The role of gender in local residents' relationships with Gaoligongshan Nature Reserve, Yunnan, China

Gender can play an important role in people's relationships with the environment. Understanding if women and men perceive protected areas differently is an important facet of understanding park-people relationships. The objective of this study was to determine whether men and women differed in their relationship with Gaoligongshan Nature Reserve in Yunnan, China. We analyzed 523 surveys to explore differences between women's and men's attitudes, perceptions, knowledge, and use of the reserve. While the majority of women and men had positive attitudes toward the reserve, men were significantly more likely to be positive, had more knowledge about the reserve, and entered the reserve more than women. In addition, men were more likely than women to identify benefits and problems associated with the reserve. Using logistic regression, we explored different models to understand the gendered perceptions of problems and benefits of the reserve. We found that having less knowledge about the reserve contributed to women being less likely to perceive benefits, especially regulating services. Our results highlight the need for gender-sensitive approaches to park-people relationships in terms of management and research.