Land use changes and their effects on poverty in Inner Mongolia, northern China

Abstract

The effects of land use changes on poverty vary markedly among geographic regions. While Inner Mongolia has been experiencing significant land use changes during past decades, to date there has been no systematic research aimed at understanding how these land use changes affect poverty in the region. This study analyzes spatiotemporal patterns of land use changes in Inner Mongolia from 1980 to 2020 through the application of statistical methods including Correlation Analysis, Multiple Stepwise Regression Analysis, and Geographically Weighted Regression to understand how land use changes affect the distribution and dynamics of poverty. We show that five types of land use conversion explain 51 % of the variation in poverty levels. Conversions among cultivated land, grassland, and construction land are shown to have dominated the pattern of land use change in Inner Mongolia. From 2000 to 2020, 2,208 km² of grassland and 56 km² of water/wetland were converted to built-up land, and 32 km² of water/wetland was converted to woodland, these conversions promoted poverty reduction. Conversely, the conversion of existing cultivated land to grassland and its degradation to unused land (1,754 km² and 156 km², respectively) has constrained progress in alleviating poverty in the region. Accordingly, further mitigation of poverty in Inner Mongolia can be obtained through interventions that conserve remaining cultivated land, while simultaneously facilitating urbanization. Maintaining the dynamic balance between economic growth and environmental protection is key to the development of policies that advance sustainability in this region. Moreover, the methodology used in this study has the potential to be applied to other regions of the world with similar environmental and socioeconomic conditions to support sustainable land use planning in the context of poverty reduction.