There is a complex relationship between leisure tourism and the ecological environment that is both interdependent and constrained. It is of great practical importance to reveal their incongruous coupling to promote ecological security and harmonious social development. Utilizing a framework model of a non-coordinated coupling driving mechanism, we have established a comprehensive evaluation index system, encompassing the three dimensions of leisure tourism resource quality, infrastructure, and economic benefits, as well as three dimensions related to ecological environment pressure, protection investment, and efficiency. We calculated the weights of each evaluation index using the coefficient of variation method and employed a non-coordinated coupling function to analyze the coupling relationship and evolution of leisure tourism and the ecological environment in the Ili region of Xinjiang. The results suggest the following: ① The level of leisure and tourism in the Ili Prefecture has exhibited fluctuations and steady growth, increasing from 0.0032 in 2001 to 0.9033 in 2022. Similarly, the ecological environment has also improved, from 0.2372 in 2001 to 0.7755 in 2022, except for a slight decrease in 2008, showing an upward trend throughout all other years. ② The coupling coordination type has undergone three significant stages of transformation: from 2001 to 2002, the degree of non-coordinated coupling decreased from 0.8825 to 0.8229, marking a high-level non-coordinated coupling phase; from 2003 to 2016, the degree of non-coordinated coupling further decreased from 0.7951 to 0.5098, entering a rectification phase; and from 2017 to 2022, the degree of non-coordinated coupling dropped from 0.4882 to 0.3531, moving into an antagonistic phase, with the relationship gradually evolving towards positive interaction. By analyzing the non-coordinated coupling and internal mechanisms between leisure tourism and the ecological environment in the Ili region, this study provides a scientific reference for promoting the sustainable and healthy development of leisure tourism and the ecological environment in the region.
