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WH conservation research is gradually shifting from a paradigm of “balancing conservation and development” to “conservation for development”.
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Changing systems require an emphasis on protecting the value of its natural resources rather than the system’s state. WH conservation and management are based on the principles of authenticity and integrity, with the outstanding universal value (OUV) as the focus. Therefore, WNH conservation is no longer limited to the closed preservation of the core area but has shown a trend of outward-looking and regionalized overall trend. There is a trend of integrating the heritage site itself with the surrounding environment and combining culture, nature and local economy. WNHSs face severe external threats in global economization and urbanization. Explore techniques and methods of conservation adapted to the characteristics of the fragile ecosystem of karst itself, and conduct experimental demonstrations. Focus on the coupling between eco-industrial development and WNH conservation, and strengthen buffer zone communities’ adaptive and collaborative management. The purpose is to seek a socio-ecological system that is composed of the social, economic, ecological and cultural dimensions of the buffer zone. Examining the institutional factors of ecological problems and the management of degraded ecosystems from a socio-economic perspective. (4) The future of Karst WNH conservation should be based on the effect of human-land relationship in promoting heritage protection.
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Reviewing the research progress and summarising the critical scientific issues will provide practical guidance for the effective implementation of the role of buffer zones in global WNH conservation, especially for karst WNHSs with fragile ecological environments. (3) On this basis, 8 key scientific issues are summarised. Among them, theoretical research is the most numerous (58.51%). (2) The main landmark achievements include theoretical research, technology and methods, model construction, benefit monitoring and evaluation, experimental demonstration, etc. The research process presents two main categories of ecologically and socially oriented. Results indicated that: (1) there is an overall upward trend in the number of publications, reaching a maximum in 2020, with the most published in Asia and Europe. The aim was to analyze the temporal and regional distribution of publications, types of studies, main processes and landmark achievements, gaps, and implications for future research. We used a systematic literature review framework of Search, Assessment, Synthesis and Analysis (SALSA) through the WoS and CNKI databases to obtain 188 articles that met the inclusion criteria. To fill this gap, this study systematically reviews the existing knowledge and research gaps on buffer zones in WNHSs worldwide. However, there is limited understanding of buffer zones’ social and ecological role in the conservation of World Natural Heritage Sites (WNHSs) and a lack of summary of research progress on buffer zones. The buffer zone as a conservation layer and management tool for WHSs has attracted increasing scholarly attention and debate. In recent decades, World Heritage Sites (WHSs) have faced external severe threats in the context of global economisation and urbanisation.