Evaluation On Ecotourism Resource And Sustainable Development Of Songshan World Geopark

The Songshan World Geopark, with the main body located in the central plains of Henan province has won a number of world-class titles and state-level honors because of its unique natural, cultural and geological resources. The Songshan culture has long been established with Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism culture developed as a whole. And even today the buildings of Buddhisam temples, Taoism temples, Confucianism academy and constructions called Que are remained, which obviously shows the cultural richness in resources. Also Songshan is rich in natural heritage, including mountains, rivers, lakes, trees, waterfalls, etc. Since it is located in the temperate zone, the four seasons are distinctively characterized, providing suitable conditions for plants. Songshan has turned to be a popular area for eco-geological research.The Songshan World Geopark will be selected as the research object in this thesis. It is of great significance to protect the heritage resources and to develop the ecotourism reasonably so as to promote the sustainable development of Songshan. First of all, the scientific literacy of people will be improved, which will be conducive to the protection of the geological relics. In addition, the further promotion of Songshan ecogeological tourism will definitely speed up the local economic development and improve the practical incomes of local residents.In this thesis, heritage resources will be integrated from the aspect of World Heritage based the methods of Literature Collection, Expert Consultation, Questionnaire Research, Practical Investigation, Qualitative Description and Quantitative Analysis. And then current development and features of ecotourism will be analyzed with the SWOT mode based on the sample survey and in-depth interviews in2012. Problems will be found out and corresponding suggestions will be put forward for its further protection and development.Sustainable development research will be carried out with the quantitative analysis, putting forward specific operational suggestions on protection, management and development, valuable for the management department. Through the analysis above, the following several results will be obtained:1. The geological formation and characteristics of Songshan World Geopark have been systematically studied, and its cultural heritage and natural heritage including geological relics have been classified and integrated from the perspective of the World Heritage.2. The study will be conducted on the basis of areas in the Songshan World Geopark, which doesn’t stay the same as that in the Songshan Scenic Spots. The AHP method will be applied to carry on the quantitative evaluation on the regional ecological tourist resources, and then on the basis of the quantitative evaluation, the qualitative evaluation will be followed on SWOT mode. Problems in the protection and development as well as opportunities will be evaluated scientifically and objectively combined with the analysis of its advantages and disadvantages.3. The following problems are found:the development of heritage resources remains imbalanced, and the advantages of geological relics are not highlighted; Administrative authority is not clear enough and multiple management phenomenon still exist. Geological resources have been destroyed, and the environmental problems are highlighted. Thus, it will be of great significance to protect the heritage resources and rationally develop the ecotourism, which will promote local economic development significantly.4. It has been put forward that the cultural and natural heritage resources should be developed and managed as a unified whole. And under the guidance of theory of Ecology and Sustainable Development, management should be carried out with the tourists, ecological tour operators, local communities and government related as main aspects.