Evaluation of human-environment system vulnerability for sustainable development in the Liupan mountainous region of Ningxia, China

Abstract In the context of global change, the impacts and pressures attributed to human activities have become the main obstacles that restrict the sustainable development of ecological environments at the regional scale. Assessments of the relationship between humans and the environment have become common in current environmental research. The Liupan mountainous region of Ningxia is characterized by its remote geographical location and fragile natural environment, which lead to impoverishment for the resident ethnic minority populations. This study aims to evaluate the spatial distributed characteristics of the vulnerability of the human-environment system and to propose sustainable development approaches for the Liupan mountainous region of Ningxia. The results showed that the overall vulnerability of the human-environment system in the Liupan mountainous region of Ningxia is relatively high and has a strong spatial coupling relationship with the regional differentiation of the geographical environment and of the economic and social development in the study area. The fragile ecological environment, frequent natural disasters and spatial concentration of high-intensity human activities aggravated the vulnerability. Based on the results of the vulnerability and barrier factor identification processes, the sustainable development paths of “emigration”, “emigration + carbon sink industry” and “immigration resettlement + carbon sink industry” were developed for the study area. The carbon sink industry is oriented to the northwest and southeast, and the immigration resettlement is predominantly distributed in Yuanzhou District, which have high adaptability. The emigration approach is predominantly distributed in Xiji, Pengyang and Longde counties, which have higher exposure and sensitivity. Therefore, achieving sustainable development in restricted-development ecological zones must rely on the external manifestation of the economic functions of ecosystem services. The development of carbon sink industry and the implementation of ecological migration, which has the dual effects of poverty alleviation and ecological restoration, are the primary paths to promoting the sustainable development of restricted-development ecological zones in the future.