Implications of Protected Area Integrity Conservation and Buffer-Zone Agroforestry Development for the Protection of Karst World Heritage Sites

Abstract

Karst World Heritage sites, as natural wonders of the Earth, possess Outstanding Universal Value, and the conservation of their integrity is of great significance for maintaining global biodiversity and geological and geomorphological features. However, while protecting heritage sites, how to promote economic development in buffer zones, especially the development of agroforestry, has become an urgent issue to be addressed. As a sustainable agricultural practice, agroforestry can promote economic development while simultaneously protecting the environment. The implementation of agroforestry has effectively contributed to World Heritage conservation. Nevertheless, there is still a lack of comprehensive understanding regarding the research trends, focal topics, and latest developments in the fields of integrity conservation of protected area and agroforestry development in buffer zones. Therefore, this study employs the CNKI and Web of Science databases, together with CiteSpace software, to conduct a bibliometric analysis, and uses literature visualization to explore the major research themes and frontier issues related to the integrity conservation of natural World Heritage sites and the development of buffer-zone agroforestry. Based on the preliminary results obtained, we discuss current publication trends and outputs, keyword and abstract word frequencies, national publication productivity, collaboration networks, and major contributing institutions. The results show that the development of agroforestry has contributed to biodiversity conservation in heritage sites. However, studies on the role of buffer-zone agroforestry development in supporting the integrity conservation of World Heritage sites remain limited. Accordingly, future research should place greater emphasis on the relationship between buffer-zone development and heritage integrity conservation, especially in ecologically fragile karst World Heritage sites, and should further strengthen the role of agroforestry development in buffer zones in promoting ecological balance and the sustainable development of heritage sites, so as to provide scientific references for the conservation and development of other geological heritage sites worldwide.