西部民族地区生态文明建设问题探析

Ecological civilization is a mode of civilization which is constructed on the concept of multiple-wins, such as economic benefit, social benefit and environmental benefit, etc. It requires that a harmonious relationship between man and nature permeate various aspects of civilization, such as material civilization, spiritual civilization, and political civilization, forming an ecological mode for production, living, consumption, and other behaviors. The theories and practices of eco￣logical civilization both at home and abroad, as well as the strategic planning for the construction of ecological civilization in China, have constituted important theoretical and practical guidelines for the construction of ecological civilization in the western ethnic areas of China.
Constructing ecological civilization in the western ethnic areas has important theoretical and practical significance. Compared with the eastern part of China or the whole country, the level of e￣conomic and social development in the western eth￣nic areas still lags behind; energy consumption is generally high , and the number of national key ecologically functional areas is large. Furthermore, these areas face a daunting task for their environ￣mental protection and energy saving. In addition, the most concentrated areas of desertification in China are found in the western ethnic areas, espe￣cially Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia, Tibet and Qing￣hai. Therefore, the construction of ecological civi￣lization in the western ethnic areas has an impor￣tant role for the sustainable development of the e￣conomy and society, ecological security, energy saving and emission reduction, and the prevention of land desertification.
Generally speaking, the western ethnic areas actively participate in the national demonstration areas of the construction of ecological civilization, and constantly improve the level of ecological civi￣lization construction. However, their overall level is low, and the differences between various prov￣inces are considerable. Although the western eth￣nic areas have rich forest resources, tourism re￣sources, etc. for the construction of ecological civ￣ilization, they still face many problems in the use of their ecological resources and the construction of ecological civilization.
As noted above, the western ethnic areas ac￣tively take part in the construction of the key na￣tional ecological civilization demonstration areas. At present, among the 55 ecological civilization demonstration areas of China, 22 are in the west￣ern ethnic areas. These demonstration areas are actively exploring the construction of ecological civilization by taking the property rights of natural resources, ecological compensation and cadres as￣sessment, etc. into consideration.
As just noted, although the level of the con￣struction of an ecological civilization in western ethnic areas has been improving, the overall level is still low. The overall level of ecological civiliza￣tion in western ethnic areas lags significantly be￣hind the nation or eastern regions. In addition, the levels of every province are quite different. For in￣stance, the level of Guangxi and Yunnan is rela￣tively high. Therefore, the construction of ecologi￣cal civilization must be adapted to the local condi￣tions of the provinces.
There are a large number of key forestry en￣terprises in the western ethnic areas, but the struc￣ture of the forestry industry is not equitable. For￣estry is an important force, and provides important content for the construction of ecological civiliza￣tion. On the one hand, there are a large number of key national forestry enterprises in the western eth￣nic areas, but their distribution is not balanced. At present, there are 295 key national forestry en￣terprises , among which 48 are found in the western ethnic areas and are included in the list. Among them, the advantage held by Guangxi and Yunnan’s forest resources are obvious, while those in Tibet, Ningxia and Qinghai are not so obvious. On the other hand, the forestry resources in the western ethnic areas are unevenly distributed, and the structure of the forestry industry is not equita￣ble;the proportion of the primary industry of for￣estry is too high, and the proportion of the second￣ary industry is relatively low. This means that the economic benefits of forestry resources are not fully transformed, something which has seriously affect￣ed the promotion of ecological civilization.
Tourism resources in the western ethnic areas are rich, but the contradiction between tourism de￣velopment and environmental protection is sharp. The tourism industry can effectively improve the level of ecological civilization construction. With rich tourism resources in the western ethnic areas, the tourism industry has become one of the impor￣tant regional pillar industries, especially in Guizhou, Yunnan and Guangxi. However, the conditions of tourism infrastructure and the tourism environment are still relatively backward in western ethnic areas. This is seen especially in the tourist foreign exchange income ratio which is not high. In addition, theunique tourism resources have not strongly attracted more overseas visitors; and, as just said, there are contradictions between regional tourism development and ecological environment protection, which are still very sharp.
The construction of an ecological civilization is a complicated social system project. The con￣struction of an ecological civilization in the western ethnic areas has just started, so we need to in￣tegrate the idea of ecological civilization throughout political, economic, cultural, and social construc￣tion. Furthermore, we need to promote the process of ecological civilization construction according to the local conditions by taking the central authorities’ construction plan of ecological civiliza￣tion as guidance; consider the economic develop￣ment level of each province; and the characteris￣tics of ecological protection and resource environ￣ment in ethnic areas.
First of all, we should change the concept of government at all levels and the entire society in western ethnic areas, and improve the system of ecological civilization construction. For this pur￣pose, we must:( i) strengthen the top-level de￣sign of the ecological civilization system; ( ii) im￣prove relevant systems, such as the development of the national land space; and ( iii ) improve envi￣ronmental protection and ecological compensation in the western ethnic areas and the whole country. Furthermore, through making use of both formal systems, such as political, economic and legal ones, and informal systems, such as ecological culture, we should jointly safeguard and promote the construction of ecological civilization. On the one hand, we must establish and improve various policies related to finance, tax, population and land to improve the level of ecological political civ￣ilization in the western ethnic areas from the level of central government to local administrations. On the other hand, the central government and local administrations in the western ethnic areas must enhance the awareness of the construction of eco￣logical civilization through various ways, including school education and the internet.
Secondly, we should vigorously develop the advantages of the ecological industry in western ethnic areas, such as ecological tourism, ecologi￣cal agriculture and other ecological industries. The construction of ecological civilization should strive to find a balance between ecological environment and stable economic growth. Therefore, according to the characteristics of their ecological environ￣ment, resources, climate and the capacity of the ecological carrying capacity, we should choose ec￣ological industries suitable for regional develop￣ment, such as ecological agriculture, ecological tourism;change the original model of industrial de￣velopment to an ecological mode of production, and improve the level of ecological civilization while protecting the environment.
Thirdly, we should speed up the development of secondary and tertiary industries of forestry in the western ethnic areas, and further optimize the structure of the forestry industry. For this purpose we must further increase forestry investment and construction;and improve the total output value of forestry through afforestation, returning farmland to forest, and coordinating the relationship between the economic forest and ecological forest. Moreo￣ver, we should actively participate in China’s forest food certification and forest certification program;improve the proportion of secondary and tertiary forestry industires; take the initiative to transform the advantage of forestry resources into economic advantages;and improve the level of civilization of the ecological environment.
Finally, it is necessary for the western ethnic areas to continue the practice of constructing an ec￣ological civilization. Though adjustment to local conditions, and actively exploring the practice of ecological civilization construction, we should gradually accumulate experience in the construc￣tion of ecological civilization for the western ethnic areas, and even the whole country. In particular, in Guizhou, Yunnan and Qinghai, we must active￣ly promote the process of regional ecological civili￣zation construction based on the scheme of their own ecological civilization demonstration area pro￣grams. In addition, the western ethnic areas should fully play an important role in informal in￣stitutions, such as national ecological culture.

Analysis of the Construction of Ecological Civilization in the Western Ethnic Areas

Ecological civilization is a mode of civilization which is constructed on the concept of multiple-wins, such as economic benefit, social benefit and environmental benefit, etc. It requires that a harmonious relationship between man and nature permeate various aspects of civilization, such as material civilization, spiritual civilization, and political civilization, forming an ecological mode for production, living, consumption, and other behaviors. The theories and practices of eco￣logical civilization both at home and abroad, as well as the strategic planning for the construction of ecological civilization in China, have constituted important theoretical and practical guidelines for the construction of ecological civilization in the western ethnic areas of China.
Constructing ecological civilization in the western ethnic areas has important theoretical and practical significance. Compared with the eastern part of China or the whole country, the level of e￣conomic and social development in the western eth￣nic areas still lags behind; energy consumption is generally high , and the number of national key ecologically functional areas is large. Furthermore, these areas face a daunting task for their environ￣mental protection and energy saving. In addition, the most concentrated areas of desertification in China are found in the western ethnic areas, espe￣cially Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia, Tibet and Qing￣hai. Therefore, the construction of ecological civi￣lization in the western ethnic areas has an impor￣tant role for the sustainable development of the e￣conomy and society, ecological security, energy saving and emission reduction, and the prevention of land desertification.
Generally speaking, the western ethnic areas actively participate in the national demonstration areas of the construction of ecological civilization, and constantly improve the level of ecological civi￣lization construction. However, their overall level is low, and the differences between various prov￣inces are considerable. Although the western eth￣nic areas have rich forest resources, tourism re￣sources, etc. for the construction of ecological civ￣ilization, they still face many problems in the use of their ecological resources and the construction of ecological civilization.
As noted above, the western ethnic areas ac￣tively take part in the construction of the key na￣tional ecological civilization demonstration areas. At present, among the 55 ecological civilization demonstration areas of China, 22 are in the west￣ern ethnic areas. These demonstration areas are actively exploring the construction of ecological civilization by taking the property rights of natural resources, ecological compensation and cadres as￣sessment, etc. into consideration.
As just noted, although the level of the con￣struction of an ecological civilization in western ethnic areas has been improving, the overall level is still low. The overall level of ecological civiliza￣tion in western ethnic areas lags significantly be￣hind the nation or eastern regions. In addition, the levels of every province are quite different. For in￣stance, the level of Guangxi and Yunnan is rela￣tively high. Therefore, the construction of ecologi￣cal civilization must be adapted to the local condi￣tions of the provinces.
There are a large number of key forestry en￣terprises in the western ethnic areas, but the struc￣ture of the forestry industry is not equitable. For￣estry is an important force, and provides important content for the construction of ecological civiliza￣tion. On the one hand, there are a large number of key national forestry enterprises in the western eth￣nic areas, but their distribution is not balanced. At present, there are 295 key national forestry en￣terprises , among which 48 are found in the western ethnic areas and are included in the list. Among them, the advantage held by Guangxi and Yunnan’s forest resources are obvious, while those in Tibet, Ningxia and Qinghai are not so obvious. On the other hand, the forestry resources in the western ethnic areas are unevenly distributed, and the structure of the forestry industry is not equita￣ble;the proportion of the primary industry of for￣estry is too high, and the proportion of the second￣ary industry is relatively low. This means that the economic benefits of forestry resources are not fully transformed, something which has seriously affect￣ed the promotion of ecological civilization.
Tourism resources in the western ethnic areas are rich, but the contradiction between tourism de￣velopment and environmental protection is sharp. The tourism industry can effectively improve the level of ecological civilization construction. With rich tourism resources in the western ethnic areas, the tourism industry has become one of the impor￣tant regional pillar industries, especially in Guizhou, Yunnan and Guangxi. However, the conditions of tourism infrastructure and the tourism environment are still relatively backward in western ethnic areas. This is seen especially in the tourist foreign exchange income ratio which is not high. In addition, theunique tourism resources have not strongly attracted more overseas visitors; and, as just said, there are contradictions between regional tourism development and ecological environment protection, which are still very sharp.
The construction of an ecological civilization is a complicated social system project. The con￣struction of an ecological civilization in the western ethnic areas has just started, so we need to in￣tegrate the idea of ecological civilization throughout political, economic, cultural, and social construc￣tion. Furthermore, we need to promote the process of ecological civilization construction according to the local conditions by taking the central authorities’ construction plan of ecological civiliza￣tion as guidance; consider the economic develop￣ment level of each province; and the characteris￣tics of ecological protection and resource environ￣ment in ethnic areas.
First of all, we should change the concept of government at all levels and the entire society in western ethnic areas, and improve the system of ecological civilization construction. For this pur￣pose, we must:( i) strengthen the top-level de￣sign of the ecological civilization system; ( ii) im￣prove relevant systems, such as the development of the national land space; and ( iii ) improve envi￣ronmental protection and ecological compensation in the western ethnic areas and the whole country. Furthermore, through making use of both formal systems, such as political, economic and legal ones, and informal systems, such as ecological culture, we should jointly safeguard and promote the construction of ecological civilization. On the one hand, we must establish and improve various policies related to finance, tax, population and land to improve the level of ecological political civ￣ilization in the western ethnic areas from the level of central government to local administrations. On the other hand, the central government and local administrations in the western ethnic areas must enhance the awareness of the construction of eco￣logical civilization through various ways, including school education and the internet.
Secondly, we should vigorously develop the advantages of the ecological industry in western ethnic areas, such as ecological tourism, ecologi￣cal agriculture and other ecological industries. The construction of ecological civilization should strive to find a balance between ecological environment and stable economic growth. Therefore, according to the characteristics of their ecological environ￣ment, resources, climate and the capacity of the ecological carrying capacity, we should choose ec￣ological industries suitable for regional develop￣ment, such as ecological agriculture, ecological tourism;change the original model of industrial de￣velopment to an ecological mode of production, and improve the level of ecological civilization while protecting the environment.
Thirdly, we should speed up the development of secondary and tertiary industries of forestry in the western ethnic areas, and further optimize the structure of the forestry industry. For this purpose we must further increase forestry investment and construction;and improve the total output value of forestry through afforestation, returning farmland to forest, and coordinating the relationship between the economic forest and ecological forest. Moreo￣ver, we should actively participate in China’s forest food certification and forest certification program;improve the proportion of secondary and tertiary forestry industires; take the initiative to transform the advantage of forestry resources into economic advantages;and improve the level of civilization of the ecological environment.
Finally, it is necessary for the western ethnic areas to continue the practice of constructing an ec￣ological civilization. Though adjustment to local conditions, and actively exploring the practice of ecological civilization construction, we should gradually accumulate experience in the construc￣tion of ecological civilization for the western ethnic areas, and even the whole country. In particular, in Guizhou, Yunnan and Qinghai, we must active￣ly promote the process of regional ecological civili￣zation construction based on the scheme of their own ecological civilization demonstration area pro￣grams. In addition, the western ethnic areas should fully play an important role in informal in￣stitutions, such as national ecological culture.