The coordinated development of ecological security (ES) and high-quality economic development (HQED) is of great significance to the integrated sustainable development of the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) urban agglomeration. In this study, the entropy weight-TOPSIS model and the improved coupling coordination degree (CCD) model were used to analyze the coupling coordination mechanism of ES and HQED. The results indicate that the level of ES in the YRD showed a fluctuating upward trend from 0.475 in 2000 to 0.481 in 2020, while HQED continued to rise from 0.097 in 2000 to 0.232 in 2020, and the coordinated development index of ES and HQED increased from 0.293 in 2000 to 0.795 in 2020, highlighting an obvious trend of balanced development. Notably, the eastern coastal cities exhibited superior HQED and ES levels, with a better CCD, compared to the inland cities. The multi-scale geographically weighted regression model (MGWR) analysis shows that industrial structure, production efficiency and urbanization rate were key factors in the imbalanced development of the YRD. Finally, policy suggestions are proposed from the aspects of strengthening technological and industrial innovation and comprehensively promoting new urbanization.

China’s rapid economic growth since 2000 has been closely linked to an increase in environmental pollution, and industrial wastewater discharge during the industrialization process has significantly impacted the country’s ecological environment. While early industrialization was strongly associated with environmental degradation, the situation has improved over time, largely due to the implementation of environmental protection policies and technological innovations. However, the long-term effects of industrialization on the environment remain, with significant regional disparities. Through Exploratory Spatial Data Analysis (ESDA), this study examines the spatial and temporal trends of industrial pollution discharges in China from 2000 to 2021 and their drivers. The results show a sharp rise in discharges during the early stages of that period, peaking around 2011. Since then, the discharges have declined steadily following the adoption of environmental policies and technological advances, supporting the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis. Spatially, discharges from developed regions in the east and south were markedly higher than those from other areas, reflecting significant regional imbalances. Moran’s I analysis further demonstrated a spatial clustering effect, with high discharges concentrated in a small number of provinces. Considering these findings, this study recommends further reductions in industrial pollutant discharges and fostering sustainable economic and environmental development through the enhancement of environmental technologies, the optimization of industrial structures, and the promotion of coordinated regional governance.

Rice is not only the most basic staple crop, but also a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs). Negative emission options that can guarantee food security are urgently needed. In this study, we analyzed the temporal and spatial dynamics of GHGs from four types of rice in China, namely early indica rice, mid-season indica rice, late indica rice, and japonica rice, and estimated their mitigation potentials. The main results are fourfold. (1) The annual average GHGs per hectare was 4513.5 kg CO₂-eq ha^-1, increasing gradually from 2005 to 2020, while there was an opposite trend in annual average GHGs efficiency (0.4 kg CO₂-eq yuan^-1). The GHGs intensity was 0.9 kg CO₂-eq kg^-1 and remained constant in the same period. (2) The GHGs per unit (sowing area, output or output value) in central and southeastern China were higher than those in the north and west. (3) The GHGs per unit (area, yield or output value) of late indica rice were the highest while the corresponding values for japonica rice were the lowest. (4) The GHGs per hectare might be able to achieve a 20% reduction from the 2020 level, providing that cropland redistribution and mitigation measures are adopted. Finally, we put forward policy proposals and available measures for emission reduction to promote the sustainable development of agricultural systems.

The Yellow River Basin acts as both a national ecological barrier and a core area for high-quality development strategies. It encompasses nine provincial-level administrative regions and serves as an exemplary case for studying the cross-scale co-evolution of human-land systems. This study centers on the dual driving forces of new urbanization and tourism economy, aiming to address the critical question of “how can these two systems achieve mutual promotion and coordination?”, which has significant practical implications for optimizing the human-land relationship in the basin. Drawing on panel data from 2011 to 2022, this study applied a coupling coordination model and spatial convergence econometric methods to uncover the spatio-temporal patterns of coupling coordination between the two systems across the nine provinces and autonomous regions along the Yellow River. The key findings are threefold. (1) New urbanization demonstrated a steady yet gradual upward trend, whereas the tourism economy exhibited a “growth-decline” fluctuation pattern, revealing a notable temporal mismatch between the two systems. (2) Although the coupling coordination degree of the two systems is progressing toward an orderly structure, the overall level remains relatively low, with the new urbanization system being the primary constraint on overall coupling coordination due to significant impediments in the economic, spatial, social, and ecological dimensions of urbanization. (3) Significant convergence in the coupling coordination degree of the two systems was observed at the basin-wide level and in the upper reaches, although the influencing factors differ. In contrast, no convergence trend was evident in the middle and lower reaches, reflecting the path-dependent characteristics of the basin’s gradient development pattern. This study elucidates the coupling and coordination relationship between the two systems, thereby providing a robust scientific foundation for the high-quality development of the Yellow River Basin.

Promoting sustainable livelihoods for villagers is an essential strategy for rural revitalization in areas enriched with heritage sites. Northwest Yunnan, despite being one of China’s poorest regions, is globally renowned for the Three Parallel Rivers and its premier hiking destinations, so exploring sustainable income-increasing opportunities for its villagers is important for its rural revitalization. By using density analysis, logical matrix construction and cluster analysis with GPS data, this study explored the spatial distribution characteristics of hiking tourism in Northwest Yunnan and identified the hiking popular areas. A revenue generation framework, informed by Sustainable Livelihood Approach (SLA) and customized to the unique hiking characteristics of such popular areas, was constructed to analyze income opportunities for villagers in these areas, so as to offer theoretical support for the hiking tourism development and rural revitalization in this region. The results showed that: (1) The distribution of hiking points of interest (POIs) in Northwest Yunnan was relatively centralized with three agglomeration areas from north to south, namely, the Deqin Agglomeration Area, the Lijiang-Shangri-La Agglomeration Area, and the Dali-Yangbi Agglomeration Area. (2) Northwest Yunnan mainly had three popular hiking areas and eight hiking sub-areas correspondingly. (3) The income-generating opportunities for villagers mainly included unique accommodation and food service, guide and gear transportation services, equipment supply, tourism product sales, and logistics support for hiking races. It indicated that due to the differing temporal-spatial characteristics, and themes of activities in each hiking sub-area, the approaches to revenue generation are uniquely distinctive for each sub-area. The diverse tourism-related livelihoods of villagers enrich tourists’ experiences while the nature of tourist activities guides the villagers’ livelihood choices. Hiking tourism serves as a vital avenue for economic growth in areas like Northwestern Yunnan, where villagers can significantly boost their income by offering a variety of tourism services.

The spatial configuration of historical canal villages and towns is crucial to their overall structural framework. Moreover, it serves as a fundamental element in the manifestation of architectural style, the promotion of vitality, and the enhancement of environmental conditions. This study used Google Maps and field research to examine the spatial perception of Xiangxi Pushi Ancient Town by analyzing node space, street space components, and visual data. It investigates the spatial structure characteristics of ancient canal villages and towns at three levels: point-like space, line-like space, and point-line association. Furthermore, this study evaluates these characteristics based on three perspectives: macroscopic, mesoscopic, and microscopic. The text subsequently elucidates its formation mechanism, along with the cultural aspects of watersheds following the construction of canals. The results showed that the point space of Pushi Ancient Town is relatively complete; however, the overall structure is loose, and the core is not strong. The linear space utilizes the main street as its framework, while certain internal and external streets and lanes have isolation and insufficient connectivity. Simultaneously, some important nodes are marginalized, and the connectivity and overall synergy between the point and line spaces require improvement. This study provides a theoretical foundation and practical reference for examining the sustainable development of villages and towns, as well as watershed culture in the post-canal era.

Organic tea insurance is essential for protecting the livelihoods of tea farmers, yet its uptake remains limited due to a potential misalignment between the program’s design and farmers' objectives. This study used a discrete choice experiment to explore how risk perceptions and information asymmetry influence farmers’ decisions to purchase organic tea insurance. It also assessed the role of farmer cooperative organizations in facilitating these decisions. We collected data from 323 tea farmers in Anhui Province to estimate their willingness to pay (WTP) for specific insurance features. The results indicate a preference for having organic tea insurance, especially among farmers who have experienced agricultural disasters and are informed about insurance options. However, participation in farmer cooperatives did not significantly enhance mutual understanding or trust in the insurance scheme. Using a random parameter logit model, we found that the WTP varied significantly with changes in the insurance claim starting point (by 1258.44 yuan ha^-1) and the government subsidy ratio (by 819.69 yuan ha^-1). In contrast, modifications in claim payment timing and total indemnity affected WTP minimally, the impact of claim payment time on WTP is 19.70 yuan ha^-1, and the change in total indemnity has an impact of 0.32 yuan ha^-1 on WTP. Applying a latent class model, we categorized farmers into two distinct groups based on their attribute preferences and price sensitivities, which remained consistent across robustness tests using an attribute non-attendance regression. This study offers new insights into farmers’ preferences and behaviors toward organic tea insurance, emphasizing the significance of risk experience and information symmetry in their decision-making processes.

The governance of rural human settlements has long relied on a government-led model, leading to the dilemma of high costs and low effectiveness. Although farmer participation is regarded as crucial for improving governance efficiency, its specific pathways of influence remain unclear. This study constructed a theoretical framework to analyze how farmer participation affects the efficiency of village-level human settlement governance. Based on survey data from 1401 farmers and 192 villages in Northwest Fujian Province, this study employed the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) method to measure governance efficiency, used the Tobit model to explore the pathways of impacts from farmer participation, and established a mediation effect model to test the intermediary roles of democratic supervision and demand responsiveness. Key findings: (1) Farmer participation enhances the governance efficiency of rural human settlements through the logical chain of “empowerment” - “government-society interaction” - “common governance”. (2) Democratic supervision and demand responsiveness exhibit significant mediation effects, indicating that farmer participation improves governance efficiency by activating these mechanisms. Policy implications: Farmer participation, reinforced by democratic supervision and demand-responsive mechanisms, serves as an endogenous driver for enhancing governance efficiency. Policy design should focus on institutionalizing participatory channels, optimizing closed-loop demand-response systems, and strengthening the environmental protection capacities of farmers. Future research should be extended to regional comparisons and dynamic effect analyses to validate the universality of these mechanisms.

The Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA) initiative in Maharashtra addresses the critical need to balance development with environmental conservation by ensuring compensatory afforestation for diverted forest lands. It manages funds collected from agencies using forest areas for non-forest purposes, ensuring their proper utilization for reforestation, biodiversity conservation, and ecosystem restoration. This initiative is crucial for maintaining ecological balance, mitigating climate change impacts, and promoting sustainable development in the state, while also providing transparency in the management of environmental compensation funds. This research examines the factors influencing the success of CAMPA plantations in western and central Maharashtra, India. We employed field surveys, SWOT analysis, and stakeholder interviews to assess plantation outcomes and challenges. Our analysis revealed strengths like natural forests, good rainfall, and suitable soil, alongside weaknesses such as challenging terrain, water scarcity, and wildlife interference. Opportunities for improvement include promoting natural regeneration, implementing water and soil conservation practices, and fostering local community involvement. Threats to success come from monsoon inaccessibility, inappropriate species selection, and wildlife disturbance. The study emphasizes a two-pronged approach for successful CAMPA initiatives. First, technical considerations like irrigation during initial years, planting mature saplings, and constructing large cattle-proof trenches are crucial for sapling survival, water conservation, and soil protection. Second, effective management practices are equally important. Timely access to funding ensures proper implementation, while engaging local communities through Gram Sabha (village assembly) fosters a sense of ownership and promotes plantation protection. Flexibility in planning allows for adaptation to diverse site conditions. Therefore, site observations, consultations with forest officials and key informants (to rank the crucial success factors) enabled this study to fetch dynamic results. In a nutshell, this research highlights the importance of combining scientific knowledge with community participation for building resilient and sustainable CAMPA initiatives. Stakeholders, despite minor variations in emphasis, agree on core success factors: community involvement, animal protection through large trenches, and securing funding.

The Beijing Ecological Conservation Area is evolving into a modern green development demonstration zone, where river basin water quality is improving, rural industries are being transformed, and ecological value is being converted into economic value. Academic research has gradually expanded with the opening of construction practices. Against the backdrop of the main functional zoning, the Beijing Ecological Conservation Area is guiding the differentiated development of Beijing's mountainous areas, while accounting for the developmental constraints of higher-level planning and the requirements for regional economic growth and providing decision-making references for policy formulation and engineering construction. This study outlines the overarching characteristics of theoretical research on the Beijing Ecological Conservation Area by synthesizing two decades of academic progress through four key themes: (1) Cultivation and realization mechanisms for ecological product value; (2) Rural socio-economic development and functional evolution; (3) Watershed water conservation and ecological barrier construction; and (4) The equilibrium between ecological preservation and industrial development. Finally, by analyzing the inherent constraints and balance between ecological protection and economic development, the modern developmental logic of the Beijing Ecological Conservation Area is elucidated. Building on this analysis, future research directions are proposed across three dimensions: technical methodologies, paradigm establishment for research topics, and the optimization of research perspectives and objectives.