Conservation Costs Research Articles

Olive Oil as a Tourist Attraction: An Analysis of Demand

Olive oil is not only an essential culinary element in the diet of Mediterranean countries, but it is also becoming an increasingly attractive element from a tourism perspective. The olive grove landscape, ancient olive trees, and oil mills are increasingly attracting tourists eager to experience this type of tourism. This research analyzes the profile of the oleotourist in the four designations of the province of Córdoba (Spain). SARIMA models have been applied to predict oleotourism demand, resulting in a growing demand, which will create jobs in the towns dedicated to this cultivation. The main problem is the seasonality of this demand, which can be corrected by creating complementary activities such as olive oil festivals, cooking workshops, or tasting sessions. A logit model has also been developed to determine which variables influence the probability of being satisfied with the oleotourism experience, with environmental conservation and travel cost being the most influential. Regarding the bivariate analysis, motivation and satisfaction with the trip are closely related, as is the personal classification of the oleotourist; the more they know about the world of olive cultivation, the more satisfied they are with their experience.

Cost, risk, landscape context, and potential treatments vary with biological value for conservation of declining grassland birds

AbstractSpatially explicit models are an important component of systematic conservation planning, enabling the depiction of biodiversity metrics across landscapes and objective evaluation of candidate sites for conservation delivery. However, sites considered “best” for conservation are typically viewed from the standpoint of biological value and may not be the most effective or efficient when risk of habitat loss, cost of conservation, intended conservation treatments, and overall conservation strategy are considered. We evaluated risk of habitat loss, land cost, and landscape context for geographic areas harboring most‐dense to least‐dense population quartiles for 16 species of grassland birds in the US northern Great Plains. Differences in land cost, risk of grassland conversion, and landscape context among quartiles and species indicated that a minimum‐area strategy may be inefficient and even ineffective. Priority zones for western species were generally associated with lower agricultural land cost, more protected land, and landscape characteristics associated with intact grasslands; eastern species were generally associated with higher agricultural land cost, tillage probability, grass loss, cropland, development, forest, Conservation Reserve Program grasslands, and distance to grass. Our results indicate that addressing areas outside of population cores increases conservation options and may provide substantial benefits to portions of populations that are most vulnerable to habitat loss or other stressors.

Surgical treatment delay in patients with headache disorders and neuralgia correlates with poor postoperative outcome

Although nerve decompression surgery has proven to be effective in reducing symptoms in patients with head and neck neuralgia and headache disorders, it is currently not part of the treatment algorithms for headache disorders. Therefore, patients wait an average of 20 years from the onset of symptoms to surgery, resulting in high conservative treatment costs ($989,275.65 per patient) and patient morbidity. This study evaluated the clinical impact of treatment delays on surgical outcomes. Overall, 282 patients who underwent nerve decompression surgery at Weill Cornell Medicine and Massachusetts General Hospital between September 2012 and January 2024 were enrolled. Information regarding demographics, onset of symptoms, and headache characteristics was collected using patient surveys. The treatment outcome was evaluated by the percentage of symptom reduction in terms of frequency, duration, and pain intensity. An area under the receiver operating characteristic analysis was performed to determine the optimal timepoint to undergo surgery. Postoperative symptom reduction and time between the onset of symptoms and surgery were negatively correlated (r=-0.22; p<0.001). The most significant difference in outcome was found at 2.9 years from symptom onset; patients who underwent surgery before this timepoint reported an average improvement of 79±23% versus 67±35% in those who were treated after the timepoint (p=0.021). Our results indicate that delays in undergoing nerve decompression surgery beyond 2.9 years from symptom onset leads to less favorable postoperative outcomes, underscoring the need for timely referral to peripheral nerve surgeons when conservative management fails. Nonetheless, even with delays in surgical intervention, patients continued to experience significant symptom reduction.

Analysis of Carrying Capacity and Willingness to Pay Conservation Costs for Tourists in the Ciletuh-Palabuhanratu Geopark Area

Analysis of Carrying Capacity and Willingness to Pay Conservation Costs for Tourists in the Ciletuh-Palabuhanratu Geopark Area

Design and management considerations for the Kenya-Tanzania marine transboundary conservation area.

Although transboundary conservation areas (TCAs) are critical tools for protecting ecosystems and ecological processes that transcend national jurisdictions, they are challenging to create due to the differences in governance contexts and capacity and power dynamics among countries. Marine TCAs are also more difficult to enforce relative to terrestrial TCAs because most nations still treat oceans as open access. Current guidelines for TCA development and implementation also focus mostly on terrestrial TCAs, which are not practical for marine TCAs. Hence, we reviewed the challenges associated with the design and management of marine TCAs and devised analytical and practical approaches to support the application of spatial planning frameworks and adaptive governance mechanisms. We used the lessons from the review to examine the decisions made for the proposed marine TCA in the Kenya-Tanzania border region and created options and considerations to promote effective design and management processes. We found the obstacles to marine TCAs in general are related to issues of fit, particularly differences in environmental research capacity, socioeconomic contexts, and internal institutional arrangements. These included differences in knowledge and capacity for marine ecological research and conservation; ability to adjust and update data; differences in values, interests, and resource uses; conservation costs; jurisdictional differences; engagement of multiple levels of organization; and differences in legal bases and policy development processes. Understanding and reconciling these challenges during the TCA development process can help enhance meaningful discussions in the design of the TCA and cultivate the enabling conditions for collaborative governance across countries and within different levels of organization from national to local actors.

Arbitrage opportunities and efficiency tests in crypto derivatives

We test the joint efficiency of the bitcoin and ether options and perpetual futures markets and identify the determinants of arbitrage opportunities. Our novel fiat-currency-free put–call parity relationship motivates new arbitrage tests for options-only and option–perpetual cross-markets. Bitcoin and ether derivatives markets are becoming more efficient, especially for options of maturity ≥ 15 days. Bitcoin derivative markets are generally more efficient than ether derivative markets, but arbitrage strategies can still be highly profitable even under conservative transaction cost scenarios, which include slippage for large orders, especially during periods of high trading volumes or when the blockchain traffic becomes more congested.

How to Conserve the Biodiversity on Collective Land in National Park: Conservation Easements in China

Conservation easements (CEs) are used as a conservation mechanism to conserve the biodiversity and ecosystem on private land, and are receiving increasing attention around the world. Most of the literature mainly focused on the contribution of CE to private land conservation in the U.S. and other countries, while its role in collective land conservation remains underreported. China planned to build the world’s largest national parks (NPs) and faced the conflict between nature conservation and social development. As a private and voluntary conservation tool, CEs have the potential to fill the conservation gap, reduce conservation costs, promote adaptive management, and incentivize sustainable national park construction. We reviewed the recent CE practices in Qianjiangyuan, Wuyishan and Nanshan National Parks. The local government and NP administration drove its practices in China’s NPs, whereas non-profit organizations have few opportunities to participate. Furthermore, due to the current legislation’s lack of explicit specifications regarding CEs, the provisions outlined in the CE agreement were insufficiently constructed and did not align with the unique circumstances of the park. Thus, the implementation of the National Park Act serves as a fitting means to introduce the CE in China.

Global evaluation of the natural environment and household income for sustainable development

With global economic growth, the burden on the natural environment is severe, and more and more attention is paid to sustainable development that enhances the economic growth and sustainability of the natural environment. This study aims to show the concern of global citizens regarding the natural environment and household income. It used worldwide individual interview data from 149 countries between 2007 and 2021, with 2,450,043 observations (Gallup World Poll surveys) and an original large-scale internet- and face-to-face-survey from 37 nations with 100,956 observations. Using a binary logit regression model, this study also analyzes public sentiment regarding who should bear the financial burden for environmental conservation. We found that 60 % of citizens showed that their current income provides a comfortable life; on the other hand, 49 % of the respondents were dissatisfied with conservation of the natural environment. The satisfaction with household income was much greater than satisfaction with natural environmental conservation, leaving space for improvement in environmental stringency. For citizens’ preferences regarding financial responsibility, the government and companies are expected to afford conservation costs.

Perceived equity in marine management and conservation: Exploring gender intersectionality in Fiji

Ensuring equitable decision-making and distribution of costs and benefits in conservation and natural resource management is morally right and instrumental to achieving positive social and ecological outcomes. Understanding perceived equity is key; equity is subjective, context-dependent and has implications for legitimacy, cooperation and wellbeing. Since gender, in combination with other social characteristics, influences how people benefit or participate in management, examining perceived fairness from an intersectional perspective is crucial. However, few studies have examined people's perceptions of equity and how those perceptions are related to intersecting identities. Using data from ten villages in Fiji, we assess how perceptions of distributional and procedural equity differ by gender and the intersection between gender and other social identity characteristics (migrant status, age, education, marital status and wealth). We found that the majority of respondents identified the broader community as benefiting the most from management, while women were the most negatively affected. Overall, respondents' perceptions of distributional and procedural fairness were high regardless of gender. The intersection between gender and other social identity characteristics was not significantly related to perceived fairness, except in relation to migrant status; migrant men were less likely to perceive distributional fairness. Our study provides new insights into patterns of perceived (un)fairness in marine management and conservation. It reveals a discrepancy between conservation costs (women are seen as more negatively affected by conservation) and fairness perceptions (women are not more likely to perceive unfairness). Our findings can inform conservation theory and practice aimed at fostering equity in conservation and management.

Inappropriate Laboratory Testing: Significant Waste Quantified by a Large-Scale Year-Long Study of Medicare and Commercial Payer Reimbursement.

Laboratory testing, beyond what is essential for managing health, is considered low-value care, posing patient risks and wasting resources. Measuring excess testing on a national level is crucial to identify waste and optimize healthcare resource allocation for maximum impact. To measure inappropriate laboratory testing and its cost across Medicare and many US commercial payers. A retrospective analysis on 2019 claims data measured the frequency of 4 commonly used laboratory tests among 64 million individuals with Medicare and 168 million with commercial insurance. Tests included 25-hydroxy vitamin D, prostate-specific antigen, lipid panel, and hemoglobin A1c. Clinical guidelines, medical literature, and payer recommendations were used to determine appropriate testing frequencies. Costs of excessive testing were calculated using the 2019 clinical lab fee schedule. A targeted analysis of 2022 data confirmed 2019 trends. Analysis of ∼84 million tests from ∼1 billion outpatient test claim records revealed that 7% to 51% of tests exceeded recommended frequencies, with some egregious overuse: for example hemoglobin-A1c or prostate-specific antigen every week. The conservative cost estimate for 4 excess tests surpassed $350 million. This extensive study, involving 232 million people, found that 14.4 million of 60.5 million individuals (23.8%) tested had undergone excessive laboratory testing, with likely little benefit and possible harm. Extrapolating findings to all laboratory testing suggests that Medicare alone may have incurred direct excess expenses from $1.95 to $3.28 billion in 2019, without factoring the hidden costs of excessive testing (eg, downstream care). Addressing unnecessary testing is crucial to lowering costs and redirecting resources for greater patient benefit.

Optimization of a hybrid system (PV-fuel cell) of energy production for an isolated site

In recent years, there has been a significant shift in the design and implementation of autonomous micro-grid systems, moving away from the traditional reliance on fossil fuels. Instead, these systems are now integrating existing renewable energy sources available in specific geographic locations to promote sustainability and environmental responsibility in the energy sector. One particularly promising approach for energy storage and transmission is through the utilization of hydrogen and solar energy, especially in remote regions where hybrid techniques can effectively meet the required energy demands. Our research focuses on electrifying an agricultural site located in the SBAA region, specifically in the city of ADRAR, southwest Algeria. We propose the implementation of an independent small electric network that combines various renewable energy sources, including photovoltaic (PV) systems and fuel cells. To ensure cost-effectiveness and optimize the system's performance, we aim to carefully control and size the system's components through a meticulous selection process. The primary objective of this study is to evaluate the technical and economic feasibility of implementing renewable energy systems in the targeted region. Our goals are to reduce the total net cost, minimize energy expenses and unfulfilled load, while simultaneously mitigating CO2 emissions. To achieve these objectives, we employ the HOMER Pro simulation program, which enables us to conduct a comprehensive analysis of the proposed system's performance and economic viability. The proposed system incorporates a hybrid configuration of PV panels and fuel cells, leveraging the complementary nature of these two renewable energy sources. PV panels harness the abundant solar energy during daytime hours, while fuel cells provide a reliable and consistent energy source during periods of low solar irradiance or at night. By integrating these two technologies, we aim to establish a self-sufficient and sustainable energy system capable of meeting the energy demands of the remote agricultural site. Overall, the proposed renewable energy system demonstrates positive results in electrifying remote areas while maintaining a conservative cost of electrical energy. By implementing this system, we not only contribute to the establishment of sustainable regions but also promote environmental stewardship by reducing carbon emissions and dependence on fossil fuels.

Quantifying intangible values of wetlands as instrument for conservation in the Po delta park (Italy)

Wetlands possess intangible values that are usually overlooked in decision-making processes. Based on questionnaire surveys, this work aims to quantify both the non-use and cultural values provided by the different wetlands of the Po Delta Park (Northern Italy), selected as ideal case study, using willingness to pay (WTP) for wetland conservation and travel cost methods, respectively. Their relationships with socio-economic variables and respondents' preferences for current and future use were also analysed. The 61.39% of participants were willing to pay a mean amount of 95.8 € (±40). The average travel cost was 38.68 € (±6.24), with higher values observed for environmental experts than for other citizens. Wetlands differ significantly in travel costs, current and future use, but not in WTP. Poisson regressions showed that non-use and cultural values were significantly dependent on personal information, preference variables and travel distance. Intangible dimensions, such as bequest and existence values, showed higher valuations/rates than option and direct use values. The results highlight that perceptions of the intrinsic value of nature are influenced by demographic characteristics, distance from the area and desired future uses. Non-use values seem abstract and generalised to the whole area, regardless of the ecological characteristics of the wetland, even though a significant relation to wetland uses was observed. In contrast, cultural values are tied to specific wetlands, as indication of the importance of historical relationships between people and nature. Such findings underline that the different dimensions of intrinsic value of nature may act at different scales and help decision-makers to incorporate such values into environmental accounting.

The human and financial costs of conservation for local communities living around the Greater Serengeti Ecosystem, Tanzania

Protected areas have long been recognized globally as an important strategy for conserving biodiversity. However, the establishment of protected areas has often adversely impacted local livelihoods, particularly where people and their livelihoods are exposed to wildlife threats. Understanding the magnitude and the types of human and livelihood losses to wildlife can help to reduce the losses in the future. Here we collected and analysed a large and comprehensive historical data sets on crop damage, livestock depredation, and human attacks over eight years from January 2015 to October 2022 from Serengeti District and Ngorongoro Conservation Area to understand human and livelihood losses to wildlife in the Greater Serengeti Ecosystem (GSE). The data were government records of loss and compensation. Additionally, we performed individual interviews on what communities lose to wildlife in the area. We found that wildlife causes serious annual losses of crops (value estimated at USD 489,000) and livestock (USD 17,600). On average 22 people from villages beside or within the protected areas were injured each year and eight people were killed, usually by elephants. Compensation paid by the government to local communities only covered <20% of their total financial losses, and was also very little for the injury or loss of human life. Given our estimates are only for two administrative areas i.e. Serengeti District and Ngorongoro Conservation Area, the figure will be much higher if we include all districts around the GSE. These findings contribute to the broader conservation science field and the global discourse on human-wildlife conflict and coexistence. Protected area authorities should: a. take greater responsibility for protecting local communities and their assets from wildlife attacks, and b. assist the local communities with implementing deterrence and in establishing problematic animal prevention units in hotspot areas. In particular, we recommend that the Tanzanian Government should review the current compensation regulations to reflect the actual loss.

Conflict Governance between Protected Areas and Surrounding Communities: Willingness and Behaviors of Communities—Empirical Evidence from Tanzania

Under the dual pressures of climate change and human activities, the restrictions imposed by conservation policies, along with the increasing overlap between wildlife protected areas (PAs) and community living areas, have intensified the contradictions and conflicts between PAs and surrounding communities. Effective governance of such conflicts is particularly crucial to reconciling the contradictions between conservation and development. This study takes the Mikumi–Selous areas in Tanzania, Africa, as a case study. Through questionnaires and semi-structured interviews, it explores the current state of conflicts between PAs and communities in the study area and summarizes conflict governance measures. Moreover, this research focuses on identifying various factors that influence the conservation willingness and action of community residents, further validating the relationships between residents’ household characteristics, conservation costs and benefits, conservation cognition, willingness, and behaviors through empirical analysis methods. The results indicate that residents’ conservation cognition significantly positively impacts their conservation willingness and behaviors, while conservation willingness also positively affects their conservation behaviors. Additionally, it was found that conservation costs inhibit residents’ conservation willingness and behaviors. This study primarily explores, from a community governance perspective, the participation willingness and behaviors of core stakeholders in conflict governance, emphasizing the critical role of community involvement in achieving biodiversity conservation and coordinated community development and providing a new perspective for alleviating conservation and development issues.

Robust and conservative dynamical low-rank methods for the Vlasov equation via a novel macro-micro decomposition

Dynamical low-rank (DLR) approximation has gained interest in recent years as a viable solution to the curse of dimensionality in the numerical solution of kinetic equations including the Boltzmann and Vlasov equations. These methods include the projector-splitting and Basis-update & Galerkin (BUG) DLR integrators, and have shown promise at greatly improving the computational efficiency of kinetic solutions. However, this often comes at the cost of conservation of charge, current and energy. In this work we show how a novel macro-micro decomposition may be used to separate the distribution function into two components, one of which carries the conserved quantities, and the other of which is orthogonal to them. We apply DLR approximation to the latter, and thereby achieve a clean and extensible approach to a conservative DLR scheme which retains the computational advantages of the base scheme. Moreover, our approach requires no change to the mechanics of the DLR approximation, so it is compatible with both the BUG family of integrators and the projector-splitting integrator which we use here. We describe a first-order integrator which can exactly conserve charge and either current or energy, as well as an integrator which exactly conserves charge and energy and exhibits second-order accuracy on our test problems. To highlight the flexibility of the proposed macro-micro decomposition, we implement a pair of velocity space discretizations, and verify the claimed accuracy and conservation properties on a suite of plasma benchmark problems.

Assessing the effectiveness of static heuristics for scheduling lumber orders in the sawmilling production process

Although optimization models can be used to plan the production process, in most cases static heuristics, such as earliest due date (E), longest processing time (L), and shortest processing time (S), are used because of their simplicity. This study aims to analyze the production cost of the static heuristics and to determine how this cost relates to the size of the production orders in the sawmilling industry. We set a planning problem with different orders and due dates and solved it using two cost-minimization models to compare their solutions. The first was a planning model (PL) where orders were split up into products demand by period, and the second, a planning scheduling (PS) where the sequence of processing orders based on static heuristics was assumed as known. In the latter, the minimum production cost for each static heuristic was found. In both models, the same resource constraints were assumed. The costs showed no significant changes based on order sizes. However, 0,5 % of orders were delayed using PS-E, and 17 % of orders were delayed using PL. PL was an efficient solution method when changing the orders´ size and when looking for the best static heuristic to process the orders. However, PS-E showed the ability to reduce the backlog close to zero while the PL backlog ratio was 17 %. No penalties were applied to backlogs due to their subjective nature; however, when shortages occurred, the demand was unmet or backlogged with substantial costs. Thus, in case the proposed method is adopted using a conservative backlog cost, a sawmill producing under the cut-to-order environment that produces 300000 m3 /year would reduce backlogged orders by 51000 m3. If the holding lumber cost is 2 $/m3, annual savings would be $408000.

Mechanism design for public projects via three machine learning based approaches

We study mechanism design for nonexcludable and excludable binary public project problems. Our aim is to maximize the expected number of consumers and the expected agents’ welfare. We first show that for the nonexcludable public project model, there is no need for machine learning based mechanism design. We identify a sufficient condition on the prior distribution for the existing conservative equal costs mechanism to be the optimal strategy-proof and individually rational mechanism. For general distributions, we propose a dynamic program that solves for the optimal mechanism. For the excludable public project model, we identify a similar sufficient condition for the existing serial cost sharing mechanism to be optimal for 2 and 3 agents. We derive a numerical upper bound and use it to show that for several common distributions, the serial cost sharing mechanism is close to optimality. The serial cost sharing mechanism is not optimal in general. We propose three machine learning based approaches for designing better performing mechanisms. We focus on the family of largest unanimous mechanisms, which characterizes all strategy-proof and individually rational mechanisms for the excludable public project model. A largest unanimous mechanism describes an iterative mechanism, which is defined by an exponential number of mechanism parameters. Our first approach describes the largest unanimous mechanism family using a neural network and training is carried out by minimizing a cost function that combines the mechanism design objective and the constraint violation penalty. We interpret the largest unanimous mechanisms as price-oriented rationing-free (PORF) mechanisms, which enables us to move the mechanisms’ iterative decision making off the neural network, to a separate simulation process, therefore avoiding the vanishing gradient problem. We also feed the prior distribution’s analytical form into the cost function to achieve high-quality gradients for efficient training. Our second approach treats the mechanism design task as a Markov Decision Process with an exponential number of states. During the Markov decision process, the non-consumers are gradually removed from the system. We train multiple neural networks, each for a different number of remaining agents, to learn the optimal value function on the states. Training is carried out by supervised learning toward a set of manually prepared base cases and the Bellman equation. Our third approach is based on reinforcement learning for a Partially Observable Markov Decision Process. Each RL episode randomly draws a type profile, which is hidden from the RL agent (mechanism designer). The RL agent only observes which cost share offers have been accepted under the largest unanimous mechanism under discussion. We use a continuous action space reinforcement learning approach to adjust the offer policy (i.e., adjust mechanism parameters). Lastly, our first two approaches use “supervision to manual mechanisms” as a systematic way for network initialization, which is potentially valuable for machine learning based mechanism design in general.

Applying the Taguchi Method to Improve Key Parameters of Extrusion Vacuum-Forming Quality.

This research investigates the control of thickness and weight in plastic extrusion vacuum-thermoforming products to identify optimal key parameters for cost reduction and energy savings. The initial step involves identifying crucial influencing factors. In this step, the Delphi technique was employed through a questionnaire administered to a panel of expert scholars to ensure minimal error and maximal reliability in determining key influencing factors. Consensus was sought to establish appropriateness and consistency. Subsequently, the Taguchi method was applied for quality design and planning of the extrusion vacuum-forming process. The experimental design parameters were selected using an L18 (21 × 37) orthogonal array, and the desired quality characteristics were determined. Comparative analysis of quantitative production data from two consecutive experiments was conducted, and based on F-values and contribution analysis, the combination of control factors maximizing the Signal-to-Noise (S/N) ratio was identified. The objective is to seek optimal parameters for improving the quality of the plastic polypropylene (PP cup lid) manufacturing process, reducing process variability, and identifying the most robust production conditions. Through multiple actual production prediction experiments, it was determined that five control factors, "polypropylene new material ratio," "T-die lips adjustment thickness", "mirror wheel temperature stability", "molding vacuum pressure time", and "forming mold area design", contribute to the maximization of the S/N ratio, i.e., minimizing variability. Statistical validation confirms a significant improvement in product quality and weight control. Noteworthily, the quality control model and experimental design parameters established in this study are also applicable to other plastic products and bio-based materials, such as PET, HIPS, and biodegradable PLA lids with added calcium carbonate. The results of the experimental production demonstrate its ability to consistently control product weight within the range of 3.4 ± 0.1 g, approaching the specified tolerance limits. This capability results in approximately 2.6% cost savings in product weight, contributing significantly to achieving a company's KPI goals for environmental conservation, energy efficiency, and operational cost reduction. Therefore, the findings of this study represent a substantial and tangible contribution.

Spatial identification and priority conservation areas determination of wilderness in China

In the context of an increasingly severe ecological crisis and accelerating ecological civilization construction, the specific regional differences as well as the natural environment of China restrict the uniform population distribution and the social economy's spatial layout, forming a large and widely distributed wilderness. The post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) takes the protection of wilderness areas as one of the key conservation goals and brings new opportunities for wilderness protection. Objective and accurate identification of the spatial range of wilderness and the determination of the focus of wilderness protection are significant for carrying out resource and environmental carrying capacity evaluations, biodiversity conservation, and national park system construction. At present, fewer studies pay attention to wilderness area identification and protection in China. In this study, we used the MaxEnt and Marxan models to establish a framework to identify the spatial distribution and conservation priorities of China's wilderness as well as guide wilderness conservation. The wilderness areas in China show a large-scale, concentrated distribution in space and a small, scattered distribution. From 2000 to 2020, the wilderness area decreased from 3.6323 million km2 in 2000 to 2.9142 million km2 in 2020, and the wilderness area reduction rate from 2000 to 2010 was greater than that in 2010–2020. From 2000 to 2020, the center of gravity of the wilderness area shifted 893.5 km to the southwest. Wilderness center of gravity relocated from Pingluo County, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region to Delingha City, Qinghai Province. Considering conservation objectives and conservation costs, we determined that the wilderness area in urgent need of protection is 55,100 km2, accounting for 1.8 % of the total wilderness area. It is mainly distributed in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (13,000 km2), Yunnan Province (12,000 km2), and Sichuan Province (5300 km2). This methodological framework can provide an important reference for governments in dealing with global climate change, maintaining biodiversity and ecosystem diversity, and promoting sustainable human development.

Multi-objective ecological restoration priority in China: Cost-benefit optimization in different ecological performance regimes based on planetary boundaries

In the context of the “United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration”, optimizing spatiotemporal arrangements for ecological restoration is an important approach to enhancing overall socioecological benefits for sustainable development. However, against the background of ecological degradation caused by the human use of most natural resources at levels that have approached or exceeded the safe and sustainable boundaries of ecosystems, it is key to explain how to optimize ecological restoration by classified management and optimal total benefits. In response to these issues, we combined spatial heterogeneity and temporal dynamics at the national scale in China to construct five ecological performance regimes defined by indicators that use planetary boundaries and ecological pressures which served as the basis for prioritizing ecological restoration areas and implementing zoning control. By integrating habitat conservation, biodiversity, water supply, and restoration cost constraints, seven ecological restoration scenarios were simulated to optimize the spatial layout of ecological restoration projects (ERPs). The results indicated that the provinces with unsustainable freshwater use, climate change, and land use accounted for more than 25%, 66.7%, and 25%, respectively, of the total area. Only 30% of the provinces experienced a decrease in environmental pressure. Based on the ecological performance regimes, ERP sites spanning the past 20 years were identified, and more than 50% of the priority areas were clustered in regime areas with increased ecological stress. As the restoration area targets doubled (40%) from the baseline (20%), a multi-objective scenario presents a trade-off between expanded ERPs in areas with highly beneficial effects and minimal restoration costs. In conclusion, a reasonable classification and management regime is the basis for targeted restoration. Coordinating multiple objectives and costs in ecological restoration is the key to maximizing socio-ecological benefits. Our study offered new perspectives on systematic and sustainable planning for ecological restoration.