Conservation and Sustainable Tourism Development of the Natural World Heritage Site Based on Aesthetic Value Identification: A Case Study of the Libo Karst

The conservation and sustainable tourism development of natural World Heritage has been one of the most challenging topics worldwide. One topic based on the identification of sites’ outstanding universal value is gradually forming a trend. Aesthetic value as a criteria for WH is an important driving force for the tourism development of most natural World Heritage sites and plays a vital role in the sustainable tourism development of heritage sites. However, due to the subjective consciousness involved in the assessment of aesthetic value, it is difficult to quantify. This means that the content of the protection of the aesthetic value of heritage sites is too general, and the exhibition of aesthetic value is inadequate, posing a threat to the sustainable development of heritage sites. This study selected the Libo Karst Heritage Site as the research area, identified and extracted the carriers and characteristics of the aesthetic value of the Karst heritage site through the combination of online text big data, landscape beauty evaluation, and ArcGIS spatial analysis, and analyzed the content and objectives of aesthetic value protection, clarified the scope of the conversation and tourism exhibits, and, finally, puts forward a conservation and sustainable tourism development strategy based on aesthetic value identification. This study was carried out using interdisciplinary technologies and methods, which provide a valuable reference for the construction of a quantitative evaluation system for the aesthetic value of natural World Heritage sites and the protection of outstanding universal value. This study contributes to filling the research gap regarding the comprehensive evaluation of the aesthetic value and protection and tourism development based on the outstanding aesthetic value identification of natural World Heritage sites. The strategy of cooperation between protection and sustainable tourism development based on prominent universal value recognition can be applied to other forms of conservation and development in other World Heritage sites with similar problems.