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Strategic Study of CAE >> 2022, Volume 24, Issue 1 doi: 10.15302/J-SSCAE-2022.01.012

Ecological Change Assessment and Protection Strategy in the Yellow River Basin

Center of Eco-Civilization of the Yellow River, Chinese Academy of Environmental Planning, Beijing 100012, China

Funding project:Chinese Academy of Engineering project “Research on ecological protection and high-quality development strategy in the Yellow River Basin” (2020-ZD-18) Received: 2021-11-25 Revised: 2021-12-20 Available online: 2022-01-28

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Abstract

The ecological environment of the Yellow River Basin is sensitive and fragile. Affected by climate change and large-scale, high-intensity human development for a long time, the overall and systemic ecological degradation of the basin is prominent, and the ecological security situation is unoptimistic. To effectively promote ecological protection and high-quality development of the Yellow River Basin and build a strong ecological security barrier, we systematically evaluate the current status and changes of the Yellow River Basin ecosystem in terms of structure and quality in the past two decades, and summarize the main problems and deficiencies existing in the upper, middle, and lower reaches of the Yellow River, including the ecological fragility of the basin, prominent systemic degradation, and the constraints of the current work in terms of institutional mechanism, investment, and implementing effect. Then we propose future ecological protection and restoration strategies. Our research shows that the ecosystem of the Yellow River Basin has maintained a stable structure in the past two decades, but its types have changed significantly; cities and towns have expanded significantly, forest, grasslands, and wetlands have increased, and the desertified area has been significantly reduced. The overall quality of the ecosystem, particularly in the middle reaches, has improved, and degradation still exists in some regions, particularly in the lower reaches. Therefore, we propose that ecological protection and restoration of the Yellow River Basin should be strengthened through three aspects: (1) systematically evaluating the implementing effect of ecological projects, (2) promoting ecological protection and restoration according to local conditions, and (3) innovating the value realization mechanism of ecological products, so as to ensure the ecological security of the region.

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