Abstract.
Age structure, educational level and economic situation of farmers living in Shennongjia National Nature Reserve, Central China, were analyzed. Results showed that the population will increase steadily in the future and that the educational level is very low on the whole. Among people above the school entrance age (seven years old), only 36% had the opportunity to receive highschool education and those who received college education occupied just about 1%. The income of the local farmers was far below the national average number, which was only 1044.4 RMB (RMB: Chinese Currency, 8.3 RMB=1 US$) per capita in 2001, which is only 44.1% of farmers’ or 15.1% of citizens’ nationwide. Some measures, such as developing featured economies and popularizing effective energy utilization methods, have been proved as successful ways for income growth and environment protection. To cope with the conflicts between community economy development and biodiversity conservation, effective mechanisms, such as Public Compensation, and Community Co-management should be introduced. Sharing favorable policies and reasonably taking advantage of natural resources, the goal of sustainable development of local community economy can be achieved along with the biodiversity conservation.
Similar content being viewed by others
Abbreviations
- SNNR:
-
Shennongjia National Nature Reserve
- UNESCO:
-
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
- GEF:
-
Global Environment Facility
- MODAM:
-
Multiple Objective Decision Support Tool for Agroecosyatem Management
- ABS:
-
Administration Bureau of Shennongjia National Nature Reserve
- FAB:
-
Forestry Administration Bureau of Hubei Province
- GSF:
-
Government of Shennongjia Forest District of Hubei Province
References
L. An F. Lupi J. Liu M.A. Linderman J. Huang (2002) ArticleTitleModeling the choice to switch from fuelwood to electricity – implications for giant panda habitat conservation Ecological Economics 42 445–457
P.B. Bridgewater (2002) ArticleTitleBiosphere reserves: special places for people and nature Environmental Science and Policy 5 9–12
M.R. Carter (2001) ArticleTitleResearching the agroecosystem/environmental interface Agriculture Ecosystems and Environment 83 3–9
A.P. Castro E. Nielsen (2001) ArticleTitleIndigenous people and co-management: implications for conflict management Environmental Science and Policy 4 229–239
D.W. Crumpacker (1998) ArticleTitleProspects for sustainability of biodiversity based on conservation biology and US Forest Service approaches to ecosystem management Landscape Urban Plan. 40 47–71
J. Ge J. Wu (1997) ArticleTitleStudies on plant diversity and present situation of conservation in Shennongjia biosphere reserveHubeiChina Journal of Wuhan Botanical Research 15 IssueID4 341–352
S. Gillingham P.C. Lee (1999) ArticleTitleThe impact of wildlife related benefits on the conservation attitudes of local people around the Selous game reserveTanzania Environmental Conservation 26 218–228
Z.W. Guo X.M. Xiao Y.L. Gan Y.J. Zheng (2001) ArticleTitleEcosystem functions, services and their values – a case study in Xingshan County of China Ecological Economics 38 141–154
N. Hadker S. Sharma A. David T.R. Muraleedharan (1997) ArticleTitleWillingness to pay for Borivli national park: evidence from a contingent valuation Ecological Economics 21 105–122
M. Hanemann (1984) ArticleTitleWelfare evaluations in contingent valuation experiments with discrete responses American Journal of Agricultural Economics 66 332–341
C.M. Harrison J. Burgess J. Clark (1998) ArticleTitleDiscounted knowledges: farmers’ and residents’ understandings of nature conservation goals and policies Journal of Environmental Management 54 IssueID4 305–320
K.S. Haule F.H. Johnsen S.L.S. Maganga (2002) ArticleTitleStriving for sustainable wildlife management: the case of Kilombero Game Controlled AreaTanzania Journal of Environmental Management 66 31–42
M. Infield (1988) ArticleTitleAttitudes of a rural community towards conservation and a local conservation area in natal, South Africa Biological Conservation 45 21–46
C.Y. Jim S.S.W. Xu (2002) ArticleTitleStifled stakeholders and subdued participation: interpreting local responses toward Shimentai. Nature reserve in South China Environmental Management 30 IssueID3 327–341
H. Kächele S. Dabbert (2002) ArticleTitleAn economic approach for a better understanding of conflicts between farmers and nature conservationists – an application of the decision support system MODAM to the Lower Odra Valley National Park Agricultural Systems 74 241–255
D.M. Lewis G. Kaweche A. Mwenya (1990) ArticleTitleWildlife conservation outside protected areas-lessons from an experiment in Zambia Conservation Biology 4 IssueID2 171–179
F. Liu W. Chen J. He (2000) ArticleTitlePopulation structure and regeneration of Quercus aliena var Acuteserrata in shennongjia Acta Phytoecologica Sinica 24 IssueID4 396–401
Y. Lü L. Chen B. Fu S. Liu (2002) ArticleTitleA framework for evaluating the effectiveness of protected areas: the case of Wolong Biosphere Reserve Landscape and Urban Planning 967 1–11
M. Lütz O. Bastian (2002) ArticleTitleImplementation of landscape planning and nature conservation in the agricultural landscape – a case study from Saxony AgricultureEcosystems and Environment 92 159–170
G.E. Machlis (1992) ArticleTitleThe contribution of sociology to biodiversity research and management Biological Conservation 62 161–170
R.K. Maikhuri S. Nautiyal K.S. Rao K.G. Saxena (2001) ArticleTitleConservation policy people conflicts: a case study from Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve (a World Heritage Site), India Forest Policy and Economics 2 355–365
S. Muriithi K. Wendy (2002) ArticleTitleConservation of biodiversity in the Arabuko Sokoke ForestKenya Biodiversity and Conservation 11 1437–1450
C. Notzke (1995) ArticleTitleA new perspective in aboriginal natural resource management: co-management Geoforum 26 IssueID22 187–209
C.E. O’Connell-Rodwell T. Rodwell M. Rice L.A. Hart (2000) ArticleTitleLiving with the modern conservation paradigm: can agricultural communities co-exist with elephants? A five-year case study in East CapriviNamibia Biological Conservation 93 381–391
M. Pyrovetsi G. Daoutopoulos (1999) ArticleTitleFarmers’ needs for nature conservation education in Greece Journal of Environmental Management 56 147–157
B. Ranjith T. Clem (2003) ArticleTitleComparison of rural and urban attitudes to the conservation of Asian elephants in Sri Lanka: empirical evidence Biological Conservation 110 327–342
G.S. Rawat V.K. Uniyal (1993) ArticleTitlePastoralism and plant conservation: the Valley of Flowers dilemma Environmental Conservation 20 164–167
C.L. Shafer (1999) ArticleTitleNational park and reserve planning to protect biological diversity: some basic elements Landscape and Urban Planning 44 123–153
A. Stefania (2001) ArticleTitleA critique of development and conservation policies in environmentally sensitive regions in Brazil Geoforum 32 551–565
W.J. Streever M.C. Perry A. Searles T. Stevens P. Svoboda (1998) ArticleTitlePublic attitudes and values for wetland conservation in New South Wales, Australia Journal of Environmental Management 54 1–14
K.J. Wessels B. Reyers A.S. Jaarsveld M.C. Rutherford (2003) ArticleTitleIdentification of potential conflict areas between land transformation and biodiversity conservation in north-eastern South Africa AgricultureEcosystems and Environment 95 157–178
S. Wunder (2000) ArticleTitleEcotourism and economic incentives – an empirical approach Ecological Economics 32 465–479
Z. Xie (2003) ArticleTitleCharacteristic and conservation priority of threatened plants in the Yangtze valley Biodiversity and Conservation 12 65–72
J.S. Ying (1996) ArticleTitleAreography of the endemic genera of seed plants in China Acta Phytotaxonomica Sinica 34 IssueID5 479–485
J.S. Ying W.L. Chen Z.B. Zhang Z.Q. Zhu J.Y. Yang F.S. Wang et al. (1999) The impact of human alternation on ecosystem diversity of Shennongjia region L.Z. Chen Z.W. Wang (Eds) The Impact of Human Alternation on Ecosystem Diversity Science and Technology Press Zhejiang, China 139–199
K.R. Young (1997) ArticleTitleWildlife conservation in the cultural landscapes of the central Andes Landscape and Urban Planning 38 137–147
L. Zhang N. Wang (2003) ArticleTitleAn initial study on habitat conservation of Asian elephant (Elephas maximus), with a focus on human elephant conflict in SimaoChina Biological Conservation 112 453–459
Z.Q. Zhu Z.S. Song (1999) Scientific Survey of Shennongjia Nature Reserve Chinese Forestry Press Beijing, China 1–286
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Chen, Z., Yang, J. & Xie, Z. Economic development of local communities and biodiversity conservation: a case study from Shennongjia National Nature Reserve, China. Biodivers Conserv 14, 2095–2108 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-004-4360-2
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-004-4360-2