Environmental regionalization for the management of township and village enterprises in China

Abstract

Environmental regionalization (ER) is the basis of environmental assessment, prediction, planning and decision-making. ER techniques were applied to the management of Township and Village Enterprises (TVEs) in China. TVEs are generally middle and small-scale enterprises widely distributed in rural areas with rapid development and high discharge rates of pollutants, which impact heavily on the environment. A set of 13 indicators was chosen to evaluate TVEs in China: (1) runoff depth (P=75%); (2) rainfall; (3) atmospheric pollution coefficient; (4) percent of forest coverage; (5) national income per capita; (6) economic density of TVEs; (7) population density; (8) environmental management staff at county level; (9) cultivated area per capita; (10) technical advancement of TVEs; (11) environmental impact of TVE industrial structure; (12) ratio of waste water to runoff; and (13) coal consumption density. Fuzzy cluster analysis was employed to conduct quantitative classification. Four zones and seven subzones were obtained. The classification system was adapted to the requirements of environmental management for TVEs at national level.