Abstract
We used the carbon carrying capacity as an indicator of environmental productivity, clarified the emission reduction thresholds and measures for achieving a carbon neutral tourism destination, and proposed a simple, objective, and universal method for estimating the carbon budget of forest tourism scenic spots with function of both carbon sinks and carbon emissions. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Guidelines for Greenhouse Gas Inventories and the Climate Friendly Parks tool, a carbon emissions list with a clear border and relatively complete content was established to characterize the negative impact of tourism activities on the environment. Forest resource inventory data and the CO2Fix method could be used to accurately calculate the carbon sinks of forest tourism scenic spots. In 2019, the total CO2 emissions in Shenyang National Forest Park were 1841.445 t. The amount of CO2 sequestered by the forest was 1336.787 t, accounting for 72.59% of the total CO2 emissions. Thus, tourism had a net CO2 deficit of 504.658 t. Electricity consumption, garbage disposal, raw coal consumption, infrastructure construction, and land-use changes of forestland were the top five sources of CO2 emissions. The augmentation of the carbon pool could be improved by 65.358% of the total budget through forest management. The reduction aims of 133.41%–150.32% could be easily reached through emissions-cutting measures. Based on these results, we suggest several measures for low-carbon sustainable tourism.
Highlights
National forest parks bear the important responsibility of protecting key eco-environments and landscapes, but must meet the needs of public sightseeing and recreation [1]
Based on the annual tap water consumption and garbage removal reported by the scenic spot administrative committee, the embodied CO2 emissions of CD were 414.117 t
We calculated the status of the carbon sinks in the forest ecosystem of the forest scenic spot in 2019
Summary
National forest parks bear the important responsibility of protecting key eco-environments and landscapes, but must meet the needs of public sightseeing and recreation [1]. The number of visitors to the China Forest Park has increased rapidly. In. 2019, the number reached 1.8 billion, accounting for 20% of the total number of domestic tourists. China’s forest tourism has been conducted following the traditional tourism model. Energy use in tourism activities, especially fossil fuel energy, has produced a large amount of greenhouse gas emissions [2]. This contrasted starkly with global efforts to curb CO2 emissions in all sectors. To reduce the pressure on the environment, the United
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