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Arid Land Geography ›› 2023, Vol. 46 ›› Issue (6): 1004-1012.doi: 10.12118/j.issn.1000-6060.2022.398

• Regional Development • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Sustainable development capability of Ningxia ecological migration area based on ecological footprint method

DONG Li1(),WANG Manwang2,DONG Mei2()   

  1. 1. College of Humanities and Development, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China
    2. School of Economics and Management, Ningxia University, Yinchuan 750021, Ningxia, China
  • Received:2022-08-16 Revised:2022-09-17 Online:2023-06-25 Published:2023-07-24

Abstract:

How economic development can break ecological constraints is an important research topic for sustainable development. To explore the changes in ecologically sustainable development capacity in ecological migration areas, the authors used the ecological footprint method to construct an index for evaluating the sustainable development capacity of ecological migrants and used it to evaluate the sustainable development capacity of the Ningxia ecological migrant areas, northwest China from 2000 to 2020. A decoupling model was also used to analyze the relationship between ecological and environmental pressure and economic development. The research results show the following: (1) The ecological surplus of the migrated-in area (Hongsibu District) and the migrated-out area (Xiji County, Longde County, and Tongxin County) showed a decreasing trend. The ecological surplus of Hongsibu District decreased from 0.730 hm2·cap-1 in 2013 to -0.054 hm2·cap-1 in 2020. From 2000 to 2020, the ecological surplus of Xiji County declined from 1.226 hm2·cap-1 to 0.963 hm2·cap-1. The ecological surplus of Longde County declined from 0.760 hm2·cap-1 to -0.113 hm2·cap-1. The ecological surplus of Tongxin County declined from 0.755 hm2·cap-1 to 0.347 hm2·cap-1. (2) The ecological sustainability of the in-migration area decreased, while the ecological sustainability of the out-migration area was high, but the development is uneven within the region. The relocation area’s ecological sustainability index shows a “W” trend. The ecological sustainability index decreased from -0.012 in 2013 to -0.325 in 2020. As a result, the ecological sustainability of Xiji and Tongxin counties in the migrated-out area is improved, and the ecological sustainability of Longde County is reduced. From 2000 to 2020, the ecological sustainability index of Xiji County increased from -0.324 to 0.037, the ecological sustainability index of Tongxin County increased from -0.552 to -0.125, and the ecological sustainability index of Longde County decreased from -0.029 to -0.375. (3) The ecological environment and economic development in the in-migration areas have not achieved coordinated and unified development. Decoupling of economic growth and ecological pressure in the migrated areas showed regional differences. Therefore, the following recommendations are made: adhere to the priority of ecological protection, take the path of green development and promote ecological restoration, take the path of scientific and technological innovation and governance, optimize resource allocation, and take the path of coordinated development.

Key words: ecological migration, ecological footprint method, capacity for sustainable development, decoupling model, Ningxia