Do Local Residents Support the Development of a National Park? A Study from Nanling National Park Based on Social Impact Assessment (SIA)

A Case Study of the Snow Leopard in Sanjiangyuan National Park Boundaries regarding Park Boundary Divergence

This paper uses remote sensing data from the Sanjiangyuan National Park (SNP) to explore the divergence between the boundaries of national parks and the distribution of natural habitats. Results are used to argue that these discrepancies evolve along with the potential impact of global warming. Using the example of the habitat change of snow leopards and the conflicts between local people and snow leopards, we reflect on the consequences of this divergence. Results show that divergence between the political boundaries and natural habitats as well as the consequent influence on the living conditions of local people are strikingly visible, and the effects of global warming on such conflicts are apparent. The authors conclude that both notions of ‘political boundaries’ and ‘natural habitats’ are expected to come together as the SNP region is spatially configured, while ‘global warming’ seems to be relevant as an essential reference when delimiting the region in the future. Finally, the proposal for the establishment of cooperative conservation areas is presented, emphasizing the role of cooperative governance in/around national parks.

Editorial: Land Issues and Their Impact on Tourism Development

Tourism development is highly dependent on the quantity, quality, and characteristics of available land [...]

The Intention of Community Participation in the Qilian Mountain National Park Policy Pilot

As a management strategy, community participation is to implement the coordinated development of communities and protected areas. In recent years, the development of China’s national parks has faced many challenges related to human and environmental constraints. Community participation plays an essential role in solving such issues. As one of the critical indicators to test community participation, community residents’ willingness to participate significantly impacts community participation in constructing national parks. As such, this study was conducted using the extended model of the theory of planned behavior (TPB) and the structural equation model. Taking the Tianzhu county and Sunan Yugu county as examples, and based on 230 valid questionnaires, we investigated the impacts of the Qilian Mountain National Park System Pilot Area on community residents’ willingness to participate and provided relevant suggestions for amendments. The results indicated that, for the Qilian Mountain National Park System Pilot Area, behavioral attitude, subjective norms, and perceptual behavior control positively impacted the participation intention of community residents. At the same time, the variables mentioned above positively impacted the implementation of the participation intention of community residents. Specifically, the order of impacts is as follows: perceptual behavior control (path coefficient = 0.89) > participation behavior attitude (path coefficient = 0.68) > related impact system (path coefficient = 0.41) > subjective norms (path coefficient = 0.38). According to the results, we put forward three suggestions: (1) providing relevant instructions and guidance on various methods to ensure that the pilot policies on the construction of national parks can form a positive relationship with the participation intentions of the community residents; (2) making full use of the function of perceptual behavior control, so the subjective initiative of community residents can be maximized, thereby enhancing the willingness of community residents to participate in constructing national parks; and (3) strengthening the impacts of subjective norms, enhancing the soft culture of national park communities’ participation, reshaping the community cultural landscapes with the goal of constructing national parks, and establishing community residents’ sense of honor as the builders of national parks.