Study On Current Situation Of Anseriforms-human Conflict In The Sanjiang Plain And Public Preferences For Anseriforms Management Policies

In recent years,conflicts between Anseriforms and humans have been intensifying in China.It has caused economic losses,mainly caused crop damage and has shown a trend of increasing,seriously affecting the production.How to scientifically alleviate the conflict has become an urgent issue.Mitigating conflicts requires the attitudes and preferences of different stakeholders to develop scientific management policies that are more understandable and supportive.However,residents in Anseriforms distribution areas often have different views on conflicts from urban residents who are the main influencers of wildlife management policies.Therefore,it is significant to conduct a comparative study on the attitudes and preferences of residents in the distribution areas and urban residents towards conflict management.In this study,from June 2022 to February 2023,we selected Xingkai Lake and Fujin area in the Sanjiang Plain of Heilongjiang Province,a region with serious conflicts between Anseriforms,we also selected local rural residents and urban residents in Harbin and Beijing as the study subjects to conduct a study on the characteristics of management policies Preference study.A semi-structured questionnaire was used to study the characteristics of the conflicts in the Sanjiang Plain,and the perceptions and attitudes of rural and urban residents toward Anseriforms conservation and management.A choice experiment was used to analyze the preferences and possible heterogeneity between rural and urban residents regarding the conservation and management policies.Before the formal experiment,pre-experiments were conducted in both rural and urban areas to ensure the scientific validity of the study,and the research protocol was refined on this basis.In this study,48 questionnaires were distributed in the pre-experiment in rural areas,and 30 valid questionnaires were collected;403questionnaires were distributed in the formal experiment,and 354 valid questionnaires were collected.In urban areas,76 questionnaires were distributed in the online pre-experiment and50 valid questionnaires were returned;3076 questionnaires were distributed online in the formal experiment and 514 valid questionnaires were returned.The Likert scale method was used to assign the options of the semi-structured questionnaire;the Spearman correlation coefficient method and multi-factor variance method were used to statistically analyze the respondents’ attitudes toward conservation management.The results of the study are as follows:1.In the past three years,the conflicts in Xingkai Lake and Fujin areas have intensified.From 2019 to 2021,Anseriforms destroyed over 20000 mu of cultivated land,resulting in a direct economic loss of over 10 million yuan.The conflicts in this area are mainly manifested in the destruction of crops such as rice in the spring and autumn seasons.84.6% of rural respondents said that the population of Anseriforms in Sanjiang Plain is increasing.2.Rural respondents’ awareness of the conservation(mean 2.901)was significantly lower than urban respondents’(mean 4.265).In the dimension of poaching tendency,the average number of rural respondents is 2.366,and they tend to have a neutral attitude towards poaching.The mean of urban respondents is 0.955,indicating a clear attitude anti-poaching.77.83% of rural respondents hope the population of Anseriforms to decrease,while nearly 50% of urban respondents prefer that the population of Anseriforms will remain unchanged.3.More than 80% of urban respondents are willing to participate in Anseriforms themed ecotourism;More than 90% of respondents are willing to pay environmental taxes for the conservation of Anseriforms;More than 95% of respondents are willing to make voluntary donations for the conservation and management of Anseriforms,with 70.96% of respondents choosing the "Provide Electronic Certificates" preferential policy to make donations,and57.66% choosing the "Internet Virtual Revenue" preferential policy to make donations.4.In the choice experimental model,rural respondents showed preferences for "Reducing the populaion" "Population regulating" "Developing ecotourism" and "Providing economic compensation".While potential category analysis divided rural respondents into three groups with different preferences.Urban respondents have significant heterogeneity in their policies for the conservation and management of Anseriforms.81.2% of Beijing respondents showed a significant preference for "conducting Anseriforms ecotourism",while 63.5% of Harbin respondents showed a significant preference for "voluntary donations for Anseriforms".Based on the above research results,the following conclusions are drawn:1.Anseriforms in Xingkai Lake and surrounding areas of Fujin City in Sanjiang Plain of Heilongjiang Province have caused serious damage to crops,and rural respondents have developed strong negative emotions towards Anseriforms.2.Urban respondents have high empathy for the conservation of Anseriforms,and are more inclined to recognize the ecological value of Anseriforms and protect them.3.Rural respondents showed significant preferences for population regulation,ecotourism,and loss compensation for Anseriforms,while urban respondents showed significant willingness to participate in voluntary contributions for Anseriforms conservation and ecotourism.4.Developing theme ecotourism and economic compensation based on urban public donations are feasible for alleviating the conflicts.It is suggested that,existing policies can be formulated and improved by improving the compensation system for damage caused by Anseriforms,broadening the sources of compensation for Anseriforms,and strengthening the construction and benefit distribution of Anseriforms ecotourism.