Enhancing transboundary natural tourism resources governance:unveiling the spatial pattern and its influencing factors

Tourism resources that span provincial boundaries in China play a pivotal role in regional development,yet effective governance poses persistent challenges.This study addresses this issue by constructing a comprehensive database of transboundary natural tourism resources(TNTR)through amalgamation of diverse data sources.Utilizing the Getis-Ord Gi^(*),kernel density estimation,and geographical detectors,we scrutinize the spatial patterns of TNTR,focusing on both named and unnamed entities,while exploring the influencing factors.Our findings reveal 7883 identified TNTR in China,with mountain tourism resources emerging as the predominant type.Among provinces,Hunan boasts the highest count,while Shanghai exhibits the lowest.Southern China demonstrates a pronounced clustering trend in TNTR distribution,with the spatial arrangement of biological landscapes appearing more random compared to geological and water landscapes.Western China,characterized by intricate terrain,exhibits fewer TNTR,concurrently unveiling a significant presence of unnamed natural tourism resources.Crucially,administrative segmentation influences TNTR development,generating disparities in regional goals,developmental stages and intensities,and management approaches.In response to these variations,we advocate for strengthening the naming of the unnamed transboundary tourism resources,constructing a geographic database of TNTR for government and establishing a collaborative management mechanism based on TNTR database.Our research contributes to elucidating the intricate landscape of TNTR,offering insights for tailored governance strategies in the realm of cross-provincial tourism resource management.

The role of natural resources in financial expansion:evidence from Central Asia

Central Asian States(CAS)have diverse natural resources.This research aims to shed light on the finance–natural resource’s association in the context of CAS namely Kazakhstan,Kyrgyzstan,Tajikistan,Turkmenistan,and Uzbekistan in 1996–2020 using the cross-sectionally augmented autoregressive distributed lag technique.It seeks to examine the research question,“What is the effect of natural resource wealth on the financial expansion(FE)of Central Asia?”The results demonstrated an inverted U-shaped association between financial growth and natural resource rents.It implies that natural resources are initially a“resource blessing”that later becomes a“resource curse.”Additionally,the effect of institutional quality(INQ)and human development(HD)on financial growth is examined.The results reveal that INQ and HD positively affect FE.Moreover,a bidirectional causal relationship exists between FE and INQ.Finally,all variables contribute to a long term FE.Based on these outcomes,the major policy recommendations are that the CAS authorities diversify their financial services and products and direct the proceeds from natural resource rents to effective invest-ments particularly in HD.In addition,the social and political infrastructures in CAS must be restructured to achieve a high-quality institutional environment,which is necessary to increase the role of the private sector.

Natural Resource Governance in Unrecognized Settings: What Are Emerging Political, Legal and Fiscal Issues Affecting “Somaliland”?

Somaliland declared independence after the fall of the Central Government of Somalia in 1991. Early peace settlements and state-building efforts led to transitional government and early democratic contestations including presidential elections in a hybrid state framework. This emerging democracy in a conflict-torn region is challenged by weak accountability and power imbalances between the three government branches. Over the past few years, the current ruling party started to engage with foreign companies to carry out exploration activities in onshore blocks utilizing existing information on the distribution of natural resources of oil, and gas and to lesser extent mining. Following an informal auction of selling licenses for resource exploration among various companies, Genel Energy amongst others;Somaliland has no competent institutions in managing revenues for long-term development due to two distinctive factors: 1) absence of strong legal and political frameworks specific to governance of extractive industry;2) weak fiscal regimes across spectrum of extractive companies, the state and investors.

Discussion on Green Development of Fenlong for Yield Increase, Quality Enhancing, Water Retaining and Multiple Use of Natural Resources

Fenlong green ecological agriculture technology （Fenlong technology）, a new smash ridging farming method developed by Guangxi Academy of Agdcultural Sciences, has been elected as the recommended cultivation technique by the Ministry of Agriculture of China. It replaces the traditional plowshare with spiral drill, and its tilth depth is twice deeper than that by tractor tilthing. It also extends soil nutrient, moisture, oxygen and microorganism, the so-called ＂Four pools＂. Soil nutrient, oxygen, microorganism, light and rainfall use ratio is increased by 10%-100%, creating a platform for natural increase of more than 10% of crop yield. Its application to over 20 kinds of crops in 21 provinces has proved that the yield increases 10-30% with quality enhancing 5% and double water retaining capacity but no more input. When the application area of Fenlong could reach 67 million hm2, the amount of fertilizer can be reduced by 40-50 billion kg, saving 120-150 billion Yuan. In this paper, we put forward the strategy of ＂4＋1＂ （arable, saline-alkali soil, grasslands, Sponge City ＋ rivers） green development in China, and deepened the Fenlong cultivated tilled layer from 16.5 cm to 35 cm for 67 million hm2 arable land, ridged 13.3 million hm2 of saline-alkali soil for 35 cm, and also 35 cm for 67 million hm2 degraded steppe, which could have the following 3 effects： first, the 147 million hm2 of land with Fenlong cultivation could increase loosing soil to 315.491 billion m3, in＊ creasing by 159.26% for 120 million hm2 of arable land with the average tilled layer of 16.5 cm, which has loosing soil of only 198.1 billion m3, that is, the space of the land increases 1.6 times. Second, every hectare of plowland could store up to 450 m3/hm2 of natural rainfall, and the unused 60 m3 of saline-alkali soil and grasslands could store water of 102 billion m3, showing an increase of over 88.89% for the current plowland storage of 54 billion m3 at now, that is, double the natural rainfall storage capacity. Third, the two multiple increase of natural resources application can bring trillions of resource activation, environmental cleaning, food security, citizens, health, economic, ecological and social benefits, and makes the Chinese nation move forward in green development. Its application in ＂big scientific research＂ and ＂One Belt And One Road＂ will contribute Chinese strength to the world.

Natural Resources Balance Sheet:Chinese Characteristics and International Practices

This paper examines the explorations and practices of environmental- economic accounting in the international community, provides a comprehensive overview and evaluation of the nature and research progress of China＇s natural resources balance sheet, reviews the relevant systems of China＇s natural resources balance sheet and the development of ecological civilization, identifies the issues in the formulation of natural resources balance sheet and makes suggestions for improvement.

Planning and construction of Xiong’an New Area(city of over 5 million people):Contributions of China’s geologists and urban geology

China established Xiong’an New Area in Hebei Province in 2017,which is planned to accommodate about 5 million people,aiming to relieve Beijing City of the functions non-essential to its role as China’s capital and to expedite the coordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region.From 2017 to 2021,the China Geological Survey(CGS)took the lead in multi-factor urban geological surveys involving space,resources,environments,and disasters according to the general requirements of“global vision,international standards,distinctive Chinese features,and future-oriented goals”in Xiong’an New Area,identifying the engineering geologic conditions and geologic environmental challenges of this area.The achievements also include a 3D engineering geological structure model for the whole area,along with“one city proper and five clusters”,insights into the ecology and the background endowment of natural resources like land,geothermal resources,groundwater,and wetland of the area before engineering construction,a comprehensive monitoring network of resources and environments in the area,and the“Transparent Xiong’an”geological information platform that is open,shared,dynamically updated,and three-dimensionally visualized.China’s geologists and urban geology have played a significant role in the urban planning and construction of Xiong’an New Area,providing whole-process geological solutions for urban planning,construction,operation and management.The future urban construction of Xiong’an New Area will necessitate the theoretical and technical support of earth system science(ESS)from various aspects,and the purpose is to enhance the resilience of the new type of city and to provide support for the green,low-carbon,and sustainable development of this area.

Investigation of Anthropogenic Activities along the Mamouwol River in the Urban Commune of Mamou (Republic of Guinea)

The monitoring of our watercourses for their preservation must be an imperative concern of the whole population.The aim of this study is to describe the main causes of degradation and destruction of the natural resources of the Mamouwol River in the Mamou commune.Data were collected using a survey method(questionnaire,interviews and observations).The study revealed that extensive agro-pastoral activities are the main socio-economic activity of the population,accounting for 78.5%-90%and 20.30%respectively.Fishing follows(1.2%).Related activities include handicrafts and petty trade;Other human activities:hunting(11%),charcoal burning(58%),brick making and firing(45.6%).Riverbanks and water resources in the vicinity of dwellings are damaged and polluted by socio-economic activities and the use of agricultural inputs.The absence of industrial units on the path for the data collection.

Natural resource dependence, public education investment,and human capital accumulation

This paper examines the relationships between natural resource dependence, public education investment, and human capital accumulation. It addresses why the “blessing” of abundant natural resources often turns into a “curse” in many countries and regions, focusing on the crowding-out effect of natural resources on human capital. According to our empirical analysis of provincial panel data from China, natural resource dependence is significantly and negatively correlated with human capital accumulation. The crowding-out effect of natural resources on human capital exists only in the central and western regions of China. Our introduction of an interaction term for natural resource dependence and public education investment underscores the possibility of investing in public education to reduce the crowding-out effect of natural resource dependence on human capital. The government should utilize the income of the natural resource sector to increase investment in education to enhance local human capital.

Evaluation of urban underground space resources using a negative list method: Taking Xi'an City as an example in China

Utilization of urban underground space has become a vital approach to alleviate the strain on urban land resources,and to optimize the structure and pattem of the city.It is also very important to improve the city environment,build livable city and increase the capacity of the city.Based on the analysis of existing evaluation methods and their problems,a method for evaluating underground space resources based on a negative list of adverse factors affecting underground space development is proposed,to be primarily used in urban planning stages.A list of the adverse factors is established,including limiting factors,constraining factors and influencing factors.Taking Xi'an as an example,using a geographical information system platform,a negative list of adverse factors for the underground space resources in Xi'an City are evaluated,and preventive measures are proposed.Natural resources,exploitable resources,and the potential growth of exploitable underground space resources are evaluated.Underground space assessment in the different development stages of the city,collaborative utilization and safety evaluation for multiple subsurface resources,environmental impact and assessment,as well as evaluation methods based on big data and intelligent optimization algorithms are all discussed with the aim of serving city planning and construction.

Evaluation of natural gas hydrate resources in the South China Sea using a new genetic analogy method

Natural gas hydrate(NGH)has attracted much attention as a new alternative energy globally.However,evaluations of global NGH resources in the past few decades have casted a decreasing trend,where the estimate as of today is less than one ten-thousandth of the estimate forty years ago.The NGH researches in China started relatively late,but achievements have been made in the South China Sea(SCS)in the past two decades.Thirty-five studies had been carried out to evaluate NGH resource,and results showed a flat trend,ranging from 60 to 90 billion tons of oil equivalent,which was 2-3 times of the evaluation results of technical recoverable oil and gas resources in the SCS.The big difference is that the previous 35 group of NGH resource evaluations for the SCS only refers to the prospective gas resource with low grade level and high uncertainty,which cannot be used to guide exploration or researches on development strategies.Based on the analogy with the genetic mechanism of conventional oil and gas resources,this study adopts the newly proposed genetic method and geological analogy method to evaluate the NGH resource.Results show that the conventional oil and gas resources are 346.29×10^(8)t,the volume of NGH and free dynamic field are 25.19×10^(4)km^(3) and(2.05-2.48)×10^(6)km^(3),and the total amount of in-situ NGH resources in the SCS is about(4.47-6.02)×10^(12)m^(3).It is considered that the resource of hydrate should not exceed that of conventional oil and gas,so it is 30 times lower than the previous estimate.This study provides a more reliable geological basis for further NGH exploration and development.

Reforming the natural resource auditing system from the ecological civilization perspective

Perfecting the natural resource system and auditing natural resource assets are requirements in protecting natural resources and developing an ecological civilization in practice.While the natural resource asset audit both confirms and quantifies natural resources,the nature of such resources makes it difficult to identify their ownership.Further,these resources'diversity creates complex measurement standards and activities,all of which require relevant institutional guarantees.However,the existing audit system for natural resource assets includes insufficient stock,incremental difficulties,and poor guidance,which cannot meet the requirements for environmental governance and an ecological civilization.Thus,it is necessary to define natural resource assets’rights and measurement systems and responsibility regulations,among others;construct an auditing participation system,technical regulations,and evaluation criterion for natural resource assets;amend the Audit Law in a timely manner;and enact natural resource asset legislation.Ultimately,such efforts would eliminate the bottleneck in the natural resource asset auditing system and facilitate the construction of a resource-saving,environmentally friendly society.

Natural Resource Conditions and Economic Development in the Uttaranchal Himalaya,India

Uttaranchal is bestowed with numerous rivers, huge forest resources ranging from tropical to temperate, tourists＇ places, pilgrimages and feasible climatic conditions for growing fruits, vegetables, food grains, livestock rearing, tea garden practices, etc. The economic development, on the other hand, could not take place partly due to lack of modern technology with innovation in agricultural system and also unwillingness of the people towards using it. Furthermore, due to its harsh climatic conditions, rigorous terrain and distinct identity, as a part of Uttar Pradesh state, the development could not take place and today the state is believed to be one of the poorer states. Infrastructurally, this region is lagged behind due to its inaccessibility. The ideal geographical and agrarian conditions might be used evenly for the developmental processes. Ecologically, the whole region is socio-economic activities, fragile. The diverse harsh traditional beliefs and hard working potentials further change the entire scenario of the state. Only the need of the hours is to frame and implementation of the rational policies and planning for sustainable development of the state. What had appeared during the past, pertaining to the economic development, needs radical changes in policies, planning and beliefs. This paper aims to evaluate the present conditions of resources as a form of natural vegetation, agricultural crops, horticultural farming, herbs, tea garden practices, livestock rearing, hydropower projects and economic development of the Uttaranchal Himalaya.

GIScience and remote sensing in natural resource and environmental research:Status quo and future perspectives

Geographic information science(GIScience)and remote sensing have long provided essential data and method-ological support for natural resource challenges and environmental problems research.With increasing advances in information technology,natural resource and environmental science research faces the dual challenges of data and computational intensiveness.Therefore,the role of remote sensing and GIScience in the fields of natural resources and environmental science in this new information era is a key concern of researchers.This study clarifies the definition and frameworks of these two disciplines and discusses their role in natural resource and environmental research.GIScience is the discipline that studies the abstract and formal expressions of the basic concepts and laws of geography,and its research framework mainly consists of geo-modeling,geo-analysis,and geo-computation.Remote sensing is a comprehensive technology that deals with the mechanisms of human ef-fects on the natural ecological environment system by observing the earth surface system.Its main areas include sensors and platforms,information processing and interpretation,and natural resource and environmental appli-cations.GIScience and remote sensing provide data and methodological support for resource and environmental science research.They play essential roles in promoting the development of resource and environmental science and other related technologies.This paper provides forecasts of ten future directions for GIScience and eight future directions for remote sensing,which aim to solve issues related to natural resources and the environment.

A Review of Environmental Sociology and the Sociology of Natural Resources:Insights for the Development of Environmental Sociology in China

Environmental sociology and the sociology of natural resources are two key subdisciplines of the sociological study on the interactions between nature and human society.Previous discussion on the relationships of these two fields has largely focused on their distinctions and synthesis in western(particularly American) academia.Environmental sociology emerged as an important sociological subdiscipline in China in the early 1990s and is under vigorous disciplinary construction at present.By contrast,the sociology of natural resources is still a novel term for most Chinese researchers.This article provides a systematic review of recent literature on the relationships between environmental and natural resource sociologies,which should provide important implications for the further development of environmental sociology in China.

The Effect of Jump on Evaluating Natural Resource Investments

The evaluation of mining and other natural resource projects is made particularly difficult by the high degree of uncertainty attaching to output prices. It is shown that the techniques of continuous time arbitrage and stochastic control theory may be used not only to value such projects but also to determine the optimal policies for developing managing. This paper describes a model for evaluating natural resource investments under uncertainty from a new perspective. The previous works in this field mostly regard the movements of natural resource prices as a continuous GBM process, which pays few attentions to the shock of unexpected bad news. Our model provides the first theoretical method to analyze the impact of such 'jump' on investment decisions. It concludes that the more frequently bad news happens, the earlier a project will be invested.

A Study of Resource Curse Effect of Chinese Provinces Based on Human Developing Index

Traditional opinion considers that natural resources play an important positive role in economic development, while resource curse theory holds that natural resources usually obstruct economic increase. This debate needs further exploration. In most of empirical studies on resource curse theory, the economic development of an area is mainly evaluated by the Gross Domestic Product(GDP), however, the social and cultural contents of economic development are seldom considered. Thus, the Human Developing Index(HDI) was chosen to describe the comprehensive developing situation of an area in our study. Based on the panel data from the year of 2000 to 2011, the relationship between Human Developing Index and resource exploitation degree(RED) of 30 provinces in China(Tibet, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao were not included because of the restriction of data acquisition) was investigated by correlation coefficient analysis and regression analysis. We found that resource curse did exist over the entire country and its effect on 30 provinces were not exactly the same. According to the effects of resource curse, these provinces could be classified into four types: no resource curse provinces, slight resource curse provinces, severe resource curse provinces, and extreme resource curse provinces. Testing from two short time periods 2000–2005, and 2006–2011, the resource curse effect was not prominent. However, testing from the entire period of 2000–2011, the effect was obvious among each province.

Values of the Times of Marx's Theory of Science and Technology Progress and Utilization of Natural Resources

Marx's theory of scientific and technological progress and utilization of natural resources is an indispensable and important part of Marx's economic theory.To realize the harmonious unification of man and nature,man must correctly understand the effect of scientific and technological progress on the use of natural resources,fundamentally solve the problem that scientific and technological progress cannot replace the position of natural resources in economic development,and objectively evaluate the relationship between human power and the power of nature.Grasping and comprehending the scientific connotation of Marx's theory of scientific and technological progress and utilization of natural resources has a very important theoretical value and practical significance for saving and effectively using natural resources and building an environment-friendly society.

Optimal control of natural resources in mining industry

The paper focuses on the optimal control of natural resources in mining industry. The purpose is to pro- pose an optimal extraction series of these resources during the lifetime of the Mine＇s maintenance. Fol- lowing the proposed optimal control model, a sensitivity analysis has been performed that includes the interest rate impact on the optimal solution. This study shows that the increasing of the interest rate sti- mulates faster extraction of the resources. The discounting factor induces that the resource has to be extracted faster hut this effect is counterbalanced by the diminishing returns of the annual cash flow. At higher parameters of ＂alpha＂ close to one of the power function about 80% from the whole resource will be extracted during the first 4 years of object/mine maintenance. An existence of unique positive root with respect to return of investment has been proposed and proved by two ways： by the ＂method of chords＂ and by using specialized software.

Archaeology and Heritage Resource Management in Siuyu, Singida Region (Tanzania)

This paper was produced as a part of our ongoing research endeavors in Singida destined to provide a better understanding of early humans’ cultures, and to promote the conservation of cultural and natural heritages of the region. The overreaching goals of this research are to holistically reconstruct the archaeology of Singida by studying cultural processes over time and space. Equally important is to promote tourism in the Singida eastern axis and, to salvage the heritage assets of the region from total disappearance as evinced by the activities of modern day civilization, broadly, to shed more light about the past life ways, and the subsistence behaviours of our ancestors. Our recent archaeological reconnaissance conducted in January 2016 in Siuyu ward discovered rock paintings and a rock shelter with archeological potential (Ngaghe rock shelter), containing a large scatter of Later Stone Age (LSA) archaeological artifacts that are crucial to the unravelling of the prehistoric human behaviours in Singida. Preliminary results from our research revealed that Singida region is an ideal place for undertaking research on early human bio-cultural evolution from LSA times to the present. Data from this study will be utilized to re-write the history of Singida region, to make sure that it is sustained for future generations. Despite their rarity, uniqueness, scientific and aesthetic values, these heritage assets are neither protected by village nor regional by-laws. Before deliberate conservation measures are put in place, it is very important to have good records of the areas that are attractive to tourism, and their current state of preservation. These sites were undocumented by the previous researchers, and in certain circumstances are unknown even to the local people of the Siuyu ward. Although the archaeology of Singida east is much “terra incognita”, this article is timely, for promoting archaeo-tourism and raising public awareness on the archaeology of Singida. Additionally, this work provides a stimulus to the authorities to take action by introducing effective conservation measures for the sustainability of these priceless non-renewable resources.

Assessment of natural resources and the policy of subsidies in grain production

Based on the analysis on the status quo of natural resources input in Brain production and on the policy of Brain subsidies, this paper puts forward a new idea - establishing grain subsidies through assessing the value of the natural resources in Brain production. The assessment of the natural resources in Brain production provides rationale and reference standard for the policy of Brain subsidies, which will promote the sustainable use of natural resources accordingly. This paper concludes： （1） it is necessary for the grain subsidies to assess the full value of natural resources, including economic value, ecological value and social value： （2） the government should give farmers direct subsidies or environment subsidies according to the economic and ecological value of natural resources in grain production, （3） the social value of natural resources can be realized by establishing the country social security system, taking the social value as the criterion for the payment for part of farmers＇ insurance.