Research On Sustainable Development Of Ecotourism In Argun Grassland From The Perspective Of Herdsmen

From the perspective of ecological civilization construction,the development of ecotourism has been paid more and more attention by the tourism and ecological circles of various countries.Since the18 th National Congress of the CPC(Hereinafter referred to as the "18th National Congress"),CPC Central Committee(Hereinafter referred to as the "Central" has repeatedly published articles emphasizing the "great efforts should be made to develop eco-tourism,in order to achieve the ’win-win’goal of poverty alleviation and ecological civilization construction".It can be seen that the state requires to strengthen the development of eco-tourism,which can not only provide alternative sources of income for local residents,but also effectively reduce the intensity of natural resource use and promote the restoration of the ecosystem.However,the development of ecotourism is facing many challenges in the grassland areas in the north of China.Different from other types of ecotourism,the development of ecotourism in pastoral areas is uneven,and there are many adverse consequences in the development process of ecotourism,such as the monopoly phenomenon of tourism institutions and frequent fraudulent behaviors;Horse riding,off-road vehicles,grass slide caused serious degradation of grassland,etc.Therefore,it is necessary to reflect on these adverse consequences and further explore what is the meaning of sustainable development of grassland ecotourism in pastoral areas? This paper empirically discusses how livelihood sustainability and ecological sustainability are in the process of grassland ecotourism development from the perspective of pastoral households.Among them,livelihood sustainability is measured by livelihood capital sustainability analysis framework and livelihood substitution effect analysis,and ecological sustainability is measured by ecosystem services and biodiversity analysis.And further explore the research area of grassland ecological tourism for local sustainable development of the scientific nature of the actual operation,the comprehensive understanding of sustainable development of pastoral areas,perfect the relevant policy,development of ecological tourism system and social support,promote Mu Hu green management ability,indeed promote the grassland ecological tourism sustainable development has important theoretical significance and practical value.Taking Argun City,Inner Mongolia,which is known as "China’s Best Ecotourism City",as an example,this paper analyzes the sustainable development of ecotourism in the study area in terms of the influencing factors,livelihood sustainability and ecological sustainability of pastoral grassland herdsmen.Firstly,on the basis of clarifying the concept of ecotourism,the cognition level of herdsmen on livelihood and ecotourism is analyzed,and the influence mechanism of different types of herdsmen’s cognition on grassland ecotourism practice is discussed.Secondly,starting from the aspects of family characteristics,value cognition,social concepts,interpersonal environment and policy environment,the Heckman two-stage model was used to analyze the survey data of 500 herdsmen to explore the key factors affecting herdsmen’s participation in ecotourism operation.Then,based on the livelihood sustainability analysis framework,the livelihood capital stock of herders is measured,and then the livelihood substitution effect of grassland ecotourism and the improvement effect of ecotourism based on community principle on economic benefits are further discussed,and the one-way ANOVA method is used to explore the impact of ecotourism on ecosystem service functions and biodiversity,and the generalized linear regression model is used to verify whether the efficacy of ecotourism development based on community principle in environmental conservation is improved.Analyze whether the development of ecotourism in Argun City achieves its intended livelihood function and ecological conservation function;Finally,combined with the operational obstacles and demands of ecotourism development,countermeasures and suggestions to promote the sustainable development of grassland ecotourism in Argun City are proposed.The study found that:(1)The pure herdsmen’s livelihood risk in the study area is high.Different herdsmen have different sources of livelihood,and the income of herdsmen participating in grassland eco-tourism management is significantly higher than that of pure herdsmen.There was no significant difference in the degree of ecological cognition,and herdsmen generally believed that climate change and human disturbance were the main factors affecting the degradation of ecological resources.Lack of funds is a common problem for all herdsmen,which reduces the life satisfaction of herdsmen.The instability of subsistence income can lead to higher income at the expense of the ecological environment.Although the development of grassland eco-tourism has been widely recognized,there is still room for improvement in terms of transportation infrastructure,information communication channels,utilization efficiency of accommodation and catering,and security services.Most of the respondents are willing to participate in grassland ecotourism management,and they have high expectations for ecotourism management income.There are operational obstacles such as climate change and disaster impacts,the monopoly of local brokers,the absence of government functions,and homogeneous competition in grassland eco-tourism management.Faced with these obstacles,the herdsmen call for the intervention of the community and the government,hope that the government will carry out macro-control and provide relevant policy support.(2)Herdsmen’s willingness to participate is most significantly affected by economic benefits,followed by environmental benefit cognition.That is,the choice of herdsmen’s willingness to participate is different from that of the general "economic man",which is not only judged by maximizing economic benefits,but also affected by ecological cognition,traditional management habits and the degree of communication with relatives and friends.The household head’s educational level,economic benefit perception and compliance with traditional management practices are the decisive factors for herdsmen’s willingness to participate and expected benefits.(3)The development of grassland ecotourism has a significant impact on the stock of livelihood capital of herdsmen in the study area,and herdsmen participating in ecotourism management have obvious advantages in terms of livelihood capital.However,grassland ecotourism has a certain degree of substitution effect,and it is not feasible to completely replace animal husbandry.It is more conducive to the improvement of economic income by running both ecotourism and animal husbandry,and community-based grassland ecotourism companies have more advantages in improving economic benefits.(4)Compared with grazing grasslands,the ecosystem services and biodiversity levels of grasslands used for ecotourism are significantly weakened.The grassland ecotourism management in Argun has not achieved the coordination of ecotourism and environmental protection.Demonstrates the desire and action to carry out environmental protection,but the pursuit of short-term economic benefits is stronger.From the analysis of environmental impact,it can be seen that playgrounds with horseback riding activities have the greatest adverse impact on the environment,followed by horseback riding fields run by small and medium-sized herdsmen,and then theme parks.Catering and accommodation have the least impact on grasslands.Ecotourism companies based on community principles have no clear environmental advantage.This may be related to the general decline of rural communities on the Argun grassland.Finally,ecotourism companies that have not given up animal husbandry have more obvious advantages in environmental protection and less weeds are lost.(5)According to the research results,the main policy suggestions to promote the sustainable development of grassland eco-tourism in Erguna city are as follows: Improve diversified training means and increase investment in tourism product innovation;Raising the environmental awareness of herders and tourists is conducive to promoting the sustainable development of grassland resources.Improving ecotourism infrastructure and disaster early warning and emergency system construction;Establishing effective government as a win-win situation for stakeholders;actively publicize the advantages of eco-tourism and encourage the strategy of co-operating livelihood;Promoting a community cooperative ecotourism development model.The innovation of this study lies in:(1)The empirical verification of the livelihood substitution theory of ecotourism in the Erguna grassland region of Inner Mongolia.(2)Summarize the concurrent operation mode of ecotourism based on community cooperation theory and practice in northern pastoral areas.(3)Select ecological indicators to verify the ecological sustainability of grassland ecotourism.