In this study, we analyzed the accidents associated with the Asian elephant (Elephas maximus Linnaeus) and issues pertaining to compensation in Xishuangbanna Nature Reserve from 2011 to 2018. We conducted interviews and a questionnaire survey with 217 villagers. The results show that: (1) the main Asian elephants damage is crop loss (more than 95% of the total damage), and the villagers suffer economic losses; (2) through the influence of traditional culture and natural education, the majority of local villagers still have a favorable impression of Asian elephants; (3) female respondents, those engaged in agricultural production, those who had experienced crop loss and those who had never seen Asian elephants had more negative attitudes toward Asian elephants; (4) most villagers believe that the Asian elephant population has increased in the past decade; and (5) the villagers are quite passive in the human–elephant conflict, and most of them do not take action. Finally, based on the research results, this paper discusses the causes of human elephant conflict and proposes targeted mitigation measures.

The rapid development of ecotourism provides a win–win path for ecological and environmental protection and sustainable economic development. However, environmental problems are increasingly prominent in ecotourism destinations, which seriously hinders their sustainable development. This study explored how environmental knowledge, environmental perceived value, perceived consumption effectiveness, and environmental attitudes stimulate and shape environmentally friendly tourist behaviors. A sample survey of 406 tourists at Taibai Mountain National Nature Reserve in China was conducted, and structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to assess the causal relationships in the formation of environmentally friendly behaviors. The results show that environmental knowledge has a significant positive impact on environmental attitudes, environmental perceived value, and perceived consumption effectiveness. Further, environmental perceived value has a significant positive impact on environmental attitudes and environmentally friendly behavior; environmental attitudes and environmental behavior have a significant positive impact; environmental awareness has a significant positive impact on environmental behaviors; and perceived consumption effectiveness has a significant positive impact on environmentally friendly behaviors and is the most important direct predictor. Overall, the results reveal the formation mechanism of environmental friendly behavior, and provide a scientific basis and theoretical support for the stimulation and shaping of environmentally friendly tourist behaviors in ecotourism destinations.

In rural areas, indigenous knowledge plays an important role in the protection of forests and wildlife, but the rapid developments occurring in the society and economy impose several challenges to the continued role of indigenous knowledge. This study records how a Bulang village in the Yunnan Province of China uses indigenous knowledge to protect forests and wildlife and analyzes the underlying reasons. In this study, we found that even without specific punishment measures, local people effectively controlled the use of natural resources through moral constraints, public-opinion constraints, and worship rituals. Furthermore, they formed a forest- and wildlife-protection system with banyan trees and the Derbyan Parakeet at the core. This protection system is based on primitive nature worship and indigenous knowledge passed down orally from generation to generation. Such knowledge inheritance reflects the relationship between local people and nature. However, the lack of scientific guidance regarding ecological protection may lead to the destruction of the ecosystem. One such instance is illustrated using birdwatching tourism, for which the Bulang people are attracting birds by artificial feeding. This practice, while prescribed by indigenous knowledge, deviates from scientific knowledge on ecological protection. Therefore, we propose that there should be an intermeshing of indigenous and scientific knowledge to ensure the inheritance of and innovation in the former and effective biodiversity protection.

Urban Green Spaces (UGS) have a huge contribution to the health of urban ecosystems. However, they are threatened by numerous factors such as rapid urbanization, resource depletion, and climate change. These factors are inextricably linked to human behaviors, guided by the values and beliefs of people. According to value-belief-norm theory and norm activation model, personal norms are defined as self-expectations of pro-environmental behavior influenced by the ascription of responsibility and awareness of consequences in values and beliefs. When the conditions of responsibility and consequence awareness are met, individuals are more likely to experience a sense of moral obligation to exhibit environmentally responsible behavior. To address conservation and better enable UGS to have a positive function, we must explore how to promote the development of personal norms that are beneficial to UGS conservation. This study explored the influence that UGS values and beliefs have on personal norms. A questionnaire was administered to 1641 urban residents in Beijing, China, and Partial Least Square Structural Modeling was used to assess the causal relationship in the formation of personal norms on UGS conservation. The results showed that intrinsic, instrumental, and relational UGS value orientations contribute directly or indirectly to the formation of personal norms for the conservation of UGS through environmental beliefs as mediators, with the most significant effect being the relational value orientations. The results of the study can provide scientific guidance for future public participation in UGS conservation.

Birdwatching tourism is a model of ecotourism that is beneficial to the sustainable development of developing regions and is growing rapidly in China. In order to explore the development path of birdwatching tourism, this study constructs and tests a model of revisit intention from the birdwatching tourists’ perspective and aims to understand the factors influencing tourists’ revisit intention for birdwatching destinations. The researchers collected 328 valid questionnaires from birdwatching tourists in Mingxi County, Fujian Province, China, and used structural equation modelling to validate the relationships among the study constructs. Cognitive image had the largest influence on revisit intent (0.219), followed by tourist satisfaction (0.172), and perceived image (0.155). Tourist motivation indirectly affects revisit intention through the full mediating effect of the cognitive image. This study provides some insights and references for policymakers and tourism project managers to design or adjust the construction plan of birdwatching-tourism sites.

The green production behaviors of farmers in protected areas (PAs) can reduce environmental disturbances and contribute to the effectiveness of PAs. Based on a survey of 708 farmers in Wuyishan National Park (WNP) and Crested Ibis Nature Reserve (CINR), we studied the influence of perceived benefit and policy incentive on farmers’ organic fertilizer application. Results: (1) Perceived benefit, subsidies policy, and propaganda policy significantly promoted farmers’ organic fertilizer application, with perceived benefit having the strongest effect, followed by subsidies policy. The influence of restriction policy was not significant. (2) Perceived benefit, subsidies policy, and propaganda policy indirectly influenced organic fertilizer application through ecological awareness. (3) In WNP, perceived benefit had the strongest effect on organic fertilizer application, and subsidies policy significantly enhanced farmers’ ecological awareness and influenced their behaviors. In contrast, subsidies policy had the strongest effect on organic fertilizer application, but did not significantly enhance farmers’ ecological awareness in CINR. These results offer valuable insights for promoting green production behaviors of farmers in PAs. This study implies that there must be a pathway for the realization of ecological value in ecological protection. Ecological value realization is the endogenous motivation for farmers’ sustainable green production behaviors. However, government subsidies and guidance are also essential in the early stage.