Research on Mulberry-dyke & Fish-pond Agricultural Heritage Protection Based on the Concept of Rural Environmental Museum—Case Study on Digang Village in Huzhou City, Zhejiang Province

Abstract

Since the initiation in 2002, the Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) have attracted widespread attention from the international heritage community. Although the total number of GIAHS projects in China has ranked among the top in the world, most of these heritage sites still face challenges of insufficient value interpretation and presentation, as well as unsustainable protection and utilization. This research draws on the concept of rural environmental museum to establish a multi-scale protection framework for Mulberry-dyke & Fish-pond GIAHS. Taking the mulberry-dyke & fish-pond agricultural heritage in Digang Village of Huzhou City in Zhejiang Province as an example, layered protection strategies were proposed considering its current status. At the macro-scale, delineate the heritage interpretation scope according to the refined regional cultural identity; at the meso-scale, build a graded facility system for heritage value display according to the determined display sequence; at the micro-scale, enhance the sense of place in daily landscapes and integrate daily community activities into heritage spaces. This path from heritage value interpretation to spatial planning can provide reference for related protection practice of other GIAHS projects.

● Theoretically established a generally applicable framework for the protection of Mulberry-dyke & Fish-pond GIAHS

● Verified the practicality and effectiveness of this framework in protecting GIAHS in China

● Explored a methodology suitable for the connection between value interpretation and spatial planning of GIAHS in China, while expanding the application breadth and depth of the protection paradigm

Graphical abstract

Keywords

Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System (GIAHS) / Rural Environmental Museum / Digang Village / Mulberry-dyke & Fishpond System / Heritage Protection / Agricultural Landscape

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Acknowledgements

· Research on the Cooperative Path of Rice Landscape Heritage Value Protection and Village Environmental Design From the Perspective of Community Participation in Southwest Mountainous Areas, Youth Fund of the Ministry of Education Humanities and Social Science Research (No. 23YJC760087) · Research on Security Optimization of Vernacular Cultural Landscapes in the Yangtze River Delta Demonstration Area Based on Geo-information Tupu, Young Scientists Fund of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 52208067) · Research on the Resilience Assessment and Planning Response of Traditional Village Landscapes in Northwest Yunnan From a Human-Land System Perspective, Basic Research Plan Project of Yunnan Provincial Science and Technology Department (No. 202201AT070168) · Research on the Security Tupu of Local Cultural Landscapes in the Yangtze River Delta Demonstration Area Based on Value Strategic Point Identification, China Postdoctoral Science Foundation Project (No. 2023M740667)

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