Contribution of ecosystem services improvement on achieving Sustainable development Goals under ecological engineering projects on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

Abstract

The Qinghai–Tibet Plateau (QTP) is an important ecosystem service provider but increasing human activities have led to ecosystem degradation. Several ecological engineering projects (EEPs) have been adopted to restore the degraded ecosystems. To analyze changes in ecosystem services on the QTP and their contribution to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) following the implementation of the EEPs, and to explore the roles of different types of EEPs and climate in this process. Quantified changes in the six key ecosystem services and their trade-offs at the county level since the implementation of the ecological project, and further calculated the progress of the contribution of ecosystem services to the achievement of the SDGs based on the “Ecosystem service-SDGs” contribution framework. The results show that since the implementation of the EEPs, the ecosystem services of the QTP have generally improved. Over 70% of the counties showed continuous improvement in water yield, food production, soil retention, and sandstorm prevention, particularly in the central and eastern parts of the QTP. Synergistic relationships are maintained between provisioning, regulating and supporting services. Ecosystem service-based SDG scores (ESSDG) showed a distribution pattern of high southeast and low northwest in the QTP, and increased in 75.22% of counties between 2000 and 2020. Our study revealed that the EEPs contributed to the realization of SDGs in QTP by improving ecosystem services, especially in the areas where the Grain for Green projects was implemented. Sustainable ecosystem management following the implementation of EEPs may benefit future contributions to SDGs realization.