Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Environmental impact assessment of ecological migration in China: a survey of immigrant resettlement regions

生态移民的环境影响研究——以广西移民迁入区 为例

  • Published:
Journal of Zhejiang University-SCIENCE A Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Implementation of ecological migration (eco-migration) policies may improve the fragile ecological environment of emigration areas; however, it also places enormous pressure on the human-environment systems in immigrant resettlement regions. Via the application of participatory rural appraisal (PRA) methods, ecological footprint (EF), and stochastic impacts by regression on population, affluence, and technology (STIRPAT) models, 21 villages of Huanjiang County in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China were used in this research as a case study area for the environmental appraisal of eco-migration policies in immigrant resettlement regions. Results show: (1) In the past 20 years of implementing eco-migration policies, the EF per capita constantly increased, the biocapacity (BC) per capita constantly decreased, and the ecological deficit gradually increased, indicating an extremely negative impact of eco-migration projects on the ecological environment in the immigration areas. (2) Cropland and forest land are the most important components of the per-capita EF. The per-capita EF of cropland experienced overall a first increasing and then decreasing trend, and the per-capita EF of forest land constantly increased and showed the most rapid increase among all types of EF in the last two decades. (3) The proportion of per-capita EF of different types of productive land is in the order of forest land > cropland > carbon uptake land > built-up land > grazing land from high to low, and this is a significant change from the original order of cropland > forest land > carbon uptake land > grazing land > built-up land. (4) Because of unequal possession of ecologically productive resources, the overall per-capita EF, overall per-capita BC, overall per-capita ecological deficit of productive land use by migrants, and their component values of different types of productive land use are all lower than the corresponding values of the natives. The ecological deficit of natives is more severe than that of migrants. (5) Whereas population growth and overexploitation of resources lead directly to the increased pressure on the ecological environment in the immigration areas, increasing nonagricultural income and improving the consumption structure can reduce the dependence of farmers on the land, thus inhibiting the increase of EF.

中文概要

目的

生态移民在改善迁出区生态环境的同时,也改变 了迁入区资源环境配置格局。客观评价大量生态 移民涌入给迁入区造成的生态系统压力,对生态 移民政策的可持续推进及新形式下解决脱贫和 生态环境保护问题有重要意义。

创新点

从微观农户尺度,采用生产性生态足迹评价移民 迁入区生态移民工程的生态环境影响。

方法

1. 基于参与式农户调查方法,获取移民迁入区移 民和当地驻民的生态足迹账户、土地利用及农户 家庭等基本信息;2. 采用生产性生态足迹评价移 民迁入区生态移民工程的生态环境影响;3. 构建 “STIRPAT”模型,分析移民迁入区生态环境变 化的影响因素。

结论

1. 大规模移民的迁入对移民安置区的生态环境造 成持续压力;2. 人口规模扩大、荒草地开垦以及 消费需求增长是造成移民迁入区生态环境压力 的主要原因;3. 合理测算移民迁入区人口承载 力、促进农户生计转型和增加农户生计多样化可 以有效缓解生态移民对生态环境的巨大压力。

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Alix-Garcia JM, Mcintosh C, Sims KRE, et al., 2010. The ecological footprint of poverty alleviation: evidence from Mexico’s Oportunidades program. Social Science Electronic Publishing, 95(2):417–435.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bachour B, Dong W, 2006. Socioeconomic impact of urban redevelopment in inner city of Ningbo. Journal of Zhejiang University-SCIENCE A, 7(8):1386–1395. https://doi.org/10.1631/jzus.2006.A1386

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barbier EB, 2010. Poverty, development, and environment. Social Science Electronic Publishing, 15(12):635–660.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bates DC, 2002. Environmental refugees classifying human migrations caused by environmental change. Population and Environment, 23(5):465–477. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1015186001919

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Becchetti L, Rossetti F, Castriota S, 2010. Real household income and attitude toward immigrants: an empirical analysis. The Journal of Socio-Economics, 39(1):81–88. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socec.2009.07.012

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Borucke M, Moore D, Cranston G, et al., 2013. Accounting for demand and supply of the biosphere’s regenerative capacity: the national footprint accounts’ underlying methodology and framework. Ecological Indicators, 24: 518–533. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2012.08.005

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cavendish W, 2000. Empirical regularities in the povertyenvironment relationship of rural households: evidence from Zimbabwe. World Development, 28(11):1979–2003. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0305-750X(00)00066-8

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chang B, Xiong L, 2005. Ecological footprint analysis based on RSand GIS in arid land. Journal of Geographical Sciences, 15(1):44–52. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02873106

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chen Y, Ge Y, 2015. Spatial point pattern analysis on the villages in China’s poverty-stricken areas. Procedia Environmental Sciences, 27:98–105. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.proenv.2015.07.098

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • CPAD (The State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development), 2011. The Outline for Development Oriented Poverty Reduction for China’s Rural Areas (2011-2020). State Council, China.

    Google Scholar 

  • Duraiappah AK, 1998. Poverty and environmental degradation: a review and analysis of the nexus. World Development, 26(12):2169–2179. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0305-750X(98)00100-4

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ehrlich PR, Holdrens JP, 1971. The impact of population growth. Science, 171(3977):1212–1217. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.171.3977.1212

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ezra M, 2003. Environmental vulnerability, rural poverty, and migration in Ethiopia: a contextual analysis. Genus, 59(2):63–91.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ferng JJ, 2009. Applying input–output analysis to scenario analysis of ecological footprints. Ecological Economics, 69(2):345–354. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2009.08.006

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ferrol-Schulte D, Wolff M, Ferse S, et al., 2013. Sustainable livelihoods approach in tropical coastal and marine social–ecological systems: a review. Marine Policy, 42(14):253–258. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpol.2013.03.007

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Finco MVA, 2009. Poverty-environment trap: a non linear probit model applied to rural areas in the north of Brazil. American-Eurasian Journal of Agricultural & Environmental Science, 5(4):533–539.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fox J, Vogler JB, Poffenberger M, 2009. Understanding changes in land and forest resource management systems: Ratanakiri, Cambodia. Tonan Ajia Kenkyu, 47(3):309–329.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fu W, Zhao JQ, Du GZ, 2013. Ecological safety analysis of the northwest region of China based on the ecological footprint and environmental Kuznets curve. China Population Resources and Environment, 23(5):107–110 (in Chinese).

    Google Scholar 

  • González-Vallejo P, Marrero M, Solis-Guzman J, 2015. The ecological footprint of dwelling construction in Spain. Ecological Indicators, 52:75–84. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2014.11.016

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Guo HW, Yan LJ, 2016. The application of city development index and ecological footprint in the assessment of sustainable development of China’s municipalities. Acta Ecologica Sinica, 36(14):1–10.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hao HG, Zhang JP, Li XB, et al., 2015. Impact of livelihood diversification of rural households on their ecological footprint in agro-pastoral areas of northern China. Journal of Arid Land, 7(5):653–664. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40333-015-0049-5

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hou CX, Zhao XY, Wen Y, et al., 2015. Spatial disparities and the peasant household consumption on environment: based on the survey data of Zhangye city in 2010. Acta Ecologica Sinica, 35(6):2013–2019.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hrabovszky JP, Miyan K, 1987. Population growth and land use in Nepal ‘the great turnabout’. Mountain Research & Development, 7(3):264–270. https://doi.org/10.2307/3673203

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huang ZH, Lu BX, Chen XX, 2001. Migration of surplus agricultural labor in the process of economic transition. Journal of Zhejiang University-SCIENCE, 2(2):220–226. https://doi.org/10.1631/jzus.2001.0220

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Li P, Sun ZB, Fang JP, et al., 2015. The sustainable development assessment in Tibet based on the dynamic analysis of ecological footprint. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation, 29(6):327–331 (in Chinese).

    Google Scholar 

  • Li Z, Ju MT, Liu W, et al., 2007. Dynamic measurement of ecological footprint of energy resources and its economic efficiency in last ten years, China. Resources Science, 29(6):54–60 (in Chinese).

    Google Scholar 

  • Liang LT, Zhai B, 2015. Environmental impacts of farmer households’ land use behaviors via the methods of PRA and LCA. China Land Science, 29(5):84–92 (in Chinese).

    Google Scholar 

  • Lin D, Hanscom L, Martindill J, et al., 2016. Working Guidebook to the National Footprint Accounts, 2016 Edition. Global Footprint Network, Oakland, USA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Long AH, Xu ZM, Wang XH, et al., 2006. Impacts of population, affluence and technology on water footprint in China. Acta Ecologica Sinica, 26(10):3358–3367.

    Google Scholar 

  • Morrissey JW, 2013. Understanding the relationship between environmental change and migration: the development of an effects framework based on the case of northern Ethiopia. Global Environmental Change, 23(6):1501–1510. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2013.07.021

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mostafa MM, 2010. A Bayesian approach to analyzing the ecological footprint of 140 nations. Ecological Indicators, 10(4):808–817. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2010.01.002

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Myers N, 1997. Environmental refugees. Population and Environment, 19(2):167–182. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1024623431924

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Myers N, 2002. Environmental refugees: a growing phenomenon of the 21st century. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 357(1420):609–613. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2001.0953

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ocello C, Petrucci A, Testa MR, et al., 2014. Environmental aspects of internal migration in Tanzania. Population & Environment, 37(1):1–10.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ozturk I, Al-Mulali U, Saboori B, 2016. Investigating the environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis: the role of tourism and ecological footprint. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 23(2):1916–1928. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-015-5447-x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pretty J, Ward H, 2001. Social capital and the environment. World Development, 29(2):209–227. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0305-750X(00)00098-X

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Raleigh C, 2011. The search for safety: the effects of conflict, poverty and ecological influences on migration in the developing world. Global Environmental Change, 21(S1): S82–S93. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2011.08.008

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rice J, 2007. Ecological unequal exchange: international trade and uneven utilization of environmental space in the world system. Social Forces, 85(3):1369–1392. https://doi.org/10.1353/sof.2007.0054

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shackleton CM, Shackleton SE, Buiten E, et al., 2007. The importance of dry woodlands and forests in rural livelihoods and poverty alleviation in South Africa. Forest Policy & Economics, 9(5):558–577. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.forpol.2006.03.004

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shen G, Chen Y, Xue C, et al., 2015. Pollutant emissions from improved coal- and wood-fuelled cookstoves in rural households. Environmental Science & Technology, 49(11):6590–6598. https://doi.org/10.1021/es506343z

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thornton A, Ghimire DJ, Mitchell C, 2012. The measurement and prevalence of an ideational model of family and economic development in Nepal}. Population Studies, 66(3):329–345.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Trier T, Turashvili M, 2007. Resettlement of Ecologically Displaced Persons Solution of a Problem or Creation of a New Eco-migration in Georgia 1981-2006. ECMI European Centre for Minority Issues, Flensburg, Germany.

  • Wackernagel M, Onisto L, Bello P, et al., 1999. National natural capital accounting with the ecological footprint concept. Ecological Economics, 29(3):375–390.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Waggoner PE, Ausubel JH, 2002. A framework for sustainability science: a renovated IPAT identity. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 99(12):7860–7865. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.122235999

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang W, Zhang M, 2015. Direct and indirect energy consumption of rural households in China. Natural Hazards, 79(3):1693–1705. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-015-1921-5

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wu XT, Zheng HW, Liu YZ, 2013. Jiangsu’s city-level ecological footprint variance based on energy values. Resources & Industries, 15(5):138–144 (in Chinese).

    Google Scholar 

  • Xi X, Qiao YB, Wu KP, et al., 2015. The selection of metropolises or towns in urbanization in the perspective of sustainable development: based on the research of the international ecological footprint panel data. China Population Resources and Environment, 25(2):47–56 (in Chinese).

    Google Scholar 

  • Xiao JH, Wang M, Yu QD, et al., 2015. The evaluation models of ecological compensation standard on the large-scale hydropower engineering construction based on ecological footprint: a case of Three Gorges Project. Acta Ecologica Sinica, 35(8):2726–2740.

    Google Scholar 

  • Xie G, Lu C, Cheng S, et al., 2001. Evaluation of natural capital utilization with eco-logical footprint in China. Resources Science, 6:20–23 (in Chinese).

    Google Scholar 

  • Xu ZM, Cheng GD, Qiu GY, 2005. ImPACTS identity of sustainability assessment. Acta Geographica Sinica, 60(2):198–208.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yan JZ, Zhang YL, Zhu HY, et al., 2006. Residents’ response to environmental degradation: case studies from three villages in the upper Dadu river watershed. Acta Geographicl Sinica, 61(2):146–156 (in Chinese).

    Google Scholar 

  • York R, Rosa EA, Dietz T, 2002. Bridging environmental science with environmental policy: plasticity of population, affluence, and technology. Social Science Quarterly, 83(1):18–34. https://doi.org/10.1111/1540-6237.00068

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yuan SF, Yang LX, Yang GS, et al., 2013. The spatial heterogeneity of socio-economic driving factors land conversion: a case based on STIRPAT and GWR models. Economic Geography, 33(5):137–143 (in Chinese).

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhao XY, 2013. Environmental impact of different livelihood strategies of farmers: a case of the Gannan plateau. Scientia Geographica Sinica, 33(5):545–552.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhao XY, Hou CX, Lu HL, et al., 2012. Analysis of farmer’s social capital characteristics in Tibetan area: a case study in Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture. China Population Resources and Environment, 22(12):101–107 (in Chinese).

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Land Science and Technology, China University of Geosciences, Beijing, 100083, China

    Ye-cui Hu, Wei Zhou & Tao Yuan

  2. Key Lab of Land Consolidation and Rehabilitation, Ministry of Land and Resources, Beijing, 100035, China

    Wei Zhou & Tao Yuan

Authors
  1. Ye-cui Hu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Wei Zhou
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Tao Yuan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ye-cui Hu.

Additional information

Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 70903061 and 41171440) and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (No. 2652015175), China

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Hu, Yc., Zhou, W. & Yuan, T. Environmental impact assessment of ecological migration in China: a survey of immigrant resettlement regions. J. Zhejiang Univ. Sci. A 19, 240–254 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1631/jzus.A1600669

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1631/jzus.A1600669

Key words

CLC number

关键词

Search

Navigation