Strategies for Coordinated Development Between Local Communities and the Northeast China Tiger and Leopard National Park: Case Study of the Hunchun Area

Abstract

As an important component of China’s conservation strategy, the Northeast China Tiger and Leopard National Park faces conflicts between environmental protection and community development. Taking the Hunchun area as a case study, here a choice experiment is employed to construct a policy-scenario model encompassing participation mechanisms, benefit-sharing models, and industrial development. Our analysis of farmers’ heterogeneous policy preferences reveals the following. (1) Farmers significantly prefer cooperative organization participation, ecological industry, and ecological compensation while showing less acceptance of agricultural deep processing. (2) Heterogeneity analysis indicates that middle-aged, educated, and low-income male farmers have stronger preferences for policy optimization. (3) Existing homogeneous policies do not satisfy diversified stakeholder demands. We propose a governance framework integrating ecology, industry, and institutions, suggesting practical pathways such as optimizing interest distribution mechanisms, innovating green industry models, and establishing cross-regional ecological compensation mechanisms. This study provides theoretical and practical support for reconciling conservation and development in protected areas.