Linking socio-economic factors to biodiversity threats in protected areas: Complexity introduced by multiple livelihood modes

Background/Question/Methods

Biodiversity hotspots are threatened worldwide by activities conducted by local residents who seek to meet their livelihood needs. Despite extensive research conducted to determine factors that govern complex human-nature interactions in such systems, a number of questions remain, particularly in instances in which residents living around areas of high biodiversity value navigate multiple different livelihood modes.  We explore the complex relationships between socio-demographic characteristics of rural peoples and various activities they conduct that threaten biodiversity in the Xiaozhaizigou and Piankou Nature Reserves in Sichuan, China, an area which supports over 2600 plant and animal species.  We interviewed local residents to determine their socio-economic characteristics (age, education level, income level, and environmental awareness) and their direct (poaching, timber harvesting, and medicinal herb collection) and indirect (small-scale and large-scale ecotourism) threats to biodiversity.

Results/Conclusions

We found significant negative relationships between age, education level, and environmental awareness and biodiversity threats and a significant positive relationship between income level and biodiversity threats.  Further analysis at the village level revealed that the aforementioned income level relationship was only true for the village which principally relied on small-scale ecotourism, but not another village that relied mainly on large-scale ecotourism to generate income.  In addition, the average income level was markedly lower for the village relying on small-scale ecotourism, but their direct threats to biodiversity were much higher.  We discuss the external and internal factors that have produced such patterns and put forth potential management measures that could mitigate threats to the rich biodiversity in this area while still providing for local livelihoods. We also discuss the broader implications of our findings for the growing challenges of balancing biodiversity conservation and livelihood needs in biodiversity hotspots across rural China and other areas around the world.