Environmental and social outcomes of ecotourism in the dry rangelands of China
Environmental and social outcomes of ecotourism in the dry rangelands of China
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DOI：
10.1080/14724049.2022.2048841
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发表时间：
2022-03
影响因子：
2.4
通讯作者：
Lin Li;Yinxiao Dong;Tao Zhang;Hongyi Wang;Huiting Li;Angfei Li
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Lin Li;Yinxiao Dong;Tao Zhang;Hongyi Wang;Huiting Li;Angfei Li
摘要生态旅游是引导旅游收入促进自然保护和减轻贫困的一个很有前途的解决方案。然而，脆弱的社会生态条件可能会限制生态旅游在世界各地干旱牧场的影响。本研究采用配对实验设计，对额尔古纳草原生态旅游的社会生态影响进行了调查。与畜牧业相比，当地生态旅游实现了几个可持续发展的目标，如为当地人民提供收入，改善社区合作，提高保护意识。然而，生态旅游造成的损失，杂类草物种和随后的生态系统服务的减少。因此，该地区的生态旅游仍有很大的发展空间，是中国干旱草原生态旅游的缩影。此外，气候变化和不利的市场条件限制了生态旅游业为当地人民提供足够的收入。因此，在草原保护中，生态旅游与畜牧业结合是最好的选择，而不是以生态旅游取代畜牧业。此外，虽然以社区为基础的生态旅游在该区域显示出其优势，但当地社区没有能力建立公平的市场机制和建设必要的基础设施。需要进一步的社区参与和多个利益攸关方的合作，以确保更好的公共服务和充满活力的社区。
ABSTRACT Ecotourism is a promising solution for channeling tourism revenues to promote nature conservation and poverty alleviation. However, vulnerable social-ecological conditions may limit the effects of ecotourism in dry rangelands around the world. This study implemented a paired experimental design to survey social-ecological impacts of ecotourism in Ergun grassland, one of China’s most commended ecotourism regions. Compared with livestock feeding business, local ecotourism achieved several sustainable development goals, such as providing income for local people, improving community cooperation, and raising conservation awareness. However, ecotourism caused the loss of forb species and subsequent decreases in ecosystem services. Therefore, ecotourism still had room for improvement in this region, considered the epitome for ecotourism in dry rangelands of China. Besides, climate change and adverse market conditions limited ecotourism to provide enough revenues for local people. Hence, it was better to integrate ecotourism and livestock feeding rather than replace livestock feeding with ecotourism in grassland conservation. In addition, although community-based ecotourism had showed its advantage in this region, it is out of the local community’s capacity to establish a fair market institution and build the necessary infrastructure. Further community engagement and multiple stakeholders’ cooperation are needed to ensure both better public services and vibrant communities.