Abstract:
Abundant ecological assets can be transformed into the tradable and consumable ecological products. However, there is a complex relationship between economic growth and ecological protection. It is of great significance to balance the economic value appreciation and sustainable development in Hebei Province, China. In this study, the value realization pathways were proposed for the ecological regulation service products from an eco-economic synergy perspective. The land use data was collected from Hebei Province in 2012, 2017, and 2022. The water balance equation, the improved soil loss equation, the improved wind erosion equation, and the carbon storage and sequestration module of the InVEST model were then used to calculate the physical quantities of the water conservation, soil conservation, wind erosion control, and carbon sequestration services. Shadow project, substitution cost, and market value methods were employed to calculate their quantities. A systematic analysis was made on the temporal and spatial variation in the gross ecological regulation service products. A four-quadrant model was introduced to categorize the regions into four types: Eco-Economic Synergy Zone, Ecological Affluence Zone, Dual-Disadvantaged Lagging Zone, and Material Prosperity Zone. Case studies were integrated to identify the suitable pathways for the ecological regulation service products. The results show that: (1) The per capita value of ecological regulation service products shared a declining trend, where a spatial distribution was characterized by "higher values in the north and lower in the south, while prominent in mountainous areas, and weaker in plains." Meanwhile, the per capita gross regional product exhibited an upward trend, which was spatially distributed as "higher in the east and lower in the west, with a transitional pattern in the central region." (2) The proportion of the counties and districts was classified as the Ecological Affluence Zone, which increased by 2.99 percentage point, while there was an increase of 1.20 percentage point in the Material Prosperity Zone. However, the proportion of the counties in the Eco-Economic Synergy Zone decreased by 1.79 percentage point. As such, there was no balance between economic development and ecological protection in these regions. (3) The optimal pathways were recommended to promote the regional "eco-economic" coordination, according to the different types of the counties and districts. A regional approach was proposed to combine with the “ecological property rights trading + ecological indicator trading + eco-industrialization” in the Eco-Economic Synergy Zone. A win-win tradeoff was achieved in both ecological and economic development. In the Ecological Affluence Zone, an optimal pathway was adopted to integrate the “ecological property rights trading + ecological indicator trading + horizontal ecological compensation”, in order to foster the economic growth and ecological conservation. In the Dual-Disadvantaged Lagging Zone, an optimal strategy was highlighted on the “vertical ecological compensation + ecological remediation and restoration + eco-industrialization”, in order to solve the dual challenges from the ecological and economic conditions. In the Material Prosperity Zone, the “ecological remediation and restoration + industrial ecologicalization + horizontal ecological compensation” was implemented to strengthen the ecological protection and economic development. The finding can also provide the strong support to formulate the scientific and reasonable value realization strategies.