Evaluating rural tourism landscapes in world heritage buffer zones using PLES (Production - Living - Ecological Space) theory

Buffer zones of World Natural Heritage properties are crucial for balancing conservation and development, yet landscape evaluation in these areas remains underexplored. This study develops a rural tourism landscape evaluation system based on the Production - Living - Ecological Space (PLES) Theory, using the fuzzy Delphi method (FDM) to identify key indicators and analytic hierarchy process (AHP) to assign weights. A Fuzzy Comprehensive Evaluation (FCE) was applied in Yaoshan Village, located in the buffer zone of the Libo Karst World Natural Heritage Property in China. The system includes three criteria (ecological, living, and production space), eight sub-factors, and 24 indicators. Results show that the ecological landscapes are most valued, followed by living and production landscapes. The findings highlight the need to prioritize ecological protection while enabling moderate socio-economic development. This evaluation system offers a replicable framework for landscape assessment in world heritage buffer zones and supports more sustainable, community-oriented tourism planning.