Administrative Level May Be the Key Factor to Improve Protection Effectiveness of Nature Reserves in China

Xuhui Sun, Yicong Cao, Xiaobin He, Rongxing Wang, Peng Zeng, Yanpeng Li, Zhipang Huang and Wen Xiao
Additional contact information
Xuhui Sun: Institute of Eastern-Himalaya Biodiversity Research, Dali University, Dali 671003, China
Yicong Cao: Nujiang Administrative Bureau of Gaoligongshan National Nature Reserve, Nujiang 673200, China
Xiaobin He: Baima Snow Mountain National Nature Reserve Administrative Bureau, Diqing 674500, China
Rongxing Wang: Institute of Eastern-Himalaya Biodiversity Research, Dali University, Dali 671003, China
Peng Zeng: College of Science, Northeastern University, Boston, MA 02115, USA
Yanpeng Li: Institute of Eastern-Himalaya Biodiversity Research, Dali University, Dali 671003, China
Zhipang Huang: Institute of Eastern-Himalaya Biodiversity Research, Dali University, Dali 671003, China
Wen Xiao: Institute of Eastern-Himalaya Biodiversity Research, Dali University, Dali 671003, China

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 8, 1-11

Abstract: Nature reserves (NRs) have been the backbone of biodiversity conservation and the construction of China’s ‘ecological-civilization’ since the 1950s. With over 11,800 protected areas (PAs) covering 18% of the country’s land area, Chinese NRs have made a great contribution to global biodiversity conservation. At this point, better protection effectiveness can be achieved by optimizing the management organization rather than expanding the area. We analyzed the management structure of Chinese NRs by looking at their ranks, the hierarchy of administrative organs, number of grass-root stations, manpower, and financial resources, among other variables. We found that the average number of staff employed and yearly financial input per km 2 of Chinese NRs were both higher than the world and US averages. However, the range was extremely high, revealing great unbalance among different regions and ranks of NRs. In particular, the western part of China, which is less developed and features the least disturbed ecosystems, received less funding and staff resources than the developed east. A further analysis of the highest-ranked nature reserves, i.e., the national nature reserves (NNRs), showed that administrative organs of different hierarchical statuses (the lowest being Deputy family, the highest being Division level) could be in charge of them. Unexpectedly, we found that the amount of human and financial resources injected into NNRs was correlated with the level of their administration but dissociated from other important factors such as the reserve’s size or ecological value. Furthermore, the management organization was inadequate, with many NRs lacking key departments as defined by Chinese nature reserve regulations. We suggest that the administrative levels of management organization in NRs should be unified, and through the existing ecological transfer payments policy, strengthen the financial and staffing input in the western NRs of China. Moreover, the internal structure of NRs management should include all relevant departments with specific tasks and the creation of grass-root stations should be promoted without neglecting the capacity building to improve staff’s knowledge.

Keywords: nature reserve; administrative level; staffing; financial input; unbalance (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/8/4853/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/8/4853/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:8:p:4853-:d:796438

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().