Socioeconomic impacts of a protected area in China: An assessment from rural communities of Qianjiangyuan National Park Pilot

The establishment of national parks in China is attracting widespread attention from conservation scientists and managers. Yet, since most studies have mainly focused on conservation effectiveness, there is insufficient understanding of the socioeconomic outcome of national parks and their perception by local residents. To this end, we conducted a survey in Qianjiangyuan National Park Pilot (QJY) in 2019, one of the most densely populated of China's national park pilots, which was established in 2015. Based on 627 valid questionnaires, our results revealed that 4 years after QJY's establishment, 53 % of respondents experienced no change in their net annual income, for 37 % it rose, while for another 10 % it fell. More than 62 % of QJY's residents described farming or migrant work as their main revenue sources and just 11 % were self-employed. Despite falling short of promoting local incomes for everyone, 46 % respondents nevertheless held positive perceptions of the QJY, whereas only 11 % held negative perceptions; for the rest (43 %), their quality of life was unaffected. Categorical regression and multiple correspondence analyses showed the main demographic factors affecting the residents' perception of QJY were education level and age. This study's findings emphasize that QJY has the potential to achieve win-win conservation objectives, but to fulfill them will require enhancing the sense of participation among locals who perceive themselves negligibly affected, and paying more attention the needs of residents harboring negative perceptions.