Study Of The Yancheng Protected Areas, Eco-tourism Environmental Impact And Management Measures

Nature reserve, lined out according to law for specific protection and management, is land, terrestrial water or sea area aiming at protecting representative natural ecosystem, natural and centralized habitation of wild propagation species being rare or in severe danger, or significant natural relics, etc. Since 1956, when the first nature reserve was established in China, great achievements have been made in the nature reserve cause. The countrywide network of nature reserves is now basically characteristic of appropriate distribution, wide variety and balanced structure. The development of ecotourism has thus flourished. With their particular charm, nature reserves have attracted tourists home and abroad to appreciate the glorious sceneries, exploit the mysteries and do scientific investigations. Meanwhile, ecotourism in nature reserves, however, have had somewhat serious negative effect on the ecosystem, due to such reasons as insufficient knowledge of ecotourism, lack of environmental conservation awareness, too rapid development of ecotourism in terms of quantity, unclear recognition of ecotourism, deficiency of strict management, loose implementation of some rules, etc. As far as ecotourism is concerned, many limiting factors must be taken into account, like specific restrictions on place, time, means, construction and tourists, etc.Jiangsu Yancheng National Nature Reserve of Wetland Rare Waterfowls (simply referred to as "Yancheng Reserve" hereinafter) belongs to such kind of nature reserve as protecting wetland ecosystem and wild animals, that is, Yancheng reserve takes red-crowned cranes (Grits japonensis) and other wetland rare waterfowls and coastal wetland ecosystem as main protected projects, at the same time, it protects migratory birds' migrating route way and representative silty coast landscape on the edge of northern subtropical plain. Yancheng Reserve boasts abundant tour resources for scientific investigation, scientific education, appreciation of birds, sightseeing, holiday resort and the like.This thesis analyzes the general conditions of Yancheng Reserve such as its geographical location and functional subarea, its wetland ecosystem' characteristics, its type and main animal and plant resources, its social and economical condition, its population's distribution of some protected species and so on. On the basis of that, this thesis evaluates the influences of ecotourism on environmental quality, species, ecosystem and the landscape. Based on Yancheng reserve' landscape structure, also called tour resources' distribution, and tourism six factors' layout in future, this thesis lines out appropriate ecotourism region of Yancheng reserve, also referred to as suggestive ecotourism region, then gives a comprehensive analysis of ecotourism limiting factors in Yancheng reserve. This thesis analyses the environmental influences of ecotourism which has already been limited in Yancheng reserve. After taking limits, influences caused by tourism six factors' operation on influence factors have decreased from feeble negative influence or negative influence to basically zero influence, from negative to feeble negative, and could be alleviated or eliminated by effective management. Ecotourism is thus realized in its true sense.In addition, the thesis puts forward some environmental management countermeasures such as evaluating environmental influences, constituting scientific and reasonable ecotourism programming; strengthening propaganda and education, trying to win over positive powers as many as possible to support such a cause; cultivating responsible tourists, developing green enterprises and guiding the participation by communities; dividing the area into different functional subarea, controlling tourism capacity, taking the way of dividing collective tourists into several groups and opening and closing different regions alternatively and appropriately; adopting adaptive management methods; and valuing scientific research and enhancing technological content, etc.This thesis will give insights to studies on the environmental effects, limiting factors and management countermeasures in other nature reserves typical of wetland ecosystem and wild animals.