Linking ecosystem services and economic development for optimizing land use change in the poverty areas

Abstract

For the sustainable development of human beings and society, it is important to conserve the ecosystems and alleviate poverty in the low agricultural productivity or ecologically vulnerable areas. To avoid the decrease in ecosystem services (ES) under the effects associated with reducing poverty, we need to carefully consider the relationship between land use changes and the economic development in economically poor areas. We selected the Lingqiu County as our study area, which is a national impoverished county in China, and analyzed the impact of poverty alleviation efforts on the ecological and economic sustainability in the region through ES evaluation. The results showed that land use change in the Lingqiu County has not changed the ES significantly during 2007-2016. The gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate (15.81%) during 2001-2016, indicates the effectiveness of the poverty alleviation efforts implemented. The rise in the index of ecological and economic relationship during 2001-2016 (from 0.2389 to 0.3629) maintains in a harmonious coordination situation. Presently, the value of ES has not been converted to market-based benefits, and therefore, it is indispensable to find a marketplace for ES (in an innovative way) to promote the high-quality sustainable development of a local economy.

A Classification System for the Sustainable Management of Contaminated Sites Coupled with Risk Identification and Value Accounting

“…The change in land use can cause significant interactions between ecosystem services (ES) [39]. The major ES provided by contaminated site greening can be defined as regulating services (including gas regulation, climate regulation, environmental purification and hydrological regulation) and supporting services (including soil conservation, the maintenance of nutrient cycling and biodiversity) [40].…”

Identifying Ecological Security Patterns Based on Ecosystem Services Is a Significative Practice for Sustainable Development in Southwest China

“…Ecological compensation policies should focus on rationally allocating and investing these subsidies in ecological conservation and welfare improvement to address the prevailing prioritization of human wellbeing over ecosystem conservation, especially in the ESs-based ESPs areas (two zones and four belts) (Wu X. et al, 2019;Sun et al, 2021). Specifically, the engagement of low-income sections of the population in ecological management and conservation work as forest rangers, grass guards, and wildlife watchers provides poor people with stable incomes in the ESs-based ESPs (Sun et al, 2021;Xu et al, 2021).…”

Emergy-Based Evaluation on the Systemic Sustainability of Rural Ecosystem under China Poverty Alleviation and Rural Revitalization: A Case of the Village in North China

“…China's poverty alleviation measures included developing local industry, education programs, health programs, ecological protection programs, relocation, and government subsidies for low-income households, etc. Chehe Village was a typical demonstration village in Lingqiu County (a national poverty-stricken county) [54,55]. Under the poverty alleviation measures and the rural revitalization strategy, Chehe Village carried out the construction of full-scale organic agriculture, building the entire village into an organic agricultural community, including agricultural production, small-scale agricultural products processing, catering, retail (organic product supermarket), and eco-tourism.…”