a reasonable resource use and management policy can be developed to minimize related natural disasters. Therefore, two main groups of solutions proposed under the “Protection—Adaptation” strategy are proposed to prevent natural disasters, minimize risks and sustainably develop the coastal area of the RRD. Full article

Understanding the economic value of natural resources is essential for the sustainable management of national parks. However, most existing studies focus on single conservation objectives and overlook the valuation of multiple resources within the same ecosystem. This study estimates tourists’ willingness to pay (WTP) for the conservation of four natural resources—crab-eating macaques, coral reefs, dry evergreen forests, and clean air—within Khao Laem Ya-Mu Ko Samet National Park in Thailand. Using the contingent valuation method and seemingly unrelated regression (SUR) analysis, data were collected from 205 tourists using structured surveys. The results show that dry evergreen forests received the highest average WTP (THB 129/year), followed by coral reefs (THB 125), clean air (THB 110), and crab-eating macaques (THB 107). At the population level, aggregate annual WTP values ranged from THB 85.7 million to THB 103.2 million across the resources. Age and awareness levels were consistent positive predictors of WTP, while other influencing factors—such as education, income, nationality, and residential location—varied by resource type. The findings provide empirical insights for designing resource-specific conservation strategies and highlight the potential of economic valuation to support sustainable financing mechanisms and policy development for protected area management. Full article

China has effectively safeguarded biodiversity by building the world’s largest system of nature reserves, but the livelihoods of farmers near the reserves are often not guaranteed. This paper aimed to deeply explore the intrinsic relationship between the geographical location of households and their livelihood outcomes within seven nature reserves across three provinces in China. Innovatively, this study subdivided households’ livelihood outcomes into four patterns: high well-being with high dependency (H-H), high well-being with low dependency (H-L), low well-being with high dependency (L-H), and low well-being with low dependency (L-L), in order to comprehensively analyze the diversity of households’ livelihoods and further reveal the spatial logic and mechanisms underlying regional development imbalances. Methodologically, a combination of quantitative analysis and qualitative research was adopted. Representative villages in the protected area and outside the protected area were selected for semi-structured interviews with the village heads. Meanwhile, farmers were randomly selected in the villages for structured interviews and 1106 questionnaires were collected. Through variance analysis, the study first identified the unique advantages of H-H-pattern households in natural resource utilization. Subsequently, a multinomial logistic model was used to deeply analyze how geographical location (including whether a household was located within a protected area and the distance to markets) affected the transition mechanisms of the other three livelihood outcomes towards the H-H pattern. Based on this, marginal effect analysis was employed to further delineate the specific influence pathways of geographical factor changes on households’ livelihood outcome selection probabilities. The results showed that the geographical location of households’ residences had a significant impact on their livelihood outcomes. For households in the L-L and H-L patterns, proximity to markets could significantly increase the probability of their livelihood transitioning to the H-H pattern. Meanwhile, residing within protected areas significantly promoted the transition of L-L and H-L households to the H-H pattern but showed a certain inhibitory effect on L-H households. Marginal effects analysis further shows that both living in protected areas and reducing distance to markets increase the tendency of households to be highly dependent on natural resources for livelihood outcomes. Compensation policies should be designed according to local conditions, and subsidies for the development of ecotourism and other service industries should be increased for rural households in protected areas to ensure sustainable development rather than transfer payments. Full article

Cultural heritage reflects accumulated memories, generational practices, and esthetic and cultural ideologies that shape identities. The inherent diversity and uniqueness of these identities define heritage elements, which, however, remain fragile, non-renewable, irreplaceable, and vulnerable. In regions affected by the significant devastation caused by contemporary socio-economic activities, policies often neglect the intrinsic historical and heritage value(s). The historical landscapes with tourism potential that experience decline, degradation, and destruction need even more protection and policies to aid their regeneration and preservation. This study seeks to develop a comprehensive framework for preserving a highly endangered historical road, along with its invaluable monuments and cultural landscapes, as a means to stimulate regional revitalization. The methodological approach relies on observation, field work, and semi-structured interviews to provide a comprehensive historical overview of the Estrada do Paraibuna (Paraibuna Road). This region has suffered significant degradation of its historical and natural assets as a result of intensive resource exploitation. This study underscores the heritage elements with strong tourism potential along the route between Ouro Preto and Barbacena, while underlining the critical need to combat landscape degradation. This study pursues to create a shared vision rooted in promoting sustainable practices that leverage natural and cultural resources, safeguard local culture, and encourage community collaboration in regenerative efforts. Full article

Water security is a basic requirement of a region’s residents and also an important point of discussion worldwide. The middle route of the south-to-north water diversion project (MR-SNWDP) represents the most extensive inter-basin water allocation scheme globally. It is the major water resource for the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei region, and its security is of great significance. In this study, 28 indicators including society, nature, and economy were selected from the water sources of the MR-SNWDP from 2000 to 2017. According to the Drivers-Pressures-States-Impact-Response (DPSIR) framework principle, the entropy weight method was used for weight calculation, and the comprehensive evaluation method was used for evaluating the water security of the water sources of the MR-SNWDP. This study showed that the total loss of nonpoint source pollution (NPSP) in the water source showed a trend of slow growth, except in 2007. Over the past 18 years, the proportion of pollution from three NPSP sources, livestock, and poultry (LP) breeding industry, planting industry, and living sources, were 44.56%, 40.33%, and 15.11%, respectively. The main driving force of water security in all the areas of the water source was the total net income per capita of farmers. The main pressure was the amount of LP breeding and the amount of fertilizer application. The largest impact indicators were NPSP gray water footprint and soil erosion area, and water conservancy investment was the most effective response measure. Overall, the state of the water source safety was relatively stable, showing an overall upward trend, and it had remained at Grade III except for in 2005, 2006, and 2011. The state of water safety in all areas except Shiyan City was relatively stable, where the state of water safety had fluctuated greatly. Based on the assessment findings, implications for policy and decision-making suggestions for sustainable management of the water sources of the MR-SNWDP resources are put forward. Agricultural cultivation in water source areas should reduce the application of chemical fertilizers and accelerate the promotion of agricultural intensification. Water source areas should minimize retail livestock and poultry farming and promote ecological agriculture. The government should increase investment in water conservancy and return farmland to forests and grasslands, and at the same time strengthen the education of farmers’ awareness of environmental protection. The evaluation system of this study combined indicators such as the impact of agricultural nonpoint source pollution on water bodies, which is innovative and provides a reference for the water safety evaluation system. Full article

Ecological carrying capacity (ECC) is central to assessing the sustainability of ecosystems, aiming to quantify the limits of natural systems to support human activities while maintaining biodiversity and resource regeneration. To assess ECC, earlier studies typically used the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) method for modeling. In this study, we developed an AHP-EW method based on a combination of AHP and the entropy weight method, which considered important indicators including land use, vegetation, soil, location, topography, climate, and socio-economics, and constructed an ECC evaluation system. The new AHP-EW method was applied to analyze the spatiotemporal ECC patterns in Urumqi from 2000 to 2020. The results showed a general decreasing trend in ECC during the period 2000–2020. Among them, the ECC decreased significantly by 19.05% from 2000 to 2010. After 2010, the rate of decline in ECC slowed to 14.12% due to ecological conservation policies. In addition, Midong District, Dabancheng District, and Urumqi County had worse ECC. Still, in general, the distribution of ECC in each district and county showed a trend of decreasing in areas with low ECC and increasing in areas with high ECC. Cluster analysis showed that ECC improved in ecological reserve areas, while some built-up areas showed a decrease in ECC due to economic development and human activities. Driving factor analysis shows that NDVI, climate change, and land-use conversion are the key factors influencing the change in ECC in Urumqi. This study provides new ideas and technical support for ECC assessment in arid areas, which can help formulate more effective ecological protection strategies and promote the healthy and stable development of regional ecosystems. Full article

The archaeological complex of the Benzú rock shelter and cave, located in Ceuta (Spain), represents a heritage site of significant scientific and historical value that is currently at risk due to natural processes and, in particular, the activity of a nearby quarry. This site has been occupied from the Palaeolithic to the Bronze Age and consequently has been the subject of systematic research since 2002, focusing on its stratigraphic sequence, lithic technology, exploitation of marine resources, and the connection between both shores of the Strait of Gibraltar. With the aim of preserving this endangered heritage, a methodology based on advanced digital technologies such as photogrammetry, 3D laser scanning, and GNSS georeferencing has been implemented. These tools have enabled the creation of high-precision, three-dimensional models of the rock shelter and the cave, which are useful for both documentation and monitoring of their structural condition. In addition, fracture networks have been identified, revealing a high degree of geotechnical vulnerability, exacerbated by blasting activities at the nearby quarry. The project has produced a digital twin of the site in an open access format, serving not only for preventive conservation but also for its enhancement through virtual tours, augmented reality, and accessible outreach activities. This digitalization has been essential to facilitate the access to heritage, particularly in areas that are physically difficult to access. Finally, the integration of these digital resources into institutional policies for the sustainable management of heritage is proposed, highlighting the importance of interdisciplinary approaches that combine archaeology, geotechnology, and scientific communication. The experience at Benzú is presented as a replicable model for the protection, interpretation, and dissemination of heritage sites located in fragile and threatened environments. Full article