Sustainability of ecosystems is crucial for improving human well-being and sustainably developing human society. In recent years, global attention towards ecosystems and human well-being has been increasing. Exploring and understanding the relationship between ecosystems and human well-being, and establishing the well-being of residents while protecting the ecosystem have become urgent problems. Based on 618 valid samples collected from communities surrounding seven nature reserves in the Qinling Mountains region of China, this study analyzed the impact of ecosystem services on farmers’ well-being from the perspective of their subjective perception of ecosystem services by using multiple linear regression and seemingly unrelated regression methods. The main conclusions are as follows: supply of vegetation and clean water improves farmers’ well-being, improvement of air quality increases farmers’ life satisfaction, and the sense of belonging and tourism value brought by the ecosystem are important factors for farmers’ physical and mental pleasure and economic benefits. Therefore, the following countermeasures and suggestions are proposed: focusing on establishing the ecological well-being of farmers, improve implementation of the services and benefits provided by the ecosystem to farmers, increase publicity and education to improve the protection consciousness of farmers, and improve community participation mechanisms while mobilizing enthusiasm for protection. This article starts from the perspective of farmers’ perception, attempting to explore whether changes in ecosystem service functions will affect farmers’ well-being, so as to provide new opinions and suggestions for improving farmers’ well-being.

Under the dual pressures of climate change and human activities, the restrictions imposed by conservation policies, along with the increasing overlap between wildlife protected areas (PAs) and community living areas, have intensified the contradictions and conflicts between PAs and surrounding communities. Effective governance of such conflicts is particularly crucial to reconciling the contradictions between conservation and development. This study takes the Mikumi–Selous areas in Tanzania, Africa, as a case study. Through questionnaires and semi-structured interviews, it explores the current state of conflicts between PAs and communities in the study area and summarizes conflict governance measures. Moreover, this research focuses on identifying various factors that influence the conservation willingness and action of community residents, further validating the relationships between residents’ household characteristics, conservation costs and benefits, conservation cognition, willingness, and behaviors through empirical analysis methods. The results indicate that residents’ conservation cognition significantly positively impacts their conservation willingness and behaviors, while conservation willingness also positively affects their conservation behaviors. Additionally, it was found that conservation costs inhibit residents’ conservation willingness and behaviors. This study primarily explores, from a community governance perspective, the participation willingness and behaviors of core stakeholders in conflict governance, emphasizing the critical role of community involvement in achieving biodiversity conservation and coordinated community development and providing a new perspective for alleviating conservation and development issues.

Promoting the development of eco-industries plays a significant role in achieving the harmonious symbiosis between economic growth and environmental protection as well as enhancing the comprehensive effectiveness of ecological and economic benefits. Due to their unique nature, cooperatives may play a crucial role in facilitating the integration between farmers and the development of eco-industries. To investigate whether cooperatives possess the capacity to enhance the income-generating effects for farmers involved in eco-industries, this study selected the Crested Ibis National Nature Reserve (CINNR), a representative area for eco-industry development, as the research site. Data were gathered through face-to-face interviews, and this research empirically analyzed the impact of cooperatives on the income-generating effect of farmers using endogenous switching regression (ESR). The findings are threefold. First, cooperatives indeed enhance the income-generating effects for farmers engaged in eco-industries. Second, variables such as the distribution of agroforestry materials, premium capacity, soil quality, and status of village cadres have a positive impact on farmers joining cooperatives, whereas punishment initiatives discourage their participation. Third, for farmers who have joined cooperatives, factors such as the distribution of agroforestry materials, premium capacity, low-cost conservation initiatives, land area, status of village cadres, the proportion of labor force, technical training, soil quality, and land area positively affect their income from eco-industries. Conversely, punishment initiatives, age, and land location negatively impact their income. The results of this study provide new ideas for farmers to participate in the development of eco-industries, new evidence showing co-operatives can improve farmers’ income, and new directions for coordinating conflicts between conservation and development in protected areas.

Under the double pressure of climate change and human activities, the restrictions of conservation policies and the increasing area of overlap between wildlife conservation areas and community living areas have led to increase conflicts and contradictions between nature reserves and neighboring communities. Effective management of such conflicts is particularly important in order to achieve reconciliation of conservation and development. In this study, we take the Mikumi-Selous region in Tanzania, Africa as an example, and through questionnaire surveys and semi-structured interviews, we sort out the current situation of conflicts between nature reserves and communities in the region, as well as summarize the means of conflict governance. In addition, we focus on identifying the various factors affecting community residents' protection willingness and protection action, and further verify the relationships among residents' family characteristics, protection costs and revenue, protection cognition, willingness and action through empirical analysis methods. The results show that residents' protection cognition has a significant positive effect on their willingness to protect and their actions, meanwhile willingness to protect also positively affects residents' protection action. In addition, it was found that the protection cost inhibits residents' willingness and action. Our study focuses on the willingness to participate and action of core stakeholders towards conflict governance from the perspective of community governance, emphasizing the key role of community participation in achieving coordinated development of biodiversity conservation and community. It provides a new perspective for mitigating conservation and development issues.

With the transformation of the rural economy and the increasing national emphasis on forest resources, forestry management plays an increasingly important role in promoting household income growth and sustainable rural development. This study, based on a field survey of 1043 micro-level household data collected in Guizhou Province, China, empirically analyzes the impact of participation in forestry management on household income, income structure, and income inequality, as well as its underlying mechanisms. Using endogenous switching models, quantile regression models, and mediation effect models, the study reveals the following findings: First, participation in forestry management significantly enhances household income. Second, the impact of participation in forestry management on income structure varies, significantly increasing both forestry and non-forestry income, with the effect on forestry income being particularly pronounced. Third, participation in forestry management significantly alleviates income inequality, especially for low-income households. Fourth, forestry management indirectly increases household income and non-forestry income by promoting forest-based employment. Forest-based employment acts as a partial mediator in the effect of forestry management on household income and a full mediator in the increase in non-forestry income. The contribution of this study lies in its multidimensional approach to revealing the comprehensive impact of participation in forestry management on rural household income, providing important policy insights for increasing household income and achieving sustainable rural development.