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Journal of Resources and Ecology >

2021 , Vol. 12 >Issue 4: 498 - 512

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5814/j.issn.1674-764x.2021.04.008

Resource Management

Design and Application of the Annual Report of Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) Monitoring

  • JIAO Wenjun , 1 ,
  • WANG Bojie 1, 2 ,
  • SUN Yehong 3 ,
  • LIU Moucheng , 1, *
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  • 1. Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
  • 2. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
  • 3. Tourism College of Beijing Union University, Beijing 100101, China
*LIU Moucheng, E-mail:

JIAO Wenjun, E-mail:

Received date: 2021-01-16

  Accepted date: 2021-04-21

  Online published: 2021-09-30

Supported by

The National Natural Science Foundation of China(41801204)

International Exchange and Cooperation Project of Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs(12200020)

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Abstract

Scientific and effective heritage monitoring can not only realize the conservation of the heritage itself and the maintenance of its values, but it can also realize the sustainable development of the heritage site. In order to promote the conservation and management of Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS), this study proposed a design for the annual report of GIAHS monitoring under the overall framework of the GIAHS monitoring system, and explored the application of the annual report in the first GIAHS site in China: the Qingtian Rice-Fish Culture System. In the design scheme of this study, the GIAHS annual monitoring report is composed of 24 monitoring items, with each of them logically related. It is to be filled in by the bureaus of the heritage site and reported through the GIAHS dynamic monitoring system. The results of an analysis of the annual reports of Qingtian Rice-Fish Culture System for four years showed that Qingtian County has taken a series of conservation and development measures which have reduced the area of abandoned paddy, enhanced the unit benefit of agri-products, and increased the farmers’ income. At the same time, the heritage site is faced with various challenges and threats, such as the weakening of the tourism attraction, the aging of the heritage practitioners, and the limitation of the heritage-themed agri-products and tourism income, which need to be addressed with proper measures. The results can also provide guidance for other GIAHS based on indications that heritage sites should improve the development of cultural products, the construction of social organization and the cultivation of spontaneous publicity, and an exchange and learning mechanism should be established among them in the future. The design and application of the GIAHS annual monitoring reports can not only provide specific guidance for conducting the GIAHS monitoring, but also lay the foundation for evaluating the effectiveness of GIAHS conservation and management. This study is expected to help enrich the theory of GIAHS monitoring, further promote China’s GIAHS monitoring work, and also provide China’s experience for the benefit of international GIAHS monitoring efforts.

Key words： Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS); monitoring; annual report; Qingtian Rice-Fish Culture System

Cite this article

JIAO Wenjun , WANG Bojie , SUN Yehong , LIU Moucheng . Design and Application of the Annual Report of Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) Monitoring[J]. Journal of Resources and Ecology, 2021 , 12(4) : 498 -512 . DOI: 10.5814/j.issn.1674-764x.2021.04.008

1 Introduction

In 2002, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) began a global partnership initiative on the conservation and adaptive management of Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS), aiming to establish the conservation system of GIAHS and their landscapes, biodiversity, knowledge and cultures, promote their recognition and conservation worldwide, and form the basis of sustainable management (Min, 2006; Koohafkan and Dela Cruz, 2011). As defined by FAO, GIAHS are “remarkable land use systems and landscapes which are rich in globally significant biodiversity evolving from the co-adaptation of a community with its environment and its needs and aspirations for sustainable development” (Min, 2006; Koohafkan, 2009). By the end of 2020, 62 traditional agricultural systems in 22 countries around the world had been designated as GIAHS by FAO. China was one of the first countries to respond to and actively participate in the GIAHS conservation initiative. Since 2005, when the Qingtian Rice-Fish Culture System in Zhejiang Province was certified as one of the first GIAHS pilots, 15 traditional agricultural systems in China have been recognized as GIAHS, ranking first in the world. Over the past 15 years, the conservation of GIAHS has become increasingly standardized, and great progress has been made in the processes of heritage application and designation, the formulation of policies and regulations, and the exploration of conservation approaches (Min et al., 2011; Min et al., 2016; Jiao and Min, 2017; Liu et al., 2020; Min, 2020).
Heritage monitoring is an inevitable requirement to strengthen heritage conservation, and it is also an important way to improve the level of heritage management. As early as 1972, the Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage (hereinafter referred to as the World Heritage Convention) clearly put forward the concept of heritage monitoring (UNESCO, 1972). After more than 40 years of development, the world heritage monitoring has finally formed two monitoring forms, i.e., reactive monitoring and regular reporting, and established the protection status information system. These efforts have played an important role in promoting the realization of heritage protection objectives and improving the level of the world heritage management (UNESCO World Heritage Center, 2013). Since China joined the World Heritage Convention in 1985, the world heritage monitoring system has been established gradually. In 2006, the National Cultural Heritage Administration issued the Administrative Measures for the Protection of World Cultural Heritage and the Administrative Measures for the Monitoring and Inspection of China’s World Cultural Heritage. Then a three-tiered monitoring network of national, provincial and heritage site levels and a two-tiered inspection system of national and provincial levels were established. Compared with the systematic development of world heritage monitoring, the GIAHS monitoring system is still in an exploratory stage in China and even globally, trailing far behind other work in the conservation of GIAHS.
In 2013, when the 4th GIAHS International Forum was held in Noto Peninsula, Japan issued the GIAHS Noto Communique, which clearly stated that “regular monitoring of GIAHS should be carried out to ensure its vitality”. In 2014, the final evaluation report of the FAO/GEF project “GIAHS Conservation and Adaptive Management” pointed out that “the establishment of China’s GIAHS monitoring and evaluation mechanism should be the direction of research and the focus of work at the national level in the future”. In 2015, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Areas (MARA) (formerly the Ministry of Agriculture) announced the implementation of the Administrative Measures for Important Agricultural Heritage Systems, in which articles 25, 26 and 27 of “Chapter V Supervision and Inspection” clearly stipulate that the agricultural administrative departments have the responsibility of supervision and inspection of the conservation and management of the heritage systems, and should be punished for any serious damage to the heritage systems caused by improper conservation and management (MOA, 2015). Apparently, with the conservation of GIAHS entering a new stage, more managers and researchers are coming to realize that the application and designation of GIAHS is only the beginning, while scientific conservation and management is the focus of the follow-up work. As an important means of heritage management, monitoring can obtain the data relevant to GIAHS conservation and management, and find the threats and problems facing GIAHS in time, so as to improve the scientific validity and effectiveness of conservation and management.
Over the past 15 years, scientific research on GIAHS conservation has achieved fruitful results in many aspects, including ecosystem services and ecological compensation (Zhang et al., 2009; Zhang et al., 2012; Liu et al., 2014; Zhang et al., 2015; Liu et al., 2018; Cui et al., 2020a), ecological carrying capacity and regional sustainable development (Jiao et al., 2009; Jiao et al., 2016; Zhang et al., 2018a, 2019; He et al., 2020), agricultural multi-functions and sustainability (He et al., 2010; Bai et al., 2013; Yuan et al., 2013; Yang et al., 2018), and tourism resource evaluation, development and utilization (Sun et al., 2011; Tian et al., 2015; Zhang et al., 2018b; Su et al., 2020; Wang et al., 2020). However, in the aspect of monitoring and evaluation, there is only the design of the GIAHS monitoring and evaluation framework. Yang et al. (2014) proposed to build a monitoring and evaluation framework based on top-level design and bottom-level support, considering the current situation of GIAHS monitoring and evaluation in China. Recently, Jiao et al. (2020) expounded and demonstrated the GIAHS concept and connotation, as well as GIAHS monitoring contents and methods, and proposed the construction of an overall framework of GIAHS monitoring at the national level. Furthermore, there is currently no relevant research on how to implement the GIAHS monitoring and evaluation framework, how to obtain the monitoring data or how to analyze and use such data. Based on the overall framework of GIAHS monitoring at the national level, this study proposed a design for a GIAHS monitoring annual report. Then, relying on the implementation of the GIAHS monitoring annual report in China in recent years, this study analysed the annual reports of the Qingtian Rice-Fish Culture System from 2015 to 2018, aiming to determine how to best utilize and transfer the data from the GIAHS monitoring annual reports. This study is expected to enrich the theory of GIAHS monitoring, further promote the practice of GIAHS monitoring in China, and provide the Chinese experience for the benefit of international GIAHS monitoring efforts.

2 Description of the GIAHS monitoring framework

2.1 Monitoring objectives

GIAHS is a living system comprised of sub-systems, which include the agricultural landscape and its natural environment, ancient villages, dwellings and agricultural production relics with important historical and archaeological values, as well as the knowledge and various customs, songs and dances formed in the process of farmers’ daily life and production (Min and Sun,2009). However, GIAHS is not only alive, complex and multifunctional, but also endangered and vulnerable. After surviving through drought, flood, famine, pestilence, conflict and war, these traditional agricultural systems are now faced with the threats and challenges brought by modernization (Jiao et al., 2016), such as the outflow of a large proportion of the young labor, the difficulty in maintaining the traditional knowledge system, and the single-minded pursuit of economic interests (Min et al., 2012; Liu et al., 2017; Yang et al., 2017; Ma et al., 2018). The endangerment and fragility of GIAHS make many processes irreversible. Once damaged, the impact will inevitably lead to the loss of the heritage values.
There are two main objectives for GIAHS monitoring. One is to help managers understand the current situation and problems of GIAHS and master the process and rule of the GIAHS conservation and development. The other one is to accurately assess the impact of conservation and development measures on GIAHS, determine the factors threatening the safety of GIAHS in a timely fashion, and provide early warnings and responses to emergencies.

2.2 An overall framework

Jiao et al. (2020) proposed an overall framework for China’s GIAHS monitoring based on the experience and enlightenment of the World Heritage monitoring, which they combined with the monitoring needs and characteristics of the GIAHS in China. It consists of three parts: A three-tiered monitoring network, a dynamic monitoring system and a two-tiered inspection system (Fig. 1). The dynamic monitoring system is the core component of the GIAHS monitoring framework, and the three-tiered monitoring network and two-tiered inspection system are the basic guarantees for the framework. This system not only helps to form a monitoring and inspection mechanism that combines active monitoring with passive inspection, but it also sets up a closed loop by collecting monitoring data and returning evaluation opinions, so as to greatly improve the scientific and systematic nature of the GIAHS conservation and management.
Fig. 1 The overall framework of GIAHS monitoring (Jiao et al., 2020)
In the overall framework, MARA, provincial agricultural departments and bureaus in the heritage site are the main bodies of the GIAHS monitoring. MARA is responsible for formulating guidelines, policies, standards and norms to guide the implementation of GIAHS monitoring nationwide, and organizing the inspection and evaluation of GIAHS at the national level for the supervision of its conservation and management. The provincial agricultural department is in charge of organizing, coordinating and supervising the implementation of GIAHS monitoring in the administrative region, regularly inspecting and guiding the conservation and management of GIAHS in the administrative region, and reporting the monitoring results and the existing problems to MARA in a timely manner. The bureaus in the heritage site are responsible for the daily monitoring of GIAHS and submitting the monitoring reports to the provincial agricultural departments and MARA.

2.3 Monitoring contents

In order to cope with the threats and challenges brought by modernization, the administrative bureaus of the heritage site will formulate GIAHS conservation and development measures that meet the requirements of dynamic conservation and adaptive management. In addition, agricultural and rural development policies at the national or regional level will also have an important impact on the conservation and development of GIAHS. Therefore, on the one hand, the monitoring of GIAHS should track the dynamic changes of the GIAHS itself; while on the other hand, it should also supervise the measures that affect the conservation and development of GIAHS.
According to the concept and connotation of GIAHS monitoring, the monitoring scope of GIAHS covers both the changes of GIAHS and the conservation and development measures. For the changes of GIAHS, the monitoring content must be able to accurately reflect the changes of heritage characteristics and values. Therefore, the recognition standards of GIAHS constitute the monitoring contents of the changes of GIAHS, which can be defined as the changes in its characteristics and values in ecological conservation, economic development, social maintenance and cultural inheritance. As for the conservation and development measures, the conservation and development work that influences the characteristics and values of GIAHS constitutes the core monitoring content, which can be divided into two aspects according to the types of measures: the institutional construction, and the publicity, demonstration and promotion.

2.4 Monitoring methods

As the monitoring contents show spatio-temporal differences, GIAHS monitoring possesses the characteristics of multi-scale monitoring. Therefore, the monitoring method of combining annual reports and survey reports is suitable for GIAHS monitoring (Fig. 2). The annual report is a method of long-term tracking and monitoring of the content that changes relatively fast or occurs relatively frequently and with relatively easy data acquisition. For example, such statistical data as demographic structure, economic income and media publicity can be used as routine monitoring data and reported annually in the form of an annual report. The survey report is a means to monitor the content which changes more slowly or occurs less frequently and has relatively difficult data acquisition. Survey data such as agricultural biodiversity, agricultural landscape and cultural consciousness can be presented in the form of survey reports with a period of 3-5 years. The annual report and the survey report complement each other. Their organic combination will help to improve the scientific nature and operability of GIAHS monitoring.
Fig. 2 Categorization and collection of GIAHS monitoring data (Jiao et al., 2020)
The annual report and the survey report are the main forms and important ways to collect GIAHS monitoring data. For the annual report, the bureaus in the heritage sites should hire full-time personnel to collect the statistical data according to the requirements, and submit them to the provincial agricultural department and MARA within the specified time. To ensure data authenticity and objectivity, a third-party organization (e.g., colleges, universities, research institutes) can be introduced to verify the statistical data. For the survey report, the bureaus in the heritage sites can cooperate with a third-party organization to collect the survey data through department interviews, farmer investigations and field experiments, and submit them to the provincial agricultural department and MARA after a certain stage of analysis. The annual report and the survey report should provide timely input into the GIAHS monitoring database and management system, and the monitoring data can serve the evaluation of GIAHS conservation and management effectiveness through the functional module of the system.

3 Design of the annual report of GIAHS monitoring

GIAHS monitoring is a systematic project. Based on the principle of “from simplicity to complexity and from easy to difficult”, this study proposed a design for the annual report of GIAHS monitoring under the overall framework, and discussed the selection of routine monitoring items, the setting of specific monitoring indicators and the collection of monitoring data.

3.1 Selection principles of monitoring items

3.1.1 Comprehensiveness

According to the compound characteristics of GIAHS, the monitoring items in the annual report should be comprehensive. The selection of monitoring items under the same monitoring content should not only avoid repetition due to too many items, but also avoid insufficient representativeness due to too few items. Moreover, the monitoring items under different monitoring contents should be organically combined.

3.1.2 Scientific validity

According to the requirements of regular monitoring and multi-scale monitoring of GIAHS, the monitoring items in the annual report should mainly be those which occur in relatively large scales, such as the heritage site. These items are characterized by a relatively fast rate of change, relatively high frequency, and relatively easy data acquisition, and can objectively reflect the conservation and development measures taken by the heritage site in the short term and the changes of the heritage system during the monitoring period.

3.1.3 Operability

The acquisition of monitoring items in the annual report mainly depends on the bureaus of the heritage site organizing relevant departments to fill in the necessary data. Therefore, the selection of monitoring items in the annual report should focus on the data availability and the filling-in operability under the existing management and technical level.

3.2 Monitoring items and their indicators

Based on the above principles, this study suggested that the annual report of GIAHS monitoring include at least 24 routine monitoring items, so as to objectively reflect the changes of GIAHS in the short time on a large scale, such as the heritage site. The changes mainly refer to characteristic and value changes in ecological conservation, economic development, social maintenance and cultural inheritance of the GIAHS, as well as the work carried out by administrative bureaus in the institutional construction, and publicity, demonstration and promotion.
Agri-biological resources and land use are chosen as the monitoring items for ecological conservation, which are mainly used to monitor the changes in agricultural biodiversity and the agricultural landscape. Production and direct sales of important agri-products, processing of important agricultural products, branding, tourism reception capacity and economic income are selected as the monitoring items to monitor economic development from the aspects of important agricultural product supply, ecological agricultural development and sustainable tourism development. Population statistics, agricultural business types and social organizations are used as the monitoring items of social maintenance, mainly to monitor the situation of local residents engaged in GIAHS-related work, as well as the roles of production and operation organizations and social service organizations in GIAHS conservation and development. The development of cultural products, utilization of cultural facilities, inheritance of traditional knowledge and technologies and spontaneous publicity are taken as the monitoring items of cultural inheritance, focusing on the monitoring of the inheritance of the tangible and intangible forms of traditional culture in the heritage site.
Furthermore, institutional construction, normative documents, subsidies for important agri-product production, conservation and development projects and other related projects are selected as the monitoring items to monitor the institutional construction of the heritage site from the three aspects of management system establishment, management ability improvement and local development support. Cultural activities, publicity, training, visiting, research and demonstration are taken as the monitoring items to comprehensively reflect the work carried out by the heritage site in the publicity, demonstration and promotion of GIAHS. The specific monitoring indicators for each of the monitoring items are shown in Table 1.

3.3 Internal correlation of monitoring items

Table 1 shows that the monitoring items in the annual report of GIAHS monitoring are intrinsically related. On the one hand, multiple monitoring items reflect a certain monitoring content. For example, women’s participation is important for social maintenance, which is reflected in at least the four monitoring items of population statistics, institution construction, cultural activities, and training. On the other hand, a certain monitoring item can reflect multiple monitoring contents at the same time. For example, the monitoring of agricultural business types can not only reflect the development of ecological agriculture in economic development,but also the characteristics of social organizations and women’s participation in social maintenance.
Table 1 Monitoring items and their indicators in the annual report of GIAHS monitoring
Monitoring scope Monitoring content Monitoring item Description Monitoring indicator
Changes of GIAHS Ecological conservation Agri-biological resources Important agricultural species and their local varieties, other local varieties and ancient trees Species name, variety name, variety number, ancient tree number, etc.
Land use Land use and heritage system Land use area, heritage system area, etc.
Economic development Production and sales of important agri-products Production and sales of important agri-products Product name, production area, yield, sales volume, sales value, etc.
Processing and sales of important agri-products Processing of important agri-products Product name, producer, production time, yield, sales volume, sales value, product characteristics, etc.
Branding Certification of important agri-products and their processed products by authoritative institutions (such as pollution-free agricultural products, green food, organic food, etc.) Product name, manufacturer, brand type, certification body, effective time, identified area, identified output, etc.
Tourism reception capacity Development of tourism in GIAHS site The number of tourists, the annual income of tourism, the number of farmers providing heritage tourism services, the number of farmhouse entertainment, etc.
Economic income Income from GIAHS management and its proportion The total income of rural economy, the income of GIAHS practitioners, the per capita net income of farmers, the per capita income of GIAHS management, etc.
Social maintenance Population statistics Population and employment Registered resident, permanent resident, migrant worker, GIAHS practitioner, etc.
Agricultural business types Agricultural business types in the production, sales and processing of important agri-products (such as professional large households, family farms, farmer cooperatives, leading enterprises of agricultural industrialization, etc.) The name of agricultural business types, establishment time, location, business content, business area, number of participating farmers, etc.
Social organization Self-help organizations of community residents participating in the conservation and management of GIAHS Name, time of establishment, location, main functions, etc.
Cultural inheritance Development of cultural
products 		Commodities and activities developed for the purpose of protecting and inheriting traditional culture Product name, developer, suitable season, product features, object-oriented, etc.
Utilization of cultural facilities Utilization of public facilities (such as museums, exhibition halls, study halls, etc.) for carrying out traditional cultural inheritance activities, art activities, educational practice activities, etc. Facility name, establishment time, location, management unit, main purpose, etc.
Inheritance of traditional knowledge and technologies Application of technology, skills and other folk skills closely related to traditional agricultural production Including technology name, technology description, application scope and number of farmers
Spontaneous publicity (farmers, new agricultural operators, community organizations, villagers' committees, etc.) spontaneous publicity activities Including time, place, main content, organization unit, scale and effect, etc.
Conservation and development measures Institutional construction Institutional construction Construction of GIAHS management institutions and other institutions Organization name, establishment time, location, main functions, personnel and gender structure, time investment, fund investment, etc.
Normative documents Formulation of normative documents (systems, policies, plans, standards, etc.) for GIAHS management Issuing time, issuing organization, document name, main content, etc.
Subsidies for important agri-product production Subsidies for traditional agricultural production Subsidy content, subsidy object, subsidy scope, subsidy standard, subsidy total amount, funding source, etc.
Conservation and development projects Construction of engineering facilities and service facilities for the conservation and development of GIAHS (such as repair of production facilities, repair and expansion of production base, establishment of heritage signs, construction of cultural facilities, repair of traditional villages, etc.) Project name, starting and ending time, project location, main contents, total investment, current year investment, capital source, etc.
Other related projects Development of other conservation and
development projects 		Project name, starting and ending time, project location, main contents, etc.

( To be continued on the next page)

Table 1 ( Continued)
Monitoring scope Monitoring content Monitoring item Description Monitoring indicator
Conservation and development measures Publicity, demonstration and promotion Cultural activities The development of traditional cultural inheritance activities (such as festivals, folk customs), art activities (such as performances, photography exhibitions, painting and calligraphy exhibitions), and educational practice activities Time, place, name, content, organizational unit, total number of participants, composition and gender structure of the heritage site, etc.
Publicity Publicity of various media (such as newspapers, television and radio) in the GIAHS site Media level, media type, media name, time, title, main content, etc.
Publicity work carried out by the administrative agencies of GIAHS and other agencies Time, place, main content, organization unit, scale and effect, etc.
Training Training and exchange activities to promote the conservation of GIAHS Time, place, name, content, organizational unit, total number of participants, composition and gender structure of the heritage site, etc.
Visiting Visitation and inspection activities organized to promote the conservation of GIAHS Time, site, name, number, content and organization of the delegation
Research and demonstration Operation of research and demonstration bases (enterprises, workstations, etc.) Time, place, name, area, main participants, research and demonstration content, effect, etc.
Survey of the research team Research time, place, team name, number of people, research content, reception unit, etc.
Scientific and technological achievements and awards Results name, main completion unit (or individual), award name, award level, award time, content description, etc.

3.4 Spatial scale of monitoring items

Table 1 also shows that the monitoring items in the annual report of GIAHS monitoring take place on different spatial scales. Some monitoring items, such as the institution construction, normative documents, and publicity, often take place across the whole heritage site or even on a larger scale; other monitoring items, such as the land use, tourism reception capacity and population statistics, pay more attention to the changes within the heritage site or a typical area. Therefore, this study suggested that the annual report of GIAHS monitoring be filled in based on the unit of county. Specifically, the data about conservation and development measures should be collected at the county level, and the data of heritage changes should be gathered at the level of the heritage site. Typical villages can be selected as key monitoring points for the collection of more detailed data on the heritage changes. For heritage systems involving more than one county, the annual monitoring report should be filled in by each county, and the data of conservation and development measures at the municipal level should be supplemented.

3.5 Collection and management of monitoring data

According to the design of China’s GIAHS monitoring system, the annual report of GIAHS monitoring should be entered into the GIAHS monitoring database and management system in a timely manner, and serve in the evaluation of the effectiveness of GIAHS conservation and management. In 2015, MARA commissioned the Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences (IGSNRR of CAS) to develop the China’s GIAHS dynamic monitoring system. At present, that system has realized the functions of online filling, editing and reporting of annual monitoring data, as well as the functions of generating, downloading and online viewing of the annual monitoring reports.
With the support of the technical team led by IGSNRR of CAS, 11 GIAHS sites in China successfully completed the online filling of the monitoring reports of 2015 in early 2016, including the data for the conservation and development measures at the level of four municipalities (Honghe Prefecture, Pu’er City, Shaoxing City and Fuzhou City), the data of heritage changes at the level of 23 counties (Qingtian County, Wannian County, four counties of Honghe Prefecture, Congjiang County, Aohan Banner, three counties of Pu’er City, Xuanhua District, three counties of Shaoxing City, six districts and counties of Fuzhou City, Xinghua City and Jia County), and the data on heritage changes in typical villages chosen as key monitoring points. By the end of 2020, China’s GIAHS dynamic monitoring system has completed the online filling of annual monitoring reports of four years. The number of participating GIAHS had increased from 11 to 15, and the number of counties involved had increased from 23 to 30. For the GIAHS designated before 2015, due to the long time since designation, it is difficult to obtain the actual baseline data, so the data of 2015 are taken as the baseline data. For the GIAHS designated after 2015, the data of the year prior to its designation are taken as the baseline data.
The GIAHS dynamic monitoring system promotes the availability of information and the professional level of China’s GIAHS monitoring work, but a large amount of the monitoring data in the system has not been effectively analyzed and utilized, so it has not yet provided support for the evaluation of GIAHS conservation and management effectiveness. This aspect is also a component of the content this study is trying to explore.

4 Utilization of GIAHS monitoring data: Application to Qingtian Rice-Fish System

4.1 Methods

4.1.1 Study area

Qingtian County (27°25°‒28°57°N, 118°41°‒120°26°E) is located in the southeast of Zhejiang Province, in the middle and lower reaches of Oujiang River Basin. It has a subtropical monsoon climate with an average annual temperature of 18.6 ℃, an average annual precipitation of 1698 mm and average annual sunshine hours of 1664 h. The warm and humid climate provides favorable natural conditions for the inheritance and development of Rice-Fish culture. For 1300 years, local farmers have maintained the traditional agricultural production mode of raising carp in paddy fields. The symbiosis between rice and fish not only produces a high rice yield and fish harvest, but also protects the natural environment and biodiversity of the paddy fields, realizing the trinity of economic, social and ecological benefits (Cui et al.,2020b). In view of its long history and remarkable ecological and economic benefits, the Qingtian Rice-Fish Culture System was recognized as among the first GIAHS pilots by FAO in 2005. The scope of the heritage site is designated as Fangshan Township in the southeast of Qingtian County, and the core area is designated as Longxian Village in Fangshan Township.

4.1.2 Data collection and analysis

Qingtian County began to fill in the monitoring report data of Qingtian Rice-Fish Culture System online in 2016, and completed the filling of monitoring reports of four years (2015-2018). The data collection of conservation and development measures is completed at the county level, that of heritage changes is completed in Fangshan Township, and Longxian Village is used as a key monitoring point to collect more detailed data of the heritage changes. The data of this study were all from the four annual monitoring reports of Qingtian Rice-Fish System in China’s GIAHS dynamic monitoring system. Then representative monitoring indicators were selected and statistically analyzed using Excel 2019 software.

4.2 Results

4.2.1 Land use change

As GIAHS is the representative of a traditional agricultural system, the monitoring of its land use change can reflect the basic situation of its conservation and utilization. Figure 3 shows the area changes of the Rice-Fish System and the sown paddy in the heritage site (15 mu=1 ha). On the whole, the sown paddy area of the heritage site was relatively stable, with an average annual increase or decrease of less than 10%; while the Rice-Fish System area showed a fluctuating upward trend, and its proportion in the sown paddy area always remained above 75%. It can be seen that the Rice-Fish System area has been well maintained and developed in the heritage site since 2015.
Land abandonment is one of the main difficulties in agricultural production, and it is also an important indicator of the conservation and inheritance of GIAHS. In order to alleviate the negative effects of land abandonment on the Rice-Fish System, the Qingtian County Government has issued a series of subsidy policies and measures since 2015, such as the implementation of a large farmer subsidy policy, the establishment of the Qingtian County GIAHS Conservation Fund, and a special ecological subsidy for Rice-Fish System in Longxian Village. Among them, the special ecological subsidy for farmers engaged in the Rice-Fish System was as high as 500 yuan mu-1, and the subsidy for farmers engaged in the Rice-Fish System through land reclamation was as high as 1000 yuan mu-1. Driven by the incentives by such policies and measures, the abandoned paddy area in Longxian Village decreased from 111.5 mu to 70.0 mu, and the proportion of abandoned area decreased from 34.0% to 21.3%, effectively mitigating the damage from land abandonment to the Rice-Fish System.
Fig. 3 Area changes of the Rice-Fish Culture System and the sown paddy in the heritage site

4.2.2 Production and sales of important agri-products

(1) Production of important agri-products
Qingtian Rice-Fish Culture System mainly produces two important agri-products: Rice and paddy carp. Figures 4 and 5 show the changes of the total yield and the yield per mu of rice and paddy carp in the heritage site, respectively. The total rice yield of the heritage site (Fig. 4) had a slight downward trend, and the decline of rice yield per mu was more obvious, from 0.43 t in 2015 to 0.37 t in 2018, with an average annual decline of about 5%.Figure 5 shows that the total yield and the yield per mu of paddy carp in the heritage site have been greatly improved since 2015. In 2015, the total yield of paddy carp in the heritage site was only 31.5 t, while it reached 59.8 t in 2018, an increase of 1.68-fold; the yield per mu also has increased from 14.5 kg to 22.3 kg since 2015, an increase of 54%.
Fig. 4 Changes of the total yield and the yield per mu of rice in the heritage site
Under the encouragement and guidance of the Qingtian County Government, the regional brand of “Paddy Carp Rice” was launched, which paid more attention to improving the quality and efficiency of rice and paddy carp. As a result, farmers in the heritage site generally reduced the input of chemical fertilizers and pesticides for rice planting, and increased the input of wheat and corn to feed the paddy carp. This conversion of agricultural inputs may be the reason for the decline of the rice yield per mu, but it may also improve the quality of rice and the yield of paddy carp. Given the advantageous effect of the regional brand, the overall income of farmers who produce high-quality rice and paddy carp is expected to be improved.
Fig. 5 Changes of the total yield and the yield per mu of paddy carp in the heritage site
(2) Sales of important agri-products
Selling such agri-products as rice, fresh paddy carp and dried paddy carp is an important source of income for farmers in the heritage site. This study analyzed the sales of the important agri-products in the heritage site from two aspects: sales volume and sales value. According to the monitoring data, the sales volume of rice in the heritage site was 976.4 t in 2015 and 848.5 t in 2018, the proportion of the rice for sale showed little change, remaining stable at about 80%; the sales volume of fresh paddy carp increased from 1.4 t in 2015 to 2.8 t in 2018; the sales volume of dried paddy carp increased from 6.9 t in 2015 to 7.5 t in 2018. As 4 kg fresh paddy carp can produce 1 kg dried paddy carp, the sales volume of fresh paddy carp in the form of dried paddy carp, in effect, increased from 27.4 t in 2015 to 30 t in 2018. The total sales volume of paddy carp, therefore, increased from 28.8 t in 2015 to 32.8 t in 2018.Figure 6 shows the proportional changes of paddy carp for sale in the heritage site, which increased from 50.5% to 54.8%, indicating a slight increase. In the total sales volume of paddy carp, the fresh and dried paddy carp accounted for about 4% and 45%, respectively, with little change.
Fig. 6 Proportional changes of paddy carp for self-use and for sale in the heritage site
Figure 7 shows the total sales values of rice, fresh and dried paddy carp. The sales value of rice increased slightly, rising from 1.057×106 yuan in 2015 to 1.128 ×10 6yuan in 2018; that of fresh paddy carp increased from 0.17×106 yuan to 0.357×106 yuan from 2015 to 2016, and remained relatively stable from 2016 to 2018; that of dried paddy carp increased the most, from 2.1 ×106 yuan in 2015 to 3.536 ×10 6 yuan in 2018.
Fig. 7 Changes in sales values of rice, fresh and dried paddy carp in the heritage site
Compared with 2015, the average price of rice from 2017 to 2018 had increased by about 1 yuan kg-1. Therefore, although the total yield of rice in the heritage site decreased in 2017, the sales value of rice in 2017 reached 1.249×106 yuan. However, with the further reduction of the total output in 2018, the income increasing benefits brought by the rise in price gradually decreased. As a result, the sales value of rice in 2018 was only 1.128 ×10 6 yuan. It can also be concluded that although the control of rice quality has been strengthened in the heritage site, and the regional brand strategy has been implemented, the economic benefits have not been fully reflected in the rice price.
In contrast to the price of rice, the price of fresh paddy carp was stable at 120 yuan kg-1, and the price of dried paddy carp was stable at 520 yuan kg-1. It should be noted that although the total yield of paddy carp decreased in 2018, the overall income achieved a large increase, indicating that the farmers increased their processing of dried paddy carp. Because the unit income of the fresh and dried paddy carp is more considerable than that of rice, farmers prefer the production of paddy-carp-based products and pay more attention to the breeding, processing and marketing of paddy carp.
In terms of proportional changes of sales values, the rice maintained a downward trend year after year, with its proportion decreasing from 31.7% in 2015 to 22.6% in 2018, with a declining rate of about 10%; the fresh paddy carp increased its proportion slightly by 2%; and the dried paddy carp increased its proportion the most, from 63.2% in 2015 to 70.8% in 2018 (Fig. 8).
Fig. 8 Proportional changes in sales values of rice, fresh and dried paddy carp in the heritage site

4.2.3 Heritage tourism development

Tourism is one of the important means for the dynamic conservation and adaptive development of GIAHS. The development of ecotourism can not only allow the farmers and the heritage site to obtain key funds for the heritage conservation, but also expand the popularity of the heritage, and encourage tourists to realize the value of the heritage and participate in the heritage conservation. Figure 9 shows the changes in the annual tourist number and the annual tourism income of the heritage site. On the whole, although the annual tourism income remained above 4.00×106 yuan, the annual tourist number showed a significant fluctuation and decline.
Fig. 9 Changes of the annual tourist number and the annual tourism income in the heritage site
Figure 10 shows the annual tourist number and annual tourism income of Longxian Village. Longxian Village is the core area of the Qingtian Rice-Fish System, but both the annual tourist number and the annual tourism income have declined significantly. Longxian Village has six farmhouses with an average annual income of about 40×104 yuan, which accounts for more than 90% of the village’s tourism income. This shows that the tourism development mode of Longxian Village was still dominated by traditional farmhouse catering, which greatly reduced its attractiveness to the tourists. In the future, both Fangshan Township and Longxian Village should focus on tourism publicity, increase their investments in tourism infrastructure construction, actively promote the structural transformation of tourism resource development, and enhance the overall attractiveness of tourism resources.
Fig. 10 Changes of the annual tourist number and the annual tourism income in Longxian Village

4.2.4 GIAHS practitioners

The employment structure is one of the most important indicators which reflect the social stability and development of the heritage site. According to the monitoring data, the number of registered residents was 12475, and the number of permanent residents was around 3702 from 2015 to 2018. The number of GIAHS practitioners declined from 2131 in 2015 to 2015 in 2018, and its proportion among the permanent residents decreased from 57.3% to 54.4%.
The GIAHS sector activities can be categorized into three types: Agri-product production, agri-product processing and sales, and heritage tourism. The monitoring data shows the changes of the GIAHS practitioner numbers of these types in the heritage site (Fig. 11). The proportion of people engaged in agri-product production decreased slightly, from 93.6% in 2015 to 91.9% in 2018, while the numbers of people engaged in agri-product processing and heritage tourism increased to a certain degree, with increases of about 10%.
Fig. 11 Changes of the number of people engaged as different GIAHS practitioner types in the heritage site
The data of Longxian Village showed that the number of GIAHS practitioners decreased from 140 in 2015 to 103 in 2018, and the number of women practitioners decreased from 74 to 40, with its proportion decreasing from 52.9% to 32.5%. In contrast, the number of practitioners under the age of 45 increased from 0 to 5. It can be seen that the GIAHS practitioner demographic in Longxian Village was mainly based on the elderly, therefore the problem of aging is prominent. Young people generally do not want to stay in the village and participate in agricultural management, which is not conducive to the conservation and inheritance of the heritage. Improving the income of heritage practitioners and attracting more young people to return is one of the key problems to be solved in the development of the heritage site.

4.2.5 Income of GIAHS sector types

Figure 12 shows the income changes of the three GIAHS sector types in the heritage site. The income from agri-product processing and sales increased from 2.10×106 yuan in 2015 to 3.54×106 yuan in 2018, for an increase rate of 68.6%. Due to the differences in the industrial efficiency and the service added value, the incomes of the agri-products processing and heritage tourism have more advantages than that of the agri-product production, and this is very important for reducing the income gap among farmers and realizing the sustainable development of the heritage site.
Fig. 12 Income changes of different GIAHS sector types in the heritage site
Figure 13 shows the changes in income of different GIAHS sector types in the heritage site. The income of agri-production did not change very much, remaining at about 15%; the income of agri-product processing and sales increased, from 22.4% in 2015 to 33.9% in 2018; and the income of heritage tourism decreased from 64.5% in 2015 to 52.1% in 2018. The income of GIAHS sector overall increased from 9.36×106 yuan in 2015 to 1.043×106 yuan in 2018, but its proportion in the total rural income decreased from 44.9% to 40.1%. The per capita income of GIAHS sector increased from 4580 yuan in 2015 to 5172 yuan in 2018, and its proportion in the per capita income of farmers increased from 65.0% to 68.2%. This indicates that although the income of GIAHS sector had increased, the contribution to the total income of rural areas was still far from enough. In the future, we should pay attention to improving the benefits of GIAHS sector and enhance farmers’ self-confidence in the heritage conservation.
Fig. 13 Changes in incomes of different GIAHS sector types in the heritage site

4.2.6 Institutional construction

The institutional construction reflects the importance of the heritage conservation for the local government and the effectiveness of the conservation actions of the local government. In order to more intuitively quantify the institutional construction of the heritage site, this study selected three indicators: The number of conservation institutions, the number of normative documents and subsidy policies, and the total cumulative amount of the subsidies.
In general, the Qingtian County Government has paid more and more attention to the conservation of GIAHS. In addition to the original two government conservation departments (Qingtian Rice-Fish System Industry Development Center, and Qingtian Rice-Fish System Conservation Leading Group) and one social organization (Qingtian Rice- Fish System Industrial Association), two new social organizations (Academician and Expert Workstation of Qingtian Crop Management Station, and Farmer’ Cooperative Economic Organization for Qingtian Rice-Fish System Industry) have been added. The number of normative documents has increased from two to four, and the number of subsidy policies has increased from four to nine. The total cumulative amount of the subsidies for the Rice-Fish System increased from 9.19×106 yuan in 2015 to 4.577×107 yuan in 2018 (Fig. 14), which played an important role in promoting the conservation and development of the heritage and enhancing the enthusiasm of the farmers.
Fig. 14 Changes in the total cumulative amount of subsidies for Qingtian Rice-Fish Culture System

4.2.7 Publicity, demonstration and promotion

Publicity, demonstration and promotion are important contents in the conservation and development of GIAHS. Emphasizing the role of GIAHS in economic development, social maintenance, cultural inheritance and ecological conservation is not only conducive to the conservation and development of GIAHS and the heritage site, but also plays a positive part in promoting the sustainable development of additional agri-production areas. Figures 15 and 16 show the situations of the various publicity activities, and the research and demonstration activities in Qingtian County, respectively. Local publicity activities include two types: Media publicity and institutional publicity. The total number of publicity activities increased from seven in 2015 to 17 in 2018 (Fig. 15). With more non-governmental organizations joining the conservation effort of GIAHS, the relevant publicity force has been effectively improved, which causes the number of institutional publicity activities to increase significantly. Due to the cooperation with universities and research institutions, such as IGSNRR of CAS, Zhejiang University and Beijing Union University, both local research and demonstration bases and scientific and technological achievements have been greatly improved during these years. The number of research and demonstration bases increased from two in 2015 to four in 2018, and the number of scientific and technological achievements increased from two in 2015 to eight in 2018 (Fig. 16).
Fig. 15 Changes of the number of various publicity activities for the Qingtian Rice-Fish System
Fig. 16 Changes of the number of research and demonstration bases and scientific and technological achievements for the Qingtian Rice-Fish Culture System

5 Conclusions and prospect

5.1 Conclusions

Monitoring is a basic step towards effective GIAHS Conservation, and also an important way of achieving scientific GIAHS management. The construction of the GIAHS monitoring system is the first step in conducting GIAHS monitoring, and without doubt its final implementation will significantly improve the scientific validity of GIAHS conservation and management. The overall framework of the GIAHS monitoring system consists of three parts: a three- tiered monitoring network, a dynamic monitoring system and a two-tiered inspection system. Due to the spatial and temporal differences of the monitoring contents, GIAHS monitoring shows the characteristics of multi-scale monitoring, which is suitable for a monitoring method which combines annual reports with regular surveys. The implementation of the GIAHS monitoring framework depends on the establishment of a three-tiered monitoring network and a two-tiered inspection system, as well as the application of an annual report system and information- guided management means.
The annual report is the first step for implementing the overall framework of GIAHS monitoring. It is also an important foundation and core component of the national, provincial and heritage site monitoring network and the national and provincial inspection system. Under the overall framework of GIAHS monitoring, this study proposed a design for the annual report of GIAHS monitoring, discussed the selection of routine monitoring items, the setting of specific monitoring indicators, and the collection and management of monitoring data. This study suggested that the annual report of GIAHS monitoring should be composed of 24 monitoring items, with each one logically related, reflecting the characteristics of comprehensiveness, scientific validity and operability. The annual report should be filled in by the bureaus of the heritage site and reported through the GIAHS dynamic monitoring system. The design and application of the GIAHS annual monitoring report is expected to provide specific guidance for conducting the GIAHS monitoring, and lay the foundation for evaluating the effectiveness of GIAHS conservation and management.
On this basis, this study analyzed the monitoring data of land use, production and sales of important agri-products and heritage tourism of the Qingtian Rice-Fish Culture System by using the monitoring reports of 2015-2019 in the GIAHS dynamic monitoring system, and explored the effective use of the GIAHS annual monitoring reports. The main results are as follows.
(1) In order to conserve and inherit the Rice-Fish Culture System, Qingtian County has taken a series of effective conservation and development measures. From 2015 to 2018, five conservation institutions were constructed, four normative documents and four subsidy policies were issued, the total cumulative amount of the subsidies increased from 9.190×106 yuan to 4.577×107 yuan, the number of publicity activities increased from seven to 17, the number of research and demonstration bases increased from two to four, and the number of scientific and technological achievements and awards reached eight.
(2) Under the influence of these conservation and development measures, the phenomenon of land abandonment was effectively curbed, and the abandoned area of paddy field in Longxian Village decreased from 111.5 mu to 70.0 mu. The Rice-Fish System area increased from 2179 mu to 2620 mu, the total yield of paddy carp increased from 31.5 t to 59.8 t, and the total sales value of fresh and dried paddy carp increased from 2.270×106 yuan to 3.866×106 yuan. The average price of rice increased by about 1 yuan kg-1 due to the agricultural product development strategy of improving quality and efficiency by branding, and the sales value of rice increased from 1.057×106 yuan to 1.128×106 yuan.
(3) It should be noted that the heritage conservation is also faced with various challenges and threats. As the total yield of rice further decreased in the most recent two years, the sales value of rice failed to maintain an increasing trend, although the rice price had been increased by quality improvement measures. In Longxian Village, both the annual tourist number and the annual tourism income declined significantly in the most recent four years. At the same time, the number of GIAHS practitioners decreased from 140 to 103, and there were only five practitioners under the age of 45, indicating that the problem of aging is prominent. Although the income of GIAHS sector had increased, the contribution to the total income of rural areas remained far from enough.
As a valuable resource, GIAHS plays a comprehensive role in coordinating agricultural production and sustainable community development. The results of the data analysis of Qingtian Rice-Fish Culture System showed that the values of GIAHS have not been fully exploited and there is still a lot of room for improvement, which is mainly reflected in the following aspects.
Firstly, the development of the cultural products of GIAHS is insufficient, and it remains stuck in the primary stage of processing and sales of important agri-products. The development of cultural products around the characteristics of GIAHS and regional culture plays an important role in promoting the popularity of the GIAHS brand and the added value of important agri-products. However, the monitoring data showed that nearly half of the GIAHS have not been involved in the development and utilization of cultural products and were still in the stage of sales and processing of important agri-products, which is extremely unfavorable for the sustainable protection of GIAHS.
Secondly, the construction of social organizations and spontaneous publicity were insufficient, and the community participation in GIAHS needs to be improved. For the sustainable use and development of GIAHS, it is important to establish a stable community participation social organization, enhance the confidence of community residents in GIAHS protection, and improve the participation of community residents in GIAHS. However, most of the GIAHS protection work has still been dominated by local governments so far, the construction of social organizations and spontaneous publicity were insufficient, and the community residents’ participation in GIAHS protection work was lacking, all of which are not conducive to mobilizing the enthusiasm of the stakeholders in GIAHS.
Thirdly, there were few exchanges within the GIAHS, and the exchange and learning mechanism has not been established yet. Most of the training and visiting activities of GIAHS were still the stage of reception work between the upper and lower levels of government, and only a small number of GIAHS have carried out point-to-point exchanges and learning activities around the protection and development of GIAHS. The establishment of a regular exchange mechanism between GIAHS can effectively promote the mutual reference and innovative development of GIAHS through normalized exchanges and technical communication and cooperation.

5.2 Prospect

Through its application to the Qingtian Rice-Fish System, this study showed that a statistical analysis based on the annual report of GIAHS monitoring can reveal the changes in the conservation and development measures and the changes in the heritage system under the influence of these measures, which provides an important data basis for evaluating the effectiveness of GIAHS conservation and management. However, there are some limitations in the application of the GIAHS annual monitoring report.
The monitoring items in the annual report of GIAHS monitoring mainly occur at a large scale, such as the heritage site, with the characteristics of relatively rapid change, relatively high frequency and relatively easy data acquisition. These data can be used for analyzing the continuity of the conservation and management measures and a vertical comparison of the changes of the heritage system itself, so as to realize the description and characterization of the dynamic temporal changes of the heritage conservation and development. However, the annual report of GIAHS monitoring lacks records of the monitoring contents with relatively slow changes or those with relatively low frequency, such as agricultural biodiversity and residents’ cultural consciousness, or those with enough spatial information, such as land use and land cover, which makes it unable to fully reveal the temporal and spatial changes in the heritage conservation and development. Moreover, with the increasing number of GIAHS in China, the comparative analysis of the conservation and development effectiveness among different GIAHS becomes increasingly important. Simply using the GIAHS annual monitoring report for statistical analysis, obviously, cannot meet the potential management needs. Instead, the types of monitoring data in the annual report of the GIAHS should be further enriched, and a reasonable evaluation index system should be established to more effectively process and analyze the monitoring data of different heritage sites at different times. In a word, a more comprehensive evaluation of GIAHS conservation and development effectiveness will depend on the combination of annual reports and survey reports, and on the combination of qualitative analysis and quantitative evaluation, so as to greatly improve the scientific and systematic nature of GIAHS conservation and management.

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