This paper is the result of environmental geological survey engineering.

Objective The source area of the Yellow River is an important part of the national ecological barrier and the “water tower of China”, and the change of its ecological environment quality closely affects the high−quality development process of the Yellow River basin. Exploring the importance of ecological protection and ecological function zoning in the source area of the Yellow River can effectively support the optimization of ecological protection strategies in the source area of the Yellow River and ensure and maintain ecological security.

Methods Based on the evaluation method of ecological protection importance based on multi-factor analysis and the requirements of "resource and environment carrying capacity and suitability evaluation of territorial space development" (dual evaluation), combined with the ecological environment characteristics and main ecological problems of the source area of the Yellow River, the importance of ecological service functions and ecological vulnerability were comprehensively analyzed, the importance of ecological protection of the source area of the Yellow River was evaluated, and ecological regionalization and protection suggestions were put forward.

Results The extremely important ecosystem service areas and the important ecosystem service areas account for 35.99% and 52.30% of the total area of the Yellow River source region, respectively, and are mainly distributed in Maqu County, Jiuzhi County and Hongyuan County in the southern part of the source region. The extremely fragile ecological areas account for 2.25% of the total area of the source area of the Yellow River, and Gonghe County, Guinan County and Maduo County are more distributed, and freeze-thaw erosion and desertification are the main ecological problems. The proportion of extremely important areas and important areas for ecological protection are 37.68% and 55.80%, respectively. According to the evaluation results of ecological conservation importance, 11 ecological function zones were divided, and the protection and restoration countermeasures were put forward.

Conclusions The ecosystem service function of the Yellow River Source region is very important as a whole, and the ecological problems in some vulnerable areas are prominent. 93.48% of the areas are extremely important and important areas for ecological protection, and the importance of ecological protection is high. The restoration and management of the ecologically vulnerable areas according to local conditions and the continuous protection of the ecologically important areas are important measures to promote the stability of the ecosystem and maintain ecological security in the Yellow River source region.