Economic Globalization Impacts on the Ecological Environment of Inland Developing Countries: A Case Study of Laos from the Perspective of the Land Use/Cover Change

Jun Wang, Lichun Sui, Xiaomei Yang, Zhihua Wang, Dazhuan Ge, Junmei Kang, Fengshuo Yang, Yueming Liu and Bin Liu
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Jun Wang: College of Geological Engineering and Geomatics, Chang’an University, Xi’an 710054, China
Lichun Sui: College of Geological Engineering and Geomatics, Chang’an University, Xi’an 710054, China
Xiaomei Yang: State Key Laboratory of Resources and Environment Information System, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, CAS, Beijing 100101, China
Zhihua Wang: State Key Laboratory of Resources and Environment Information System, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, CAS, Beijing 100101, China
Dazhuan Ge: Jiangsu Center for Collaborative Innovation in Geographical Information Resource Development and Application, Nanjing 210023, China
Junmei Kang: College of Geological Engineering and Geomatics, Chang’an University, Xi’an 710054, China
Fengshuo Yang: State Key Laboratory of Resources and Environment Information System, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, CAS, Beijing 100101, China
Yueming Liu: State Key Laboratory of Resources and Environment Information System, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, CAS, Beijing 100101, China
Bin Liu: State Key Laboratory of Resources and Environment Information System, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, CAS, Beijing 100101, China

Sustainability, 2019, vol. 11, issue 14, 1-21

Abstract: Economic globalization promotes the economic development of underdeveloped regions but also influences the ecological environments of these regions, such as natural forest degradation. For inland developing regions with underdeveloped traffic routes, are the effects on the ecological environment also as obvious? To reveal the response characteristics of the ecological environment of the inland developing countries to globalization, we took Laos as an example, and used the land use/cover change data and also its exports and imports data to analyze the ecological environment change since the millennium. Land use transfer matrix analysis showed that Laos had encountered a large conversion of 14.43% natural forest to plantation forest since 2000 to 2017, and also a degradation of 5.94% natural forest to shrubland and grassland. Landscape pattern analysis showed that these changes were the main reasons of the fragmentation of ecological patches, which would lead to a reduction in biodiversity. More, topographic analysis further showed that natural forest degradation mainly took place in high-altitude and large slope areas, which could increase the potential of natural hazards such as floods. Coupling analysis with its exports and imports data indicated that economic globalization still had a significant impact on the country’s ecological environment although Laos is an inland developing country. Laos should strengthen the regulation of renewable resources such as forests and water resources, to avoid losing the renewable resources market while still enjoying the dividends of economic globalization. At the same time, it is necessary to accurately evaluate the indirect impacts of development on neighboring countries to ensure sustainable development.

Keywords: economic globalization; ecological environment; land use/cover; landscape pattern; topographic analysis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

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