Towards a Better Understanding of Social-Ecological Systems for Basin Governance: A Case Study from the Weihe River Basin, China

Abstract

Promoting sustainable development of the river basin ecosystem is important for improving human ecological environment. Thus, prior knowledge of natural and social sciences on the integration of natural, economic, and social factors related to rivers should be assimilated to improve river basin governance. This study uses a social-ecological systems (SES) framework to diagnose key factors affecting the governance of the Weihe River Basin, ranging from the social, economic, and political context to related ecosystems, watershed resource systems, watershed management system, and watershed governance actors’ five subsystems. Further, corresponding countermeasures are proposed for the problems found during our diagnosis. The results of this study show that applying an SES framework to the diagnosis and analysis of river basin governance integrates the research results of different disciplines and fields. Thus, this study is helpful in identifying and proposing the key impact variables related to river basin management to establish a comprehensive management counterplan.