Spatio-Temporal Evolution and Obstacle Factors Analysis of Tourism Ecological Security in Huanggang Dabieshan UNESCO Global Geopark

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Global Geoparks (UGGp) and geotourism activities not only improve people’s scientific quality by popularizing geoscience knowledge, but also play important roles in protecting precious geoheritages and promoting the development of regional economies. However, tourism activities also have a negative impact on the local ecological environment, placing the regional ecological system under great pressure. Therefore, this paper constructed a tourism ecological security evaluation indicator system suitable for geoparks by using the “Driving-Pressure-State-Impact-Response” (DPSIR) model. The spatial autocorrelation and obstacle degree model are used to analyze the spatio-temporal characteristics and influencing factors of the tourism ecological security index (TESI) of Huanggang Dabieshan UGGp in 2000, 2005, 2010, 2015 and 2018, respectively. The results indicate that the TESI of the study area has gradually improved from 2000 to 2018. Spatially, the level of TESI presents a gradient distribution from the townships where the main scenic spots are located to the surrounding townships. The main obstacle factors affecting TESI include: per capita tourism income, proportion of comprehensive tourism revenue in GDP, per capita net income of rural residents, proportion of tertiary industry in GDP, coverage of nature reserves, planning integrity of geopark, informatization of geopark, growth rate of tourists, comprehensive utilization rate of solid waste, etc. The influencing factors of TESI varied from time to time. Balancing the conflict between local tourism activities and environmental protection, encouraging the participation of local communities, and strengthening science popularization for the local public will effectively improve the tourism ecological security of geoparks.