Spatiotemporal Evolution and Factors Influencing Ecological Civilization Development in Chinese Watersheds

The construction of ecological civilization plays an important role in realizing the harmonious coexistence between man and nature. The aims of this study were to explore the development of ecological civilization in China’s top 10 river basins from 2004 to 2018 and construct an evaluation index system of ecological civilization. Factor analysis was used for the evaluation, and intergroup gap and panel regression analyses were utilized to determine the evolution of the spatiotemporal patterns and factors affecting the development level of ecological civilization in Chinese river basins. The results show that areas with a high level of ecological civilization development gradually spread to peripheral basins such as the Liaohe, Yellow, and Songhua River basins. The level of ecological civilization in China’s watersheds is undergoing continuous development. The degree of opening up, forest cover, and education have markedly positive effects on the development of ecological civilization in the basins, whereas urban development and financial autonomy have significant negative effects. The results of this study provide new ideas for evaluating the level of ecological civilization construction, as well as a reference for the government to formulate policies related to the construction of ecological civilization in river basins.