Key Ecological Function Zones Research Articles

Do the National Key Ecological Function Zones Promote Green Development? Evidence from the Yanshan–Taihang Mountainous Area in Hebei Province, China

National key ecological function zones (NKEFZs) in China are critically important to maintain ecological security and accelerate the construction of the ecological civilization system. The quantitative impact of NKEFZs on green development at the county level has not received much attention. In this study, the county-level statistics of the Yanshan–Taihang Mountainous area in Hebei province from 2013 to 2018 were selected as samples. The symbiotic relationship between economy and ecology was measured and development patterns were identified using an improved Lotka–Volterra model. Then, a difference-in-differences (DID) model was used to empirically test the green development effects of establishing NKEFZs, as well as the dynamic changes of the effects and the heterogeneity of different development patterns. The results show that: (1) Green development in the sample area can be classified into four patterns: Low-High, High-Low, High-High, and Low-Low; (2) NKEFZs reduce the level of green development in the study interval and have a persistent negative effect on the level of green development; and (3) NKEFZs have a significant negative effect on areas of Low-High and High-Low development patterns, while the effect on areas of Low-Low development patterns is not significant. Overall, the results indicate that NKEFZs have a negative impact on the green development of the Yanshan–Taihang Mountainous area in Hebei Province. Finally, to promote green development in mountainous areas, the paper makes the following recommendations: Firstly, to improve the transfer payment system for NKEFZs and bring into play a long-term mechanism for the compensation effect of transfer payments. Secondly, to cultivate special industries to achieve the differentiated development of county economies. Thirdly, to accelerate the optimization and adjustment of industrial structures and promote the coordinated development of primary, secondary, and tertiary industries.

Habitat Suitability Assessment of Black-Necked Crane (Grus nigricollis) in the Zoige Grassland Wetland Ecological Function Zone on the Eastern Tibetan Plateau

Habitat suitability assessment is critical for wildlife population conservation and management planning. The MaxEnt model is widely used in species habitat suitability modeling. In order to investigate the habitat status of the black-necked crane in the Zoige grassland wetland ecological function area, this study evaluated the habitat suitability of the black-necked crane using the MaxEnt model with 152 occurrence records and 13 environmental variables. Based on the Akaike information criterion corrected for the small sample size, the best optimal parameter combination (feature class LQPHT, regularization multiplier 3.0) was selected. The results show that the Maxent model had good accuracy with an area under the curve (AUC) value of 0.895. Distance to roads, average summer precipitation, distance to lakes, and altitude are the dominant environmental variables affecting the potential distribution of black-necked cranes, with the contribution rates of 31.6%, 29.8%, 14.3%, and 8.2%, respectively. The suitable habitat area of black-necked cranes is mainly distributed in and around the Zoige Wetland National Nature Reserve, accounting for 46.49% of the Zoige Grassland Wetland National Key Ecological Function Zone. The potential distribution area has a tendency to spread to Hongyuan County in the south of the functional zone, and the unsuitable habitat is mainly distributed in the high-altitude area in the southwest of the functional zone. This study recommends focusing on the distribution area of black-necked cranes around Zoige Wetland National Nature Reserve and Hongyuan County to improve conservation strategies and strengthen protection efforts.

The Spatiotemporal Evolution and Prediction of Carbon Storage in the Yellow River Basin Based on the Major Function-Oriented Zone Planning

Land use/cover change is the main reason for the variation of ecosystem carbon storage. The study of the impact of land use on carbon storage has certain reference values for realizing high-quality development in the Yellow River Basin. In this paper, the InVEST model was used to simulate the variation of carbon storage in the Yellow River Basin in 2000, 2005, 2010, 2015, and 2020, and to predict the carbon storage in 2030 in combination with the CA-Markov model, as well as to discuss the impact of land use on carbon storage. The results showed that: (1) The variation trend of carbon storage for different land use types in the Yellow River Basin was different and was mainly manifested as a decrease of cultivated land and unused land, and an increase of forest land, grassland, water, and construction land. The carbon storage in the provincial key development prioritized zone, national development optimized zone, and provincial development optimized zone showed decreasing trends, while the national key development prioritized zone and national major grain producing zone presented a fluctuating downward trend. (2) The ecosystem carbon storage function weakened after 2000, and part of the carbon sink area transformed into a carbon source area. The area with low carbon storage was distributed in the west of the provincial key ecological function zone, and the area with high carbon storage was concentrated in the south and middle of national key ecological function zone and the east of the provincial key ecological function zone. (3) The carbon loss was largest in the urban expansion scenario (UES), followed by the natural development scenario (NDS) and ecological protection scenario (EPS). The carbon storage of different scenarios presented significant positive correlations with land use intensity.

Does Forest Resource Protection Under the Carbon Neutrality Target Inhibit Economic Growth? Evidence of Poverty-Stricken County From China

Given the overlapping characteristics of poverty-stricken counties within key ecological function zones and ecologically fragile areas in China, this study takes the sample of 393 state-designated poverty-stricken counties from 2011 to 2018 and uses the differences-in-differences model to test the influence of forest resource protection on economic growth and its mechanism under the carbon neutrality target. The empirical research proves how to break the “green paradox” and “poverty curse” in the process of Chinese ecological civilization construction and targeted poverty alleviation and how policy tools integrate emission reductions with carbon-sequestration increase and achieve sustainable development. The results show that 1) the economic growth of poverty-stricken counties cannot be separated from industrialization, urbanization, and financial system; 2) China’s poverty-stricken counties have achieved an initial decoupling of carbon emissions from economic growth; 3) forest resource protection represented by forest coverage and stock changes the carbon emissions through emission reductions with carbon-sequestration increase and affect the economic growth of poverty-stricken counties; and 4) the reduction of total carbon emissions in poverty-stricken counties further enhances the role of forest resource protection in promoting county economic growth. Taking the 13th Five-Year Plan for eco-environment protection as the starting point, this research reveals different paths and impacts selected by Chinese local governments in poverty alleviation.

The spatial effect of transfer payments for key ecological function zones on the development of ecological industry:A case study of 80 counties in Jiangxi province

The spatial effect of transfer payments for key ecological function zones on the development of ecological industry:A case study of 80 counties in Jiangxi province

Designing a path for the sustainable development of key ecological function zones: A case study of southwest China

The Chinese government has designated areas with critically important ecosystems as key ecological function zones (KEFZs) under restrictive development regimes to maintain and improve their supplies of ecological products and services. A strategy of sustainable development is required for KEFZs in southwest China, given their fragile eco-environments, important eco-functions, and lagging economies. This study aimed to identify and compare changes in ecological security, economic development, and the extent of their coordination in KEFZs and non-KEFZs in southwest China in 2010, 2015 and 2018 (i.e., before and after the policy of restricted development was introduced). The assessment systems of ecological security and economic development were constructed for assessing these areas. A coupling coordination degree (CCD) model was used to evaluate coordination levels between ecological security and economic development. Overall, the results indicated that the levels of ecological security in KEFZs were exceeded non-KEFZs. In 2010, KEFZs and non-KEFZs evidenced similar levels of economic development and CCDs. The economic development of KEFZs was lagging behind that of non-KEFZs after restrictive development regimes in KEFZs. The slow economic growth further hindered the improvement of the coordination between ecological security and economic development for KEFZs. The gaps between KEFZs and non-KEFZs regarding economic development and coordination levels were widening. The study provided some strategies for the sustainable development of southwest China’s KEFZs, including the development of clean resources, the strategy of partial development and comprehensive environmental protection, the formulation of lists of allowed, restricted and prohibited industries, and effective utilization of ecological compensation policies.

Ecological security evaluation and ecological regulation approach of East-Liao River basin based on ecological function area

Watershed ecological security provides the basic guarantee of regional sustainable development; thus, reliable watershed ecological security evaluation is of great significance in revealing the watershed ecological security status and promoting the healthy development of the watershed society and ecological environment. To construct the ecological function area, this study used the East-Liao River basin as the analysis object and discussed the delimitation method of ecological security evaluation, which provided the reference and basis for studying and exploring the optimal ecological regulation method of the basin. The following results were obtained: from 2000 to 2020, the regions with lower ecological security index changed from northwest to southeast of the watershed, and presented the spatial distribution of “unsafe” → “generally safe” → “relatively safe” → “safe”, with the center of gravity concentrated in the middle of the watershed; the spatial differences of ecological security became significant with the addition of ecological function zones, and they show a certain spatial aggregation trend; from 2000 to 2020, the ecological security level was predominantly safer, and the distribution of gravity center showed a circular state; the ecological security level of the watershed can be improved by adjusting the proportion of regional land use types. According to the results, countermeasures and approaches of watershed ecological security regulation were suggested, and four subareas were established: forbidden development zones, traditional utilization zones, ecologically sensitive/fragile zones, and key ecological function zones; this would provide a basis for further analysis of environmental governance in the East-Liao River basin of Jilin Province. Nevertheless, the countermeasures and approaches of ecological security regulation proposed in this study will also be useful for land use planning and runoff management in other watersheds around the world.

Landscape ecological risk assessment and influencing factors in ecological conservation area in Sichuan-Yunnan provinces, China.

It is important for preventing and resolving landscape ecology risk and promoting regional sustainable development to explore the characteristics of temporal and spatial variations of landscape ecology risk of key ecological function zone and to reveal the potential influence of human activity on aggravation of landscape ecological risk. Based on the land cover data of 2000, 2010, and 2020, we constructed a model of risk assessment on landscape ecology, incorporating a landscape index and an assessment of ecological vulnerability, with the support of ArcGIS 10.8 and Fragstats 4.2. The spatial analysis method was used to examine the temporal and spatial variations of landscape ecology risk in ecological conservation in Sichuan-Yunnan provinces. We used the Geodetector to quantify the impacts of natural and social-economy factors in different ranges of region on landscape ecological risk. The results showed that from 2000 to 2020, the area of artificial land surface, water body, shrubland in the study area showed an upward trend, while the area of forest, cultivated land, grassland, wetlands, barren land, and permanent snow cover and glacier showed an downward trend. There was remarkable transfer of landscape types among forest, grassland and cultivated land, especially for the transfer from cultivated land to artificial surface. The mean value of landscape ecological risk had been reducing. The classes of landscape ecological risk was consistent with the changes and shifts of landscape. Landscape ecological risk was mainly at lower, low, and high levels in ecological conservation in Sichuan-Yunnan provinces. Natural factors, including elevation and precipitation, generally drove the temporal-spatial variations of landscape ecological risk. In addition, factors such as economy, society and regional accessibility could contribute to prominent impacts on local area suffering from pejorative risk.

Evaluating Natural Ecological Land Change in Function-Oriented Planning Regions Using the National Land Use Survey Data from 2009 to 2018 in China

The natural ecological lands, such as forest land, grassland, wetland, etc., constitute the most important factor for maintaining and preserving the earth’s ecosystem, which must be well concerned in the regional function-oriented planning for the sustainability of human economic development. We analyzed and evaluated the change of natural ecological land in the function-oriented planning regions where we applied the major function-oriented zones introduced as a new concept in China. Using the land-use data from 2009 to 2018 that were produced by the National Land Use Survey, we re-classified natural ecological land types into the forest, grassland, wetland, and bare land, and then addressed the changes of natural ecological land types from 2009 to 2018 in the major function-oriented zones. As a result, the area of natural ecological lands generally tended to decrease from 2009 to 2018, while the decreasing trend of natural ecological land areas was controlled after 2015 with the implementation of governmental policies for environment protection and eco-logical projects. Especially, the decrease of forest land area significantly tended to be zero in 2018 in optimal development zones. The decreased areas of natural ecological lands were mostly converted from artificial land from 2008 to 2019. On the other side, the forest lands mostly changed from cropland and grassland in key development zones, agricultural production zones, and key ecological function zones, due to the fact that grassland conversed in afforestation during this period. The evaluation of natural ecological land changes, which could be implemented by using the annual updates of national land-use data in China, is significant to support the government’s spatial regulation design, to reshape the planned regions, and make policies for environmental restoration and protection management.

Integrating the ecosystem service in sustainable plateau spatial planning: A case study of the Yarlung Zangbo River Basin

The Yarlung Zangbo River Basin (YZRB) is a key ecological protection area on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP). Determination of the ecosystem service values (ESVs) can help recognize the benefits of sustainable management. It is gradually becoming the main path that constructs plateau spatial planning of integrating ecological protection, and achieves global sustainable development goals (SDGs) in China. In this paper, the spatio-temporal dynamic evolutions of the ESVs were estimated on the multiple scales of “basin, subbasin and watershed” from 1980 to 2015. The main factors influencing ESVs were explored in terms of physical geography, human activities, and climate change. It had been proposed that sustainable spatial planning including ecological protection, basin management, and regional development was urgent to set up. Our results show that the increase in wetland and forest and results in an increase of 9.4% in the ESVs. Attention should be paid to the reduction of water and grassland. Water conservation (WC), waste treatment (WT), and soil formation and conservation (SFC) are the most important ecosystem services in the YZRB. At present, the primary problem is to solve the ESVs decreasing caused by glacier melting, grassland degradation, and desertification in the upper reaches region. The middle reaches should raise the level of supply services. Regulation services should be increased in the lower reaches region on the premise of protecting vegetation. The ESVs in adjacent watersheds are interrelated and the phenomenon of “high agglomeration and low agglomeration” is obvious, existing hot-spots and cold-spots of ESVs. Additionally, when the altitude is 4500–5500 m, the temperature is 3–8°C, and the annual precipitation is 350–650 mm, ESVs could reach its maximum. A framework of sustainable plateau spatial planning could provide references to delimit the ecological protection red line, key ecological function zone, and natural resource asset accounting on the QTP.

近20年防风固沙重点生态功能区植被动态分析

植被是影响防风固沙生态功能的关键指标，也是检验防风固沙区生态保护成效的重要依据。由2010年国务院《全国主体功能区规划》划定的防风固沙类国家重点生态功能区、国家重点生态功能区转移支付县域综合确定研究范围。基于2000-2019年中分辨率成像光谱仪（MODIS）的叶面积指数（LAI）产品，从生态区和像元两个尺度分析近20年防风固沙重点生态功能区植被的时空变化趋势，并进一步探索气候因子对LAI的影响，以期揭示我国北方风沙区生态系统防风固沙功能的现状，为今后生态保护提供支撑。研究结果表明，2000-2019年间，研究区LAI年平均值呈现东高西低的空间格局，随着时间推移有显著增加趋势，平均增幅为0.03 m² m^-2（10a）^-1（P<0.01）。在生态区尺度，LAI在8个生态功能区均表现出不同程度的增长，且2010-2019年间LAI的增长速率高于2000-2009年的，其中，科尔沁草原生态功能区在20年间呈现最为显著的增加趋势，区域平均增幅为0.1154 m² m^-2（10a）^-1（P<0.01）。在像元尺度，近20年LAI显著增长（P<0.05）的区域面积占整个研究区植被面积的41.6%，其中，83.7%的LAI增长区域为草地，11.2%为耕地。增长区域主要集中在研究区东部，呈片状分布，研究区西部的LAI也有一定程度的增长，增长区域呈带状分布。2010-2019年LAI增长的区域面积为7.7%，明显大于2000-2009年LAI增长的区域面积。气候因子对研究区植被的影响为：研究区东部降水的增加对当地植被生长有正向的促进作用，而温度的影响则在整个研究区都较弱。除自然因素外，人为因素（防风固沙政策实施、农业技术进步等）对防风固沙功能区植被状况的改善也至关重要。研究区LAI的显著增加表明我国北方防风固沙屏障的生态功能在近20年有一定程度的提高。;Vegetation is crucial for wind-breaking and sand-fixing, and is an important basis for testing the ecological protection effect of wind-break and sand-fixation regions. The study area is the national key ecological function zones of wind-break and sand-fixation designated by the National Plan for Major Functional Zones of the State Council in 2010, as well as the county areas of transfer payment for national key ecological function zones. Based on the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Leaf Area Index (LAI) datasets from 2000 to 2019, this paper analyzed the LAI trend of the study area in both ecological zone scale and pixel scale, and the impacts of climate factors on LAI were also analyzed. The above-mentioned works can reveal the state of ecosystem in ecological function zone for wind-break and sand-fixation, providing advices for ecological protection. The results show that, during 2000-2019, annual year average LAI decreases from east to west across the study areas, and an overall increasing exists as time went by, with a rate at 0.03 m² m^-2(10a)^-1 (P<0.01). At the ecological zone scale, the LAI of the eight ecological function zones increases with various amplitudes, and the increasing trend of LAI from 2010 to 2019 is obviously larger than that in 2000-2009. Among the eight ecological function zones, the Horqin Grassland Ecological Function Zone has the largest increasing amplitude (0.1154 m² m^-2(10a)^-1, P<0.01) over the last 20 years. At the pixel scale, the area with significant increase (P<0.05) in LAI accounts for 41.6% of the vegetated regions in the study area, among which 83.7% is covered by grassland and 11.2% is cropland. Pixels with increasing LAI mainly concentrate in the eastern part of the study area, showing a patchy distribution. LAI in the western part has a slight increase, distributing like a strip. Areas with increase in LAI account for 7.7% during 2010-2019, obviously larger than that in 2000-2009. The impacts of climate factors on vegetation in the study area are as follows:the increase of precipitation facilitates vegetation growth in the eastern parts, while in the western parts, these facilitating effects vanish, and the effect of temperature is weak across the whole study area. Apart from the impacts of climate factors, human interventions (implementation of wind-break and sand-fixation policy as well as the progress of agriculture technology) are also crucial on the improvement of vegetation growth. The LAI dynamics indicate that the ecological function for wind-break and sand-fixation in northern China has been improved.

Do industrial pollution activities in China respond to ecological fiscal transfers? Evidence from payments to national key ecological function zones

The policy of payments to National Key Ecological Function Zones (NKEFZs), a type of instrument for Ecological Fiscal Transfers, has been introduced in China. We employed propensity score matching and difference in difference estimation to investigate the effectiveness of this policy on the reduction of industrial pollution. We found evidence that the policy had reduced pollution-intensive activity in the NKEFZs. Meanwhile, implementation of the policy had been selective. First, the downstream NKEFZs with higher opportunity costs had lower efforts to reduce industrial pollution. Because performance-based payment mechanisms neglect opportunity costs, financial stress weakens the efforts to reduce pollution. Secondly, the NKEFZs policy suppresses air-polluting industries but not water-polluting industries. Local governments may reduce only the target pollutant (chemical oxygen demand) while ignoring non-target pollutants. There may be moral hazards under information asymmetry in pollution reduction.

Coupling analysis of the major impact on sustainable development of the typical arid region of Turpan in Northwest China

Analyzing the sustainable development of a given region can provide an important reference and guide for future orientation. The study selects Turpan (including Gaochang District, Shanshan County, and Toksun County) in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of Northwest China as the study area and first investigates the essence of regional sustainable development. Based on the relevant data of the population, economy, and environment of Turpan from 2002 to 2018, we constructed an evaluation index system for three dimensions, namely, the population, economy, and environment, and analyzed them systematically. Specifically, we quantitatively calculated the comprehensive evaluation index, coupling degree, and coupling coordination degree of the sustainable development system of the study area. The study finds that Turpan has on some dimensions become increasingly sustainable, especially the economic development level has improved. The results show that the coupling coordination degree has increased from 0.3692 to 0.8894 during the period 2002–2018, which reflects the actual situation of Turpan and indicates that the proposed analysis method can effectively measure and evaluate the level of sustainable development in this region. Moreover, the study also puts forward main functional zoning of Turpan (i.e., Gaochang District as an optimized development zone, Shanshan County as a major agricultural production zone, and Toksun County as a key ecological function zone) and regional planning principles based on the population, economic, and environmental coupling analysis for the three jurisdictions in Turpan.

Increase or decrease? Integrating the CLUMondo and InVEST models to assess the impact of the implementation of the Major Function Oriented Zone planning on carbon storage

In order to achieve the dual goals of territorial development optimization and protection, the Major Function Oriented Zone (MFOZ) has implemented differentiated spatial policies, which will lead to significant changes in future land use and ecosystem services. This study takes Nanning, China as the study area, and integrates the CLUMondo model and the InVEST model to assess the impact of land use change on carbon storage from 2010–2015 and 2015–2030 in three different scenarios. The results show that: (1) under the Natural Growth Scenario (NGS) and Economic Development Scenario (EDS), the overall carbon storage in the study area will decrease, while, under the Ecological Protection Scenario (EPS), the overall carbon storage will increase; (2) under the NGS, carbon storage in the key development zone will decrease, while it will increase in the agricultural production zone and in the key ecological function zone; (3) under the EDS, carbon storage will decrease in all the three major functional zones; (4) under the EPS, carbon storage will increase in all the three major functional zones. In the future, the three major functional zones should implement differentiated development policies to further optimize the land spatial development pattern and realize sustainable development.

Variations in vegetation dynamics and its cause in national key ecological function zones in China.

Continued long-term monitoring of vegetation activity in national key ecological function zones (NKEFZs) has implications for national ecological security and sustainability in China. We used Global Inventory Modeling and Mapping Studies (GIMMS) Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI3g) dataset to map and analyze the spatiotemporal patterns of change in vegetation growth and their linkage with climate change and human activities in NKEFZs during 1982-2013. Statistically significant increases of growing season, spring, and autumn NDVI were observed during all or most periods while 25 NKEFZs are taken as a whole. Non-significant decreases of NDVI were found in 7 NKEFZs during a few periods, and obvious increases were observed during fifteen periods in all other NKEFZs. Vegetation growth in NKEFZs was mainly regulated by a thermal factor, and the dominant climatic drivers varied across different regions and seasons. The influence of temperature was stronger on vegetation activity in spring and autumn for those NKEFZs located in high latitudes and high elevations, while precipitation was the main climatic control factor for NKEFZs in the arid and semi-arid regions. The effects of human activity on the NDVI of NKEFZs were not ignored; a significant decrease of NDVI in the Sanjiang Plain may be related to the rapid change in land use from wetland into farmland.

Using Ecosystem Service Flows to Inform Ecological Compensation: Theory & Application.

Ecological compensation is a crucial policy instrument that realigns the benefits of stakeholders to the ecosystem service provision. However, the spatial disconnections between locations where ecosystem services produced and used are common. The supply and demand for ecosystem services are calculated to reflect the status of the districts or counties based on ecosystem service flows. The replacement cost methods provide necessary technical supports for the calculation of compensation funds. The realigning of compensation funds between service-benefiting areas and service-providing areas not only identifies the beneficiaries and suppliers but also realizes the connection between them, which may be a feasible methodology. Fuzhou City is the study area, and two ecosystem services of water conservation and soil retention were taken into consideration. The prioritized development zone, Linchuan, and the key agricultural production zones paid ecological compensation funds. Linchuan paid the highest, 5.76 billion yuan. The key ecological function zones and the key agricultural production zones received the ecological compensation funds, of which Yihuang obtained the highest, 1.66 billion yuan. The realigning of compensation funds between the service benefiting and providing areas addresses the trade-offs between ecosystem services, social development, and ecosystem protection. Embedding the ecosystem service flows into the ecological compensation mechanism can most truly realize the value of ecosystem services, achieve the “beneficiary pays” principle, and be conducive to regional sustainable development.

国家重点生态功能区2010-2015年生态系统服务价值变化评估

国家重点生态功能区2010-2015年生态系统服务价值变化评估

防风固沙型重点生态功能区防风固沙服务的评估与受益区识别

防风固沙型重点生态功能区防风固沙服务的评估与受益区识别

Analysis of the Ecosystem Soil Conservation Function Based on the Major Function-Oriented Zones across the Yangtze River Economic Belt, China

The Yangtze River Economic Belt (YREB) is an important ecological security barrier for China. The spatial-temporal pattern of land use changes and changing characteristics of soil conservation function were analyzed based on the Major Function-Oriented Zones (MFOZs) from 2010 to 2015. Soil conservation was calculated by the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE). Results were as follows: in 2015, the area ratio of built-up land in the optimal development zones (ODZs), key development zones (KDZs), agricultural production zones (APZs) and key ecological function zones (KEFZs) was 25.25%, 6.55%, 3.70% and 0.40%, respectively, which reflected the gradient of territorial development based on their functions. The average annual soil retention was 18.76 billion t/year during the study period, and the per unit soil retention was 91.54 t/hm2/year. The soil conservation function capacity was weakened in the order of KEFZs, APZs, KDZs and ODZs. Soil conservation function of the YREB showed an overall improvement from 2010 to 2015. The implementation of the MOFZs strategy has contributed significantly to improving the ecological security capability of the YREB.

Can Environmental Protection in Ecological Functional Zones Break Free from the Constraints of Focusing Just on Economic Benefits? — A Case Study of the Plateau Ecological Zone’s Tiamitcheen

Following the 2015 publication and revision of the 2008 National Ecological Functional Division, China, in 2017, added 240 counties (cities, districts, and banners) to its national key ecological functional zone system. Ecological functional zones, in practice, are often caught in a dilemma between environmental protection and economic development, with actions aimed at the promotion of locally-based economic advances frequently conflicting with the goals of ecological functional divisions. To investigate this dilemma, the paper selected Tiamitcheen County in the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau, a key ecological function zone, as the site for a field investigation, case study. The primary methodologies applied in this study included a questionnaire survey and in-depth interviews. Based on the observation of three main reasons for the dilemma between environmental protection and economic development, the author proposed that ecological functional zones should be further subdivided based on the National Ecological Functional Division according to the zones’ respective characteristics at the local level. More efforts should also go into better specifying the scope of ecological “red lines”, and to the demarcation of the boundaries of ecological functional core zones, buffer zones, and experimental zones. This would help in the formulation of local development planning, while at the same time increasing the support directed to ecological protection zones. In addition, “differentiated” and “greening” zoning assessment mechanisms should also be fully implemented, whereby different assessment factors and weights are established according to the characteristics of the different functional zones. An expanded array of economic indicators should also be delineated, which more specifically indicates the differences between ecological functional zones and other functional zones. This would, via a “differentiated” and “green” assessment system, help to ease the conflicts arising between local governments’ efforts at both economic promotion and ecological protection. Within ecological functional zones, it would also encourage local governments to break through the need to adhere strictly to efforts at economic promotion so as to ensure ecological security.