Relationship of Stakeholders in Protected Areas and Tourism Ecological Compensation: A Case Study of Sanya Coral Reef National Nature Reserve in China

Abstract

The first step to defining the rights, responsibilities and interests of stakeholders and constructing a compensation mechanism is to identify the stakeholders and clarify their mutual relationships. Nature reserves are complex ecosystems involving nature, the economy and society. There exists a conflict between the public welfare benefits of ecological conservation and the private gains to be realized from social and economic development. There also exist in a nature reserve complex relationships among stakeholders, involving the utilization of ecological resources, ecological conservation and ecological-economic interests. The introduction of tourism brings substantial changes to the existing stakeholder benefit structure in a nature reserve. The implementation of tourism ecological compensation (tourism payment for ecological service) is a process for redefining the distribution of rights, responsibilities and profits among stakeholders and it is also an essential way to balance the interests of the stakeholders. This paper uses a case study of Sanya Coral Reef National Nature Reserve in China to examine the characteristics of stakeholders and analyze their interests. According to the method for defining basic attributes proposed by Mitchel and other scholars, in cases of tourism ecological compensation, stakeholders can be classified as definitive stakeholders, expectant stakeholders and latent stakeholders. This paper applies these classifications and then analyzes the relationships between the rights and responsibilities of these stakeholders and how these change after the implementation of compensation. Additionally, based on the impact compensation has on different stakeholders, changes in the relationships can be analyzed and the structure of the stakeholders can be modelled. This case study of the Sanya Coral Reef National Nature Reserve illustrates the operationalization of a new mechanism for tourism ecological compensation. The paper illustrates a method for coordinating the relationships among the stakeholders involved with this national-level nature reserve.