Based on ecological footprint and ecosystem service value, research on ecological compensation in Anhui Province, China

Abstract

Anhui Province plays a significant ecological role and acts as a “ecological barrier” in the Yangtze River Delta ecological integration project. In order to study numerous aspects impacting the balance between economy and environment, this article uses Anhui Province as the research object and analyzes each ecosystem from three dimensions: ecosystem service value, ecological footprint, and ecological carrying capacity. On this basis, the amount of ecological compensation is calculated to provide a foundation for the coordination of environmental rights and ecological protection in Anhui Province. These are the findings: (1) Anhui Province's ecosystem service value in 2021 was 731.874 billion yuan, which was comparatively high. Among them, the contribution of ecosystem service value was mainly made by waters and forest, which together provided 90.35% of the province's value and were the key ecosystems that need to be protected. Among the main functions of the ecosystem service, the value of regulating service and its secondary functions, such as hydrologic regulation, climate regulation and environmental purification services, had always accounted for the largest proportion among all services, indicating that regulating service played a significant part in Anhui’s ecosystem. (2) Anhui Province's ecological footprint in 2021 was approximately 115.7417 million hectares, with a total ecological carrying capacity of approximately 10.7757 million hectares. Anhui was actually in an ecological deficit situation. Among them, the ecological deficit of cultivated land and fossil energy land were the most serious. In the future, reasonable measures must be taken to adjust the state of these two ecosystems, and ultimately realize the province of Anhui's total ecological sustainability. (3) Anhui Province's ecological overload index for 2021 was −9.74, the province's overall resources supply and demand were significantly out of balance, and negative environmental benefits were exported, and an ecological compensation payment of roughly 3706.795 billion yuan was necessary.