| National parks are an important carrier for China to integrate the resources of protected areas,effectively protect ecosystems and biodiversity,build ecological civilization,and shoulder the tasks of ecological protection and improving people’s livelihood.There are farmers living in national parks,and these farmers are not only the participating groups in the construction of national parks,but also affected by the construction of national parks,and their production and life are closely connected with national parks.From the perspective of ecological protection,the national park gives priority to ecological protection and implements control measures such as ecological relocation,strict prohibition of core area development and productive construction activities to achieve ecological protection goals,taking into account management objectives and resource differences;from the perspective of farmers’ livelihoods,strict ecological protection restricts farmers’ resource utilization,reduces agricultural income,and presents real problems such as employment difficulties,but the national park will also guide However,the national park will also guide the development of industries,promote the adjustment of farmers’ livelihood strategies,and increase their income.As we can see,the construction of national parks will lead to dramatic changes in ecological,livelihood and production aspects,which will affect farmers’ livelihoods to a certain extent.Farmers’ livelihood choices are not only related to their own quality of life,but also to the construction of national parks and ecological civilization in China.Therefore,it is important to examine the impact of national park construction on farmers’ livelihood strategies and income from their perspective to reconcile the development of farmers’ livelihoods and ecological conservation.Based on the framework of sustainable livelihood analysis,this paper combines externality theory,farmer behavior theory and other related theories to construct the mechanism of the impact of national park construction on farmers’ livelihood strategies and income,which enriches the related research on national parks.Secondly,based on the 318 farmer household survey data obtained from the giant panda national park,descriptive analyses were conducted on individual characteristics,household characteristics,national park construction,livelihood capital,livelihood strategies and income of farmers.Further,structural equation modeling was applied to analyze the effects of national park construction on farmers’ livelihood strategies and income,and the mediating effect model was used to test the mediating role of livelihood capital in their paths.The main findings of this paper include(1)The ecological status of the Giant Panda National Park is good,and the counties(cities and districts)have developed different industrial structures to increase income and improve people’s livelihoods,but the overall level of economic income in the region is low,and there is a large gap between regional development levels and an obvious income gap between urban and rural residents.Most farmers in the research area support the construction of national parks,but their awareness of and participation in the construction of national parks is low.There are differences in the awareness,attitudes and participation of farmers with different livelihood strategies in the construction of national parks,among which the awareness,attitudes and participation of multi-participation farmers in the construction of national parks are higher.(2)Farmers’ livelihood capital is abundant in national parks,but there are differences between the levels of each capital,which shows that human capital and physical capital are relatively high,while natural capital,financial capital and social capital are relatively low.There are also differences in the livelihood capital levels of farmers with different livelihood strategies,with professional farmers having relatively richer human capital,part-time farmers having richer natural capital,part-time non-farm farmers having richer physical capital,and part-time farmers having richer financial and social capital.The construction of national parks can significantly increase the physical,financial and social capital of farmers.(3)The livelihood strategies of farmers in national parks are diversified and non-agricultural,including professional,agro-part-time,non-agro-part-time and multi-part-time livelihood strategies,and the largest number of farmers are engaged in multi-part-time livelihood strategies.National park development can significantly increase the likelihood of farmers adopting multiple livelihood strategies and decrease the likelihood of adopting professional and agro-part-time livelihood strategies.National park construction can influence the livelihood strategies of farmers through livelihood capital,and the impact of different livelihood capital on each livelihood strategy is different.(4)National park construction can significantly increase the total income of farming households,and the income-generating effect of national park construction is mainly achieved through increasing non-farm income.There are differences in the household income of farmers with different livelihood strategies,among which the total household income,farm income and non-farm income of multi-participant farmers are all maintained at a higher level compared to other farmers.National park construction affects farm household income exclusively through livelihood capital,and the impact of different livelihood capital on farm household income varies.The findings of this paper are synthesized and policy recommendations are proposed to strengthen the publicity of national parks and related policies,guide farmers to participate in the construction of national parks,promote industrial development,broaden the channels for farmers to increase their income,broaden the scale of capital investment and social networks,and improve the allocation of livelihood capital. |
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