Aesthetics of natural landscapes and the conservation of forest ecological integrity have received much attention because of the increasing public demand for aesthetic quality and the shift of forest conservation management objectives from single elements to multiple ecosystem services. However, existing research has not adequately addressed the relationship between forest scenic beauty with the color index and ecological integrity. This study aimed to evaluate and quantify the scenic beauty of forests and the vegetation color index using web questionnaires and Python color interpretation, with Jiuzhaigou World Natural Heritage and Giant Panda National Park in western Sichuan, China, as examples. The relationships between forest scenic beauty with vegetation color and ecological integrity were explored via correlation and linear regression analyses, respectively. The results showed that: (1) The overall scenic beauty of the autumn forests in the study area was at a “medium” level; (2) the scenic beauty of the autumn forest was significantly positively correlated with the saturation and value ratio; and (3) the scenic beauty was not significantly negatively correlated with ecological integrity. This research provides an important reference for the renovation of autumn foliage forests and ecotourism planning. This study also provides a theoretical basis for the transformation of forest conservation management objectives, offering the possibility for nature reserves to achieve the “win-win” management goal of ecological protection and local economic development.

Human activities change the natural ecosystem and cause the decline of the intact ecosystem. Establishing an applicable and efficient human activity monitoring indicator system benefits China’s ambitious national park system construction. In this study, we established a refined technique for ecological intactness scores (EIS) and applied it in the area of Giant Panda National Park (GPNP) from 1980 to 2020 by quantifying four types of human interferences including land use and cover change (LUCC), road construction, water reservoir and hydropower construction, and mining. The results show the following: (1) Under the ecological intactness score range of 0–10, the GPNP with about 92.6% area of the EIS was above 6.0, and the mean baseline level of intactness was 7.1 when it was established in 2018. (2) The EIS in the east of Qionglaishan and south of Minshan were relatively lower than the rest of the study area. (3) During the past 40 years, 80% of the GPNP’s ecological intactness has remained stable. (4) In total, 14% of the GPNP was degraded mainly in the areas below 1200 m with severe human activities. (5) LUCC and road construction were the main driving factors for the decrease of ecological intactness in the GPNP. (6) The habitat of the giant panda is mainly distributed in the areas with an EIS above 6.0, and this is a key link between ecological intactness and habitat suitability. Our research proved that the ecological intactness score (EIS) is an effective indicator for monitoring and assessing the impact of human activities on the regional natural ecosystem and could be helpful for ecological restoration and human activities management GPNP in the future.