Balancing ecological conservation with socioeconomic development

Abstract

Ecological restoration and conservation are primary components of sustainable development around the world, particularly during the contemporary era of climate change. However, restoration and conservation are not free; they consume huge amounts of resources that would otherwise support social and economic development. Therefore, excessive conservation creates a risk of creating rather than eliminating poverty. Unfortunately, scientists have largely ignored the balance between these contrasting goals. Here, we discuss the concept of finding the threshold that represents a suitable balance between ecological conservation and economic development, thereby maximizing the benefits for both humans and the environment and promoting sustainable development. To demonstrate the concept, we examined China's ecological restoration achievements and discussed some of the unforeseen negative consequences that accompanied these achievements to discuss how future policies could better balance ecological and socioeconomic goals.

Keywords: Conservation threshold; Conservation trap; Degradation trap; Ecosystem degradation; Environmental conservation.

Fig. 1

A visual illustration of the relationship between socioeconomic development and environmental restoration or conservation, which can be used to predict the threshold for balanced development. When excessive damage to the ecosystem occurs or excessive protection is provided, socioeconomic development is greatly reduced. The two indexes in this figure are abstract and the choice of index can vary, depending on the goals of a study and the available data, but they must represent quantifiable variables such as vegetation cover or the value of ecosystem services for the ecological index and per capita economic benefits for the socioeconomic index. In the region between points A and B, there is a threshold between ecosystem protection and socioeconomic development, with an acceptable combination of both goals occurring at the top of the inverted-U curve

Fig. 2

There are three possible conditions for resource exploitation: overutilization, underutilization, and balanced utilization. Each condition leads to different consequences. Overutilization and underutilization of natural resources lead to an imbalance between nature and humans, leading to different forms of the poverty trap: the degradation trap and the conservation trap, respectively. Only balanced utilization of natural resources can achieve sustainable development that meets the needs of both the environment and humans