Appraisal And Sustainable Use Of Marine Ecological Capital

Marine ecological resources are important parts of natural resources, and they are factors of production for the economy and society in the coastal areas. For our country, the long-term and high-intensity human activities of exploiting the sea have seriously affected the size and quality of offshore marine ecological capital. To achieve sustainable economic development in coastal areas , it is urgently needed that we carry out systematic capitalized management and conduct research and practice for sustainable use of marine ecological resources. And the capitalized definition and appraisal of marine ecological resources is an important prerequisite and necessary link for capitalized management.Purpose of this paper consists of the following facets.To propose the concept of marine ecological capital and to build value's constituent, assessment indicators and technical methods for appraisal. In combination with the actual situation of Dongshan Bay, to carry out applied appraisal and research using the technical methods,which, on one hand, grasps the status, scale and trend of marine ecological capital in Dongshan Bay, and on the other hand, tests technical methods and make them more scientific, reasonable and operable. Meanwhile, using the results of ecological capital appraisal and regional economic statistics, to discuss marine ecological capital's contribution and support to regional economic development and to give advices for local governments in marine management and marine industrial restructuring.The research process, technical method and the main conclusions of this paper are as follows. (A), Refering to the previous research results, this paper proposes the concept of marine ecosystem capital defined as marine ecological resources which have direct or indirect contributions to humans'social and economic production and provide benefits for humans, including marine organisms and their habitats, as well as the marine ecosystem they act as a whole. Based on theories of value, capital in economics and theories of natural capital, environmental resources appraisal, ecosystem services appraisal in ecological economics, this paper establishes value's constituent and assessment indicators, and designs technical methods for marine ecological capital appraisal.(B), According to marine survey data in Dongshan Bay, the surrounding socio-economic statistics and questionnaire survey, using the theories and methods above, this paper carries out the appraisal for marine ecological capital in Dongshan Bay, including the appraisal of marine ecological resources stock and the appraisal of marine ecosystem services in order to grasps the status, scale, trend and service value. The results shows that in 2000, the stock of marine living resources in Dongshan Bay was small, and the stock of marine habitat resources can not be appraised now. From 2001 to 2008, marine ecosystem service value in Dongshan Bay maintained at between 80-100 billion, which was stable and first increased but then decreased during those years. Thereinto, every service's value scale, trend and spatial density was quite different with distinct characteristics.(C), This paper proposes the connotation, idea and realizing path for sustainable use of marine ecological capital. Then, based on the above appraisal results and the socio-economic statistics around the Dongshan Bay, through modeling, quantitative empirical research, this paper uses the quantity ratio analysis, supporting analysis and regression analysis to explore the ecological capital's contribution and support to the regional economy and the the request and pressure which regional economic development puts on the ecological capital. And accordingly, this paper analyzes the current threats and problems against the sustainable use of ecological capital in Dongshan Bay, and conceives the resolution and achieving path to realize the sustainable use of ecological capital. The results shows that the overall contribution from marine ecosystem services in Dongshan Bay to the regional economy is quite high. Thereinto, this paper separately measures the aquaculture production services'drive and support to the primary industry, the waste disposal services'drive and support to the secondary industry and recreational services'drive and support to the tertiary industry. To realize the sustainable use of ecological resources, the paper puts forward some advices for relevant departments, including the protection of marine life and habitat resources, rational utilization of ecosystem services, scientific management of sea activities, improvement and adjustment of the marine industrial structure, and so on.