There is growing interest in evaluating the effects of establishing protected areas (PAs). However, the mechanisms through which the establishment of PAs achieved significant positive effects remain unclear, and how different conservation mechanisms have achieved significant positive social and ecological benefits has also not been sufficiently studied. In this study, we systematically reviewed exemplary cases from Asia, Africa, and South America, using panel data to assess the conservation effectiveness of nature reserves and national parks. By surveying 629 literature samples reported in 31 studies, we found that the establishment of PAs has positive influences on poverty reduction, family incomes, household expenditure, employment, forest cover, biodiversity, carbon sequestration, and a reduction in forest fragmentation. Furthermore, we analyzed the specific aspects that influence the publication of a paper in a high-impact journal. We found that publication is more likely when the research uses panel data, matching methods of data analysis, large samples, and plots or PAs as research units and has significant evaluation results. Our results suggest that future studies should use panel data and matching method analysis to assess the impacts of PAs from multiple perspectives and focus on the effectiveness of specific conservation mechanisms in achieving positive effects.

Bamboo is an important agroforestry and forest plant managed and utilized by rural communities in some countries in the Asia Pacific region, which can generate various benefits to meet social and environmental needs. In rural areas of China, as a large number of forest land management rights have been allocated to small-scale farmers, the willingness of small-scale farmers to reinvest in bamboo forest management has become a key factor for bamboo forest ecosystems to be able to sustainably supply quality ecosystem services. Therefore, it is necessary to answer the question of how to enhance small-scale farmers’ willingness to reinvest in bamboo forest management in the current policy and market context. Combining the prospect theory, the mindsponge theory, the theory of planned behavior (TPB), and the technology acceptance model (TAM), this study constructs theoretical models of perceived property rights security, perceived bamboo forest certification, government support, group decision making, risk perception, perceived value, geographic conditions, and resource endowment affecting willingness to reinvest in bamboo forest management. Based on 1090 questionnaires from a field study in Fujian, China, in 2021, structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to test the theoretical model. The results show that, under the current policy and market environment, government support is the key to enhance small-scale farmers’ willingness to reinvest in bamboo forest management, and their perception of ecological certification also has a facilitating effect on small-scale farmers’ willingness to reinvest in bamboo forest management, in which risk perception plays a significant mediating role. The government can enhance small-scale farmers’ willingness to reinvest in bamboo forest management by maintaining stable land property rights policies, increasing the publicity and promotion of bamboo forest certification, and enhancing information exchange among farmers.

Protected areas in tourist hot spots are under increasing pressure from growing commercial tourism and wild plants utilization. However, few studies of tourists’ behaviors and attitudes towards eating wild edible plants in protected areas have been conducted. This study presents the results of an investigation conducted on 202 tourists and 334 households in the Qinling Mountains in China to examine relationships between harvest/eating wild edible plants and the tourism experience. According to the results, there is a high demand for wild edible plants by tourists and local people because of traditions and the desire for green food. Tourists with a higher level of education, maturity, or environmental awareness eat wild edible plants to a lesser extent. However, higher income may encourage greater utilization of wildland resources. Analytical results indicate significant inconsistency between tourists’ perceptions of wildland resource conservation and their actual behavior. Besides, the respondents perceive a low level of environmental responsibility in spite of their stated environmental awareness. This study highlights the need to fulfill ecological responsibility when tourism occurs in protected areas to achieve species conservation and sustainability.

The fundamental purpose of future urban development is to meet residents’ yearning for a better city life with the rapid development of urbanization. This study uses a multinomial logit model and cognitive map to evaluate residents’ spatial image perception of urban green space. A field study and data collection were conducted from July to August 2019, using the typical urban green space area in Beijing as the research object. Based on 375 valid questionnaires and 139 cognitive maps, the study analyzed and evaluated the image characteristics and differences of residents to the urban green space under different conditions. The results show the following. First, there is a close relationship between residents’ preference and the characteristics of urban green spaces, especially the working and living environment and characteristics will have a great influence on it. Second, the cognitive map drawn by Beijing residents can be divided into sequential and spatial cognitive maps, and the image perception shows diversified characteristics. However, the perception is relatively superficial overall, and most are simple line maps. Besides, according to the analysis of the elements of the cognitive map, the advantages and disadvantages of each type of urban green space are closely related to their geographical location and internal structure. This study has two key findings. First, the construction of urban green spaces in various cities should be carried out according to local conditions, considering the scientific basis and reasonableness of urban green space in terms of structural setting. Second, the multinomial logit model and cognitive map can effectively quantify the subjective evaluation of respondents’ spatial perceptions in a relatively simple manner, which can be further expanded in the application system design of the method.

This study measures farmers' needs for organic farming development policies from the perspective of the main policy recipients, farmers, and then analyzes the direction of policy optimization based on 816 farmer questionnaire research data from the ibis habitat in Yangxian county, using the choice experiment method. The results found that: (1) Four policies, namely, financial subsidies, technical training, brand recognition and e-commerce support, can significantly increase farmers' willingness to participate in organic agriculture development programs, but restrictions on the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides have a negative inhibitory effect. (2) There is heterogeneity in the preferences of farmers with different socioeconomic characteristics for organic farming development policies. (3) There are differences in farmers' preferences for different organic farming development policy combinations, with the highest preference for e-commerce support, followed by brand recognition, technical training, financial subsidies, and a negative preference for fertilizer and pesticide restrictions. This means that in the future, development of organic farming policy should not be limited to conventional financial subsidies and technical training, should be in line with the development of the times, break the inherent thinking, from the electric business support, brand recognition, etc., to help farmers build a bridge from production to marketing, to enhance the effectiveness of the policy. At the same time, it should fully consider the heterogeneity of farmers' location and endowment, closely follow the needs of farmers, and guarantee the fairness and effectiveness of the policy.