Mechanisms and pathways of realizing the value of karst ecological products in Hebei Province
The karst ecological environment is characterized by fragility, sensitivity, vulnerability, heterogeneity, and limited natural regenerative capacity. The ecosystem formed through karst ecological restoration and conservation provides essential ecological products (eco-products) for human beings. Realizing the value of these products is an important initiative for addressing human-land conflicts in fragile environments, sustaining the benefits of ecological restoration, promoting the sustainable development of poverty alleviation efforts, and practicing the principle that "lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets". Hebei Province, which surrounds Beijing and Tianjin, is characterized by high terrain in the northwest and low terrain in the southeast, with a variety of landforms. Two major mountain ranges, the Yanshan Mountains and the Taihang Mountains, cover 48.1% of the total area of the province. China is implementing restoration and protection projects for karst forest ecosystems through the Three-North Shelterbelt Forest Program. These ecosystems are ecologically significant, as they contribute to the conservation of water, soil, and biodiversity. They serve as primary providers of eco-products and form a crucial ecological security barrier for the North China Plain. Recognizing the intrinsic value of eco-products in this region is essential, as it will act as a key driver for transforming green mountains into invaluable assets in the karst ecologically fragile areas—an approach that reflects distinctive Chinese and Hebei characteristics. Therefore, given the unique features of the karst terrain in Hebei, it is imperative to assess the value of eco-products based on localized data. This approach will enhance the realization of their value and optimize transformation rates in response to environmental heterogeneity and other factors. This study holds significant academic and reference values for Hebei and even the broader northern karst regions. In the karst regions of Hebei, the Three-North Shelterbelt Forest Program has implemented large-scale karst ecological restoration and protection efforts, but raising critical questions: Can these ecosystems further optimize their service functions? Can they provide additional high-quality eco-products to meet people’s growing need for a beautiful environment? Can green mountains be effectively transformed into invaluable assets? The chain process of karst eco-products valuation, value transformation, and the value realization mechanisms and pathways becomes the key scientific challenge underlying the technical bottlenecks that must be addressed in this region. The realization of the value of eco-products refers to the process of transforming their ecological value into economic profits through the rational development and utilization of eco-products under the premise of maintaining ecosystem stability and integrity. The mechanisms for realizing the value of eco-products include policy, market and technology approaches to promote the value realization. The total economic value of eco-products transformed through various pathways is termed the amount of value transformed. Addressing the shortcomings of the existing eco-product mechanisms and pathways—such as low premium effects and inefficient value transformation—this study employs 35 regions in Hebei with the karst area exceeding 10% of the total area as a case study. Based on localized data accounting, it calculates the Gross Ecological Product (GEP) and evaluates the value transformation rate of eco-products. By analyzing influencing factors from the perspective of value transformation efficiency, this study proposes mechanisms and pathways to enhance the realization of eco-product value. The results show that the GEP of karst regions in Hebei in 2022 was 602.822 billion yuan, the value transformed from eco-products was 217.211 billion yuan, and the value transformation rate is about 36.03 %. Material products and cultural service products contributed 35.21% of the value transformation rate, representing the most effective eco-products in the karst regions of Hebei, while regulating services contributed only 0.83 %. The study reveals the existence of fragile ecosystem mechanisms, imperfect safeguard mechanisms, and a limited range of realization pathways in the karst regions of Hebei. Accordingly, differentiated improvement strategies are proposed: at the mechanism level, it is suggested to strengthen ecological protection and restoration, improve basic security and establish long-term incentives; at the level of implementation pathway, a trigram model encompassing government leadership, market-driven mechanisms, and government-market coordination should be introduced.
Articles in press have been peer-reviewed and accepted, which are not yet assigned to volumes /issues, but are citable by Digital Object Identifier (DOI).
2025, 44(3): 445-461.
doi: 10.11932/karst20250301
2025, 44(3): 477-487, 518.
doi: 10.11932/karst20250303
2025, 44(3): 510-518.
doi: 10.11932/karst20250305
Founded in 1982 bimonthly
ISSN: 1001-4810
CN 45-1157/P
Editor-in-chief: Jiang Zhongcheng
Sponsor: Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences
Sponsored by: Institute of Karst Geology, Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences
Cosponsor: International Research Center on Karst under the Auspices of UNESCOKarst Geology Committee of Geological Society of ChinaSpeleology Committee of Geological Society of China
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