TY - JOUR

T1 - Simultaneously tackling ecological degradation and poverty challenges

T2 - Evidence from desertified areas in northern China

AU - Liu, Shidong

AU - Zhang, Jianjun

AU - Zhang, Jie

AU - Guo, Yiqiang

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2022 Elsevier B.V.

PY - 2022

Y1 - 2022

N2 - Developing sustainable environmental policies in ecologically fragile and deeply impoverished areas is a global challenge. Desertification has caused serious environmental and socioeconomic issues. It is important to reveal the mechanisms of environmental policies when balancing desertification control and poverty alleviation. This study used comparative analysis and trend analysis methods and assessed the policy performances of national key ecological functional areas (NKEFAs) for desertified areas in northern China from 2005 to 2020. Two factors have been fully analyzed: desertification and poverty. The results indicate that adaptive adjustments of the NKEFA policy play an essential role in eradicating the vicious cycle of “degradation-poverty”. Although the improvements in ecological quality were not obvious, its trends changed substantially from decreasing to increasing. The proportions of desert control and socioeconomic improvement were more optimistic in the NKEFAs than in non-NKEFAs (e.g., expansion: 0.41% < 4.67%; improvement: 7.63% > 5.48%). The overall ecological benefit of the adjustment was 0.25%, which experienced a trend of declining first and then rising. The ecological and socioeconomic benefits of the first adjustment were − 0.96% per year and 2.1% per year, respectively. Then, the ecological and socioeconomic benefits of the second policy adjustment were 2.51% per year and 3.2% per year, respectively. The potential mechanism of the NKEFA policy effect is adaptive adjustments that are based on the complexity and variability of the issue. The results contribute to simultaneously tackling ecological degradation and poverty challenges and facilitating sustainable development.

AB - Developing sustainable environmental policies in ecologically fragile and deeply impoverished areas is a global challenge. Desertification has caused serious environmental and socioeconomic issues. It is important to reveal the mechanisms of environmental policies when balancing desertification control and poverty alleviation. This study used comparative analysis and trend analysis methods and assessed the policy performances of national key ecological functional areas (NKEFAs) for desertified areas in northern China from 2005 to 2020. Two factors have been fully analyzed: desertification and poverty. The results indicate that adaptive adjustments of the NKEFA policy play an essential role in eradicating the vicious cycle of “degradation-poverty”. Although the improvements in ecological quality were not obvious, its trends changed substantially from decreasing to increasing. The proportions of desert control and socioeconomic improvement were more optimistic in the NKEFAs than in non-NKEFAs (e.g., expansion: 0.41% < 4.67%; improvement: 7.63% > 5.48%). The overall ecological benefit of the adjustment was 0.25%, which experienced a trend of declining first and then rising. The ecological and socioeconomic benefits of the first adjustment were − 0.96% per year and 2.1% per year, respectively. Then, the ecological and socioeconomic benefits of the second policy adjustment were 2.51% per year and 3.2% per year, respectively. The potential mechanism of the NKEFA policy effect is adaptive adjustments that are based on the complexity and variability of the issue. The results contribute to simultaneously tackling ecological degradation and poverty challenges and facilitating sustainable development.

KW - Desertification prevention

KW - Ecological policy

KW - National key ecological functional area

KW - Poverty

KW - Sustainable development

U2 - 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.152927

DO - 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.152927

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 35007604

AN - SCOPUS:85122623966

VL - 815

JO - Science of the Total Environment

JF - Science of the Total Environment

SN - 0048-9697

M1 - 152927

ER -