Ecologically fragile ethnic areas constitute pivotal regions for rural revitalization and the construction of the Beautiful China initiative. The establishment of digital villages is of great significance for enhancing agricultural resilience and achieving common prosperity. Utilizing panel data from ecologically fragile ethnic areas between 2010 and 2020, this study employs a projection pursuit model to calculate scores for digital village levels and agricultural resilience. Building on this, our research employs instrumental variable methods and a mediation effect model to analyze the impact and mechanisms of digital village level on agricultural resilience in ecologically fragile ethnic areas, and heterogeneity analysis is conducted. The findings reveal that digital village level and agricultural resilience scores in ecologically fragile ethnic areas show a trend of initial increase followed by a decrease, exhibiting significant overall fluctuations and unstable growth. The promotion of digital village areas on agricultural resilience is evident, and this conclusion holds even after a series of tests including instrumental variables. Elevating the digital village level can narrow the urban–rural income gap and enhance agricultural resilience. There is significant regional heterogeneity in the impact of digital village levels on local agricultural resilience in ecologically fragile ethnic areas, with digital village development exerting a more pronounced and powerful driving force in areas with lower agricultural resilience. Therefore, leveraging the leadership of advantaged provinces, intensifying investment in digital village infrastructure, and implementing targeted strategies based on the disparities in digital village level and agricultural resilience across areas become imperative.

In the policy arena of the rapid development of China’s digital village, understanding how internet use enhances the happiness of forest farmers’ families holds theoretical and practical significance for promoting the protection of the ecological environment and the sustainable development of forests. This study utilizes survey data from 2023 on forest farmers in ecologically fragile ethnic areas in China. Based on sustainability, a five-dimensional evaluation index system for the happiness of forest farmers’ families has been constructed. First, the CRITIC-TOPSIS model is employed to calculate the happiness scores of forest farming households. Subsequently, the Tobit model and the mediation effect model are applied to examine and analyze the influencing factors and mechanisms of internet usage on the happiness of forest farmers’ families. The study finds that, first, an increase of one unit in terms of internet use is associated with a 0.031-unit increase in the happiness of forest farmers’ families, and that education, social perception, and policy perception all have a positive effect on the happiness of forest farmers’ families. Second, the mechanism of action suggests that internet use significantly increases forest farmers’ families’ happiness through subjective class identity. Third, further heterogeneity analyses revealed that internet use contributed to the happiness of forest farmers’ families in the male group, the low human capital group, and the group with an ecological forest ranger in the family. Therefore, it is necessary to strengthen the construction of digital rural infrastructure and develop new models such as digital forestry; cultivate and introduce specialized digital talents in rural areas and enhance the digital literacy of forestry farmers; and assist forestry farmers in establishing class identity concepts and social values conducive to the sustainable development of forests and implement ecological values in production practices, thereby improving the happiness of forest farmers’ families.

Against the backdrop of rising farm household incomes alongside a widening internal income gap in rural China, investigating the impact of peer effects in ecological assistance (PEEA) on farmers’ policy satisfaction is crucial for formulating more targeted support policies and mitigating rural income inequality. Utilizing 2023 survey data from designated assistance counties of the National Forestry and Grassland Administration (NFGA) of China, this study employs methods such as Oprobit and moderation effects to examine the factors and mechanisms through which peer effects in ecological assistance affect farmers’ policy satisfaction. The results indicate that PEEA exert a negative influence on farmers’ policy satisfaction, a finding that remains robust after endogeneity checks using the conditional mixed process (CMP) model and residual analysis. The information transmission mechanism can strengthen the suppressive effect of these peer effects on satisfaction, whereas the social interaction mechanism exhibits a substitution effect with the peer effects. The peer effects are asymmetric, with a more pronounced negative impact on policy satisfaction among farmers over 50 years old and those with lower human capital. Furthermore, the peer effect is most significant for forestry property income, followed by forestry wage income and forestry operating income. Farmer groups with low-to-medium forestry income are more significantly affected by PEEA. Furthermore, among these, the medium forestry income cohort demonstrates the highest sensitivity to the influence of PEEA on policy satisfaction. Therefore, ecological assistance policies should be further optimized, and forestry income should be distributed equitably to enhance the sense of policy benefit and well-being among farmers. Meanwhile, information channels should be improved to guide rational interpersonal expenditure, target groups with strong peer demonstration effects, explore diversified forestry management projects, and broaden income-increasing channels through ecological assistance.