Large-Scale Cultural Heritage Conservation and Utilization Based on Cultural Ecology Corridors: A Case Study of the Dongjiang-Hanjiang River Basin in Guangdong, China

Abstract

Abstract In China, cultural heritage conservation is benefiting from a trend of regionalization and integration. Additionally, the combination of culture and surroundings has typically been a requirement for international heritage conservation. Through the construction of large-scale cultural ecology corridors, heritage and surroundings can be integrated to explore the interaction between culture and natural ecology.The Dongjiang and Hanjiang River Basin is a representative area with great cultural and ecological value for both Guangdong Province and the whole country. However, some problems exist, such as the significant isolation of cultural heritage sites, the insufficient connectivity of ecological patches and the insufficient development of the cultural ecology economy. Morphological spatial pattern analysis (MSPA), minimum cumulative resistance (MCR) and other methods were used to construct the cultural ecology corridor of the Dongjiang-Hanjiang River Basin, coordinate cultural and ecological resources, and establish a cross-regional and large-scale cultural and surroundings research framework. To realize the overall conservation and utilization of cultural ecology resources in the basin, pass on Lingnan culture, promote the overall development of heritage sites along the corridor, and create a demonstration base for the conservation and value of Chinese cultural ecology, efforts should be implemented to clarify the cultural routes, repair the natural ecological system and build a corridor cultural ecology economic belt. At both the national and international level, these actions address current human conservation and construction requirements for better cultural and ecological environments; furthermore, they are important for achieving sustainable development.