A conservation planning framework for China's national key ecological function area based on ecological risk...

Area of Science:

• Ecological conservation planning
• Environmental risk assessment
• Ecosystem services evaluation

Background:

• National Key Ecological Functions Areas (NKEFAs) are vital for regional and national ecological security in China.
• Existing conservation planning methods often fail to adequately address natural and anthropogenic stressors, leading to conflicts between conservation and development.
• A strategic approach is needed to balance ecological protection with local development objectives.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose a novel conservation planning framework (CP-NKEFA) tailored for China's NKEFAs.
• To overcome the limitations of current conservation planning approaches by integrating stressor analysis and ecosystem service evaluation.
• To provide a scientific basis for spatial arrangement of conservation and development activities.

Main Methods:

• The proposed CP-NKEFA framework reframes conservation planning as an ecological risk assessment problem.
• It involves identifying and quantifying natural and anthropogenic stressors and evaluating the importance of ecosystem services.
• The framework establishes distinct conservation, development, and buffer zones based on risk and service assessments.

Main Results:

• The CP-NKEFA framework was successfully applied in a case study in Changyang County, China.
• The framework's multi-category zoning scheme proved more effective than traditional ecological redline zoning for guiding spatial planning.
• The zoning effectively identified and protected areas vulnerable to stressors and critical for ecosystem services.

Conclusions:

• The CP-NKEFA framework offers a superior approach for conservation planning in NKEFAs, effectively managing conflicts between conservation and development.
• The inclusion of buffer zones allows for adaptive management and trade-offs between ecological protection and human activities.
• The framework's applicability extends beyond NKEFAs to other regions facing similar conservation-development challenges.