Socioeconomic and ecological direct and spillover effects of China's giant panda nature reserves

Abstract

It is well recognized that the establishment of protected areas is essential for protecting biodiversity. However, protected areas may have mixed ecological and socioeconomic effects. Scholars have agreed on the positive ecological effects of protected areas, but the socioeconomic effects remain contested. Moreover, most studies have analyzed socioeconomic and ecological effects separately, while there may be a trade-off between the two types of effects. Our research took giant panda nature reserves in the Qinling Mountains in China as a case study. We evaluated the direct and spillover socioeconomic and ecological effects of establishing nature reserves. We found that the establishment of nature reserves has achieved significant direct and spillover ecological effects in reducing household grazing inside and adjacent to nature reserves. Their establishment has also increased households' participation in conservation activities. Furthermore, the establishment of nature reserves has achieved spillover socioeconomic effects; it has significantly increased the per capita income of households adjacent to nature reserves, reducing their poverty. However, the direct socioeconomic effects are not significant, as the livelihoods of households inside nature reserves have not improved significantly. Future conservation policymaking should consider both regional differences (i.e., of households inside vs. adjacent to nature reserves) and community heterogeneity.