National Parks In China Research Articles

Integrity-centered framework for determining protected areas boundary: An application in the China's national park

National parks are critical components of protected areas and are drawing increased global attention. Clear and rational boundaries may provide a scientific foundation for the sustainable protection and management of these areas. However, criteria for feasible national park delimitation and techniques for resolving conflicts between socioeconomic development and environmental protection are still poorly defined, particularly regarding integrity during park establishment. Consequently, a systematic analytical framework is essential for advancing research and practice. This study developed a systematic framework to determine the spatial boundaries, using the Kunlun Mountain region in China as a case for empirical analysis. Key issues in national park development—ecology and management—were systematically integrated into this framework. Most importantly, spatial connectivity, a critical concern in national park planning, was thoroughly considered for improving integrity optimization, an aspect often overlooked in previous delimitation studies. The results demonstrated that our framework effectively identified potential national park boundaries, achieving a balance between development and conservation. Furthermore, core protected and general control areas were delineated to support differentiated management approaches. This framework offers a scientific foundation for policymakers and managers to pursue sustainable protection and management of national parks.

The impact of place attachment on the environmentally responsible behavior of residents in National Park gateway communities and the mediating effect of environmental commitment: a case of China National Park

As a member of the national park, the environmentally responsible behavior of the entrance community residents has an important impact on the ecological protection of the national park. However, there are still insufficient studies on the mechanism of influence of community residents’ place attachment on environmentally responsible behavior and the role of environmental commitment. Based on the theory of interdependence, this study explored the impact of residents’ place attachment in a national park gateway community on environmentally responsible behavior, and examined the mediating role of environmental commitment. We conducted empirical research on Shuiman gateway community of the Hainan Tropical Rainforest China National Park. Through structural equation modeling, the survey of 375 residents yielded the following conclusions: (1) place dependence indirectly affect environmentally responsible behavior via the mediating effect of place identity; (2) both place dependence and place identity have a positive and significant impact on environmental commitment; (3) environmental commitment has a positive and significant impact on environmentally responsible behavior; (4) the mediating effect of environmental commitment on the impact of place dependence on environmentally responsible behavior is significant and “place identity–environmental commitment” also has a significant mediating effect. Finally, three managerial insights were discussed. This study enriches the connotation and application scope of interdependence theory, explains the different roles of place dependence, place identity, and environmental commitment in the study of environmentally responsible behavior, and provides some inspiration for future research and practice of environmentally responsible behavior. It is helpful for community residents to participate in the ecological environment governance of national parks and achieve sustainable development.

Driving mechanism for farmers to adopt agroecology for biodiversity conservation: Inspiration from tea management in a China National Park

Abstract Conflicts arising from human activities and biodiversity value affect the conservation efficacy of protected areas. Resolving these conflicts requires conservation‐compatible livelihoods, such as through agroecology. Here, we built a comprehensive social–psychological framework to explore and understand farmers' intentions to adopt agroecological approaches in tea management in Wuyishan National Park, China. We extended the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) by integrating household livelihood assets (LAs) as a material precondition for the social–psychological decision‐making process. We proposed geographical location (GL) and livelihood strategy (LS) as moderating factors for this agroecology intention. We collected 369 valid household samples through structured interviews. We then used partial least square‐structural equation (PLS‐SEM) modelling to explore the determinants that affect tea farmers' agroecological intentions. Livelihood assets were a material foundation influencing the intention to adopt agroecology and were also mediated by three psychological constructs to take effect. Perceived behavioural control explained the largest proportion of the variance for intention and exerted the most significant mediation effects. Subjective norm was another vital independent predictor and exerted a positive influence on both perceived behavioural control and attitude. The direct and mediating impacts of attitude on the intention were weaker but showed that farmers' ecological rationality outweighed value rationality. Livelihood strategies measured by operational scale and livelihood diversity were able to moderate farmers' psychology. Subjective norm had positively significant influence on perceived behavioural control and attitude, indicating that social support to farmers enhanced their feeling of control over adopting agroecology and that important referent groups as sources of information helped farmers' attitude formation. Perceived behavioural control positively and significantly influences farmers' attitudes as well. Synthesis and applications. Our findings provide evidence of the necessity to optimise rural farmers' livelihood assets to enhance their confidence and control over agroecology. Resolving the conservation‐development dilemma in protected areas through agroecology should aim at comprehensive support that respects bioculture and improves farmers' ability. We suggest knowledge co‐production of traditional wisdom and modern technologies, reducing management costs and risks, strengthening park‐people communication and diversifying incentives to farmers with different livelihood strategies.

Impacts of vegetation greening and climate change on trend and interannual variability in vegetation productivity in the Wuyi Mountain region

ABSTRACT The Gross Primary Productivity (GPP) is an important component in regional and global carbon budgets. Southeastern China has experienced vegetation greening and climate change. Yet, it remains unclear how these changes have impacted GPP in this region. As one of six special national parks in China with complex topography, high biodiversity, and little destructive human activities to the ecosystems, the Wuyi Mountain region is selected to study these impacts. In this study, we use a hydroecological model (BEPS-TerrainLab V2.0) to simulate the spatial and temporal variations of GPP in the Wuyi Mountain region over 2001–2018. We quantitatively separate the effects of vegetation greening and climate change on the trend and interannual variation in GPP through sensitivity experiments. The results show a significant increasing trend in Leaf Area Index (LAI) in the region over 2001–2018 (0.06 m2 m−2 yr−1, p < 0.01). For climate, a significant warming trend (0.03°C yr−1, p = 0.06) and an insignificant wetting trend are found, companied with large interannual variations. The sensitivity experiments suggest that the combined effect of vegetation greening and climate change makes the annual GPP increase significantly over 2001–2018 (14.41 g C m−2 yr−2, p < 0.01). Vegetation greening plays a dominant role in the GPP increasing trend with a positive contribution of 15.76 g C m−2 yr−2. Climate change only makes an insignificant negative contribution (−0.43 g C m−2 yr−2), mainly due to warming. However, the climate modulates the interannual variation of GPP dominantly, with temperature being the most influential climate factor. Our results underscore the critical impact of vegetation greening on the GPP trend and the impact of climate on the GPP interannual variation in this subtropical forest region over east coast of China.

The Perception of Stakeholders on the Forest Ecosystem Services: National Parks in China and Canada

The stakeholders’ perceptions of forest ecosystem services (FESs) vary among different stakeholder groups. This study, using China’s Shennongjia National Park Pilot (SNP) and Canada’s Banff National Park (BNP) as case studies, identifies and evaluates the preference characteristics of key stakeholders (including farmers, individual operators, government officials, and tourists) toward various FESs. We utilized Q-methodology and semistructured interviews to conduct a sorting of 23 Q-statements regarding FESs, across 7 categories (ranging from −3 to +3), with 24 Q-participants. Stakeholders’ preferences toward FESs were categorized into 3 common perspectives: tourism and culture, production and livelihood, and ecological conservation. Different types of stakeholders hold both consensus and divergence regarding their views on FESs. For instance, there was strong consensus on services related to “natural ecotourism and biodiversity conservation”, while stakeholders expressed strong opposition regarding services related to “forest protection”. Furthermore, stakeholders elucidated the reasons behind their preferences for different types of FESs. Overall, our study indicates that besides considering the services provided by forests themselves, policymakers also need to pay attention to the preferences and divergences in needs among stakeholders of national parks. This ensures a more comprehensive fulfillment of diverse societal needs and facilitates the formulation of more effective policies to promote the sustainable management and conservation of national parks.

Science-management Partnerships as Catalysts for Governance Reform of National Parks in China

Protected areas have long been considered a cornerstone of biodiversity conservation by policy-makers and the conservation community. Yet, despite ongoing efforts, many countries, including China, continue to face persistent challenges in effectively managing these areas. Here we examine how science-management partnerships, particularly those headed by Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), have catalyzed governance reforms of protected areas in China. The integration of scientific research with policy action has enabled the establishment of a unified national park system, mitigating management inefficiencies and enhancing ecosystem resilience. We propose strategies for CAS to consolidate its leadership in this domain. These partnerships might offer global insights into evidence-based protected area management.

Human activity and climate change accelerate the extinction risk to non-human primates in China.

Human activity and climate change affect biodiversity and cause species range shifts, contractions, and expansions. Globally, human activities and climate change have emerged as persistent threats to biodiversity, leading to approximately 68% of the ~522 primate species being threatened with extinction. Here, we used habitat suitability models and integrated data on human population density, gross domestic product (GDP), road construction, the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), the location of protected areas (PAs), and climate change to predict potential changes in the distributional range and richness of 26 China's primate species. Our results indicate that both PAs and NDVI have a positive impact on primate distributions. With increasing anthropogenic pressure, species' ranges were restricted to areas of high vegetation cover and in PAs surrounded by buffer zones of 2.7-4.5 km and a core area of PAs at least 0.1-0.5 km from the closest edge of the PA. Areas with a GDP below the Chinese national average of 100,000 yuan were found to be ecologically vulnerable, and this had a negative impact on primate distributions. Changes in temperature and precipitation were also significant contributors to a reduction in the range of primate species. Under the expected influence of climate change over the next 30-50 years, we found that highly suitable habitat for primates will continue to decrease and species will be restricted to smaller and more peripheral parts of their current range. Areas of high primate diversity are expected to lose from 3 to 7 species. We recommend that immediate action be taken, including expanding China's National Park Program, the Ecological Conservation Redline Program, and the Natural Forest Protection Program, along with a stronger national policy promoting alternative/sustainable livelihoods for people in the local communities adjacent to primate ranges, to offset the detrimental effects of anthropogenic activities and climate change on primate survivorship.

Correction: Dou et al. Public Concern and Awareness of National Parks in China: Evidence from Social Media Big Data and Questionnaire Data. Sustainability 2023, 15, 2653

The authors would like to make the following corrections about the published paper [...]

Sustainable Development Analysis of National Park Tourism based on Analytic Hierarchy Method

As an essential place for ecotourism, scientific research, and the educational environment, the national park is an essential part of the research conducted by many experts and scholars. To build an evaluation system of the sustainable development of national parks, and to deeply study the content of the sustainable development of national parks in China, to provide a new direction for the national parks in the sustainable development road of tourism. Studies have shown: 1. As the core content of national parks, the ecosystem is still the focus of experts and scholars, among which the authenticity and integrity of ecosystems account for the highest proportion. 2. According to the evaluation results of experts, it is concluded that China's national parks are currently in the basic sustainable development stage of tourism. There are more opportunities and space for the sustainable stage of future tourism development. 3. At present, China's national parks are representative of the ecosystem, the authenticity of the ecosystem reaches good coordination, and the suitability of the area and scale is moderately unbalanced. To study and explore the factors affecting the tourism sustainability of national parks and to provide a meaningful direction and reference basis for the protection and management of their formulation of policies and systems.

Strictest nature conservation: China's national park policy underpinned by power shift and turf dynamic

China initiated the national park policy in 2015 to achieve the strictest nature conservation. This study pointed out that the core of this policy is to increase central authority. Hence, adopting the bureaucratic politics and Actor-centered Power theory, the study aimed to analyze the power shift and turf dynamics among ministries in the national park policy process. Based on the evidence, the study found that before 2015, ministries' overlapping turfs in managing protected areas weakened the central coercion of local nature conservation, resulting in excessive exploitation of these areas. To enhance conservation effectiveness, top leaders initiated the national park policy. Top leaders reclaimed ministerial turfs through coercive power, whereas, utilized the ownership of the national park policy to incentivize them to participate in pilots. Ultimately, the 2018 ministry reform led to the State Forestry and Grassland Administration acquiring turf over protected areas including national parks. At the same time, top leaders maintained the potential coercion through information provided by the Ministry of Ecology and Environment that retained supervision authority over national parks. This ministerial restructuring established robust national park administrations, breaking local power patterns and strengthening the central control on nature conservation, which ensures the strictest nature conservation. This study contributed to understanding Chinese national park policy based on the perspective of political science. Furthermore, it provided an analytical framework of power and turf for research on bureaucratic politics.

Evaluation and prediction of ecological carrying capacity in the Qilian Mountain National Park, China

With increasing human impacts on the ecosystem in natural protected areas, there is an urgent need to undertake an assessment of ecological carrying capacity taken as a benchmark for assessing regional sustainability. Based on satellite remote sensing and socio-economic statistical data from 2000 to 2019, this study distinguished the controlling factors for the spatial and temporal patterns of ecological carrying capacity in the Qilian Mountain National Park, one of the 10 pilot national parks in China. The ecological carrying capacity index (ECCI) was developed by using the Driver-Pressure-State-Impact-Response framework and a comprehensive weight method. The results showed that the multiyear averaged ECCI was low in the south and west but was high in central and eastern regions. The spatial distribution of the ECCI was constrained by soil resources, ecosystem quality, land use/cover and water environment. At the regional scale, the ECCI decreased from 2000 to 2014, especially in Tianzhu, where farmland expansion and severe droughts reduced habitat quality and ecosystem function. However, the ECCI increased significantly from 2014 to 2019, which was attributed to a warm moist climate and the implementation of eco-environmental protection policies. Forest and grassland coverage, soil and water conservation, waste water treatment amount and terrestrial water reserves accounted for 35%, 26%, 20% and 8%, respectively, of the temporal variability in the ECCI. Concurrent with national park development, the ECCI is predicted to increase in most areas from 2020 to 2029 by back-propagation artificial neural networks, except for Sunan, Shandan and Menyuan, possibly owing to increasing conflicts between humans and the environment. The findings of this study provide evidence about the effectiveness of government policies in promoting regional sustainability by altering ecosystem composition and function. In addition, the dominant drivers for the temporal variability of ecological carrying capacity varied in space according to stepwise regression analysis, calling for region-specific management strategies in mountain protected areas and their surroundings.

Quantitative assessment of the degree of harmony between humanity and nature for national parks in China: A case study of the Three-River-Source National Park

IntroductionNational parks, defined as the mainstay of the nature reserve system in China, pursue to achieve scientific protection and rational utilization of natural resources. However, eco-environmental and socioeconomic benefits are rarely considered together. Hereby, how to quantitatively express the relationship between humanity and nature in national parks needs further exploration. We selected the Three-River-Source National Park (TRSNP), China's largest national park by area and the world's highest altitude national park, as a representative case to construct an evaluation model for the degree of harmony between humanity and the nature of the national alpine ecological park.MethodsBased on the field survey data, the meteorological data, the remote sensing data, and the socioeconomic data, the study used the model inversion and the spatial analysis methods to quantitatively evaluate the degree of harmony consisting of 12 indexes from a fresh perspective of a combination of the ecological environment and social economy. Considering the TRSNP establishment in 2016 as the time node, we assessed and compared the degree of harmony between humanity and nature during the dynamic baseline period (2011–2015) and the evaluation period (2016–2020).ResultsThe results show that the degree of harmony between humanity and nature showed a gradual upward trend from the northwest to the southeast in the TRSNP. Compared with the dynamic baseline period, the eco-environmental and socioeconomic levels of the evaluation period were increased by 34.48 and 5.46%, respectively. Overall, the degree of harmony between humanity and nature visibly increased by 23.38%.DiscussionThis study has developed a novel comprehensive method for evaluating national parks at the regional scale for the win-win goal of both protection and development, and it provides a theoretical basis for effective planning and management policies for national parks.

Public Concern and Awareness of National Parks in China: Evidence from Social Media Big Data and Questionnaire Data

The high quality development of national parks plays an important role in promoting the formation of a reasonable, moderate and orderly land space protection pattern and building a harmonious coexistence of human and nature. However, a lack of public participation has limited the development of high-quality national parks in China. Understanding public concern and awareness of national parks is necessary for promoting greater public participation. This paper provides insight into this problem by combining Weibo and questionnaire survey data, then uses a combination of text mining, a Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) theme model, and descriptive statistics to analyze the current state of public concern and awareness of national parks. By analyzing Weibo data, we find: (1) Public concern for national parks is increasing year by year. (2) More economically developed regions may pay more attention to national parks. (3) Public concern for national parks focuses on the construction of national parks in other countries and the institutional reform and ecotourism of national parks in China. Meanwhile, we also find that: (1) Most of the public are willing to actively pay attention to the construction of national parks. (2) The public is not yet fully aware of national parks in China; for example, the number of national parks, their construction, and other issues are still not widely known. (3) Public awareness of the construction goals, functional positioning, and other issues are not generally understood. To sum up, there is still much room for the public to improve their control and awareness of national parks. Finally, we put forward some suggestions to improve the public’s concern with and awareness of national parks, which can promote public participation in their development. This study will be important for sustainable development of the natural reserve system and global biodiversity protection in China.

On the spatiotemporal development and driving factors of national parks in China and the United States

On the spatiotemporal development and driving factors of national parks in China and the United States

Quality measurement and travel intention effect of digital cultural ecosystem service of the nature reserve conservations：Taking the cyberspace of five national parks in China as an example

Quality measurement and travel intention effect of digital cultural ecosystem service of the nature reserve conservations：Taking the cyberspace of five national parks in China as an example

Identifying the management system for national parks in China

Identifying the management system for national parks in China

The next step for China's national park management: Integrating ecosystem services into space boundary delimitation

The contradiction between ecological conservation and economic development posed significant challenges to the management of National Parks. From the perspective of Ecological Economics, the cause of the contradiction is the difficulty of creating monetary profits from biodiversity conservation, which is the primary target of National Parks. Integrating Ecosystem Services (ESs) into space boundary delimitation is the next step in National Park management since ESs are closely related to human well-being and can provide monetary benefits. Extending the boundary of the National Park to high-ES areas and promoting ES trading can help generate funds for ecological restoration. Using the Sanjiangyuan National Park (SNP) as an example, this study proposed integrating ESs into National Park delimitation for sustainable National Park management. It was found that the current SNP boundary provides insufficient coverage of high-ES areas, while most of the multiple ES supply areas were dispersed to SNP's southeast edge. The Core conservation area showed the most prominent contradiction between ecological conservation and economic development, resulting in many low-level ES sites in the Traditional use area failing to be included in the Restoration area for protection. Future approaches would be well-advised to re-adjust SNP boundary by expanding the ES hotspot areas on the southeastern edge of SNP, as well as expanding funding sources via ecological product trade and other tools to supplement the input for ecological restoration. Overall, this study can act as a reference for optimizing National Parks within and beyond China, and promote the understanding of the Ecological Economy and sustainable development.

Assessing the performance of the pilot national parks in China

The continuous decline of global biodiversity highlights the need for the expansion and improved performance of protected areas (PAs) to achieve the Post-2020 Biodiversity Targets and 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. China proposed the establishment of a national park (NP) system and carried out transformative explorations in 10 pilot NPs, however, it is unclear to what extent the pilot NPs represent China’s biodiversity and resolve management issues. To answer this question, we assessed the performance of the pilot NPs by analyzing the representativeness across typical ecosystems, biodiversity priority areas, and ecosystem services, and by analyzing the management effectiveness of reorganizing the existing PAs and improving the management intensity and man-land relationships. We found that China’s pilot NPs achieved improved representativeness and management effectiveness through range expansion and optimization, institution streamlining, and cohesive management. Compared with the existing PAs, the area of protected typical ecosystems, biodiversity priority areas, and key areas of ecosystem services in the 10 pilot NPs increased by 59.6%, 59.6%, and 54.1% on average, respectively, with a similar land cost overall. The 10 pilot NPs integrated 142 existing PAs of seven categories. The protected areas expanded by 19.4%, and the area under strict protection increased by 42.1%. Additionally, the pilot NPs effectively reduced human disturbance and improved management effectiveness through necessary relocation and enhanced land management. Moving forward, the boundaries and zoning of the NPs should be further optimized, and efforts should be directed to strengthen the governing capacity building, improve the legislation system, increase the financing investment, and promote the value realization of ecological products.

Digital Scene Construction of National Parks: Dilemma and Path

China's national park system has become an important part of the world national park system from pilot to official establishment. Preliminary progress has been made in the scene construction of digital technology, but there is still theoretical discussion and practical application in the construction of national parks, the relationship between digital technology and the protection and utilization of national parks, and the development path of digital national parks. Starting from the dilemma of China's national park system construction, this paper puts forward exploratory research plans for the new development path of national park development, so as to achieve great significance to protect the rich biodiversity of national parks, inherit precious natural resources and excellent human resources, and promote the harmonious coexistence between man and nature.

Study on Functional Zoning Method of National Park Based on MCDA: The Case of the Proposed “Ailaoshan-Wuliangshan” National Park

In a national park master plan, functional zoning plays a key role in developing differentiated zoning controls that achieve multiple park construction objectives. In this study, a geographical attribute code and basic zoning elements are developed for the proposed “Ailaoshan-Wuliangshan” National Park, followed by the development of spatial multi-criteria sets and weight sets to determine the suitability of the land. Next, we use a clustering algorithm and conflict unit prioritization to allocate space for multi-target units to get the preliminary zoning schemes, and then identify stable units and unstable units through sensitivity analysis. Ultimately, the functional zoning of the National Park was determined. According to the results, the proposed “Ailaoshan-Wuliangshan” National Park can be divided into nine types of 164 landscape units; the highest land suitability values of each zone showed the traits of differentiation and aggregation in spatial distribution; there are 97 stable units and 67 unstable units; approximately 62.83% and 37.17% of the total park area can be divided into core conservation area (primary sensitive area and secondary sensitive area) and general control area (ecological activity area and ecological control area). By implementing a comprehensive assessment and decision-making process, the defined functional zones are precise and simple to recognize on the ground, and they adhere to the area proportions needed by national standards. Furthermore, the functional zoning is clustered, which avoids the fragmentation of the zoning results causing difficulties in management, and serves as a point of reference for the functional zoning approaches used in other proposed national parks in China.