Karst Landscape Governance in the Guilin World Heritage Site, China

Sustaining karst landscape areas in World Heritage Sites under increasing human pressures and climate change is an emerging challenge. Growing evidence has highlighted the transition from traditional government-oriented regulation to the collaborative governance of different stakeholders in governin...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Heritage 2023-06, Vol.6 (6), p.4492-4509
Main Authors: He, Guizhen, Yu, Mingzhao, Zhao, Xiang, Zhang, Lei, Shen, Lina
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Cultural heritage
Environmental aspects
Guilin World Heritage Site
Karst
karst landscape
Laws, regulations and rules
nexus governance
policy analysis
Protection and preservation
Questionnaires
Social network analysis
Social networks
Software
stakeholder
Stakeholders
Surveys
Sustainable development
Tourism
Water conservation
World Heritage areas
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Sustaining karst landscape areas in World Heritage Sites under increasing human pressures and climate change is an emerging challenge. Growing evidence has highlighted the transition from traditional government-oriented regulation to the collaborative governance of different stakeholders in governing karst landscape resources. However, the complexity and dynamics of karst landscape policy and stakeholder networks are poorly understood. This study combined a legislative analysis, network analysis, and public survey to explore effective methods of karst landscape conservation in the Guilin World Heritage Site, China. The policy analysis showed that various national laws and local regulations have been enacted in China, but these regulations often focused on individual aspects of karst–human interactions. The network analysis indicated the complexity and relationship of networks in karst World Heritage Site governance at the national, provincial, and municipal scales. The majority of questionnaire respondents (65–89%) reported a medium and high level of karst landscape governance effectiveness. The insights in the present study may be valuable for other karst World Heritage Sites facing complex challenges, especially in developing countries.
ISSN:2571-9408
2571-9408
DOI:10.3390/heritage6060237