How communities and social impacts are considered in policies for protected areas in China

Protected areas are important for biodiversity conservation. However, they also create many social impacts on local communities, both negative and positive. The effectiveness of protected area management influences the environmental and social impacts that are created and the attitudes of local people towards conservation initiatives. Given the considerable awareness of the social impacts of protected areas around the world, in China there has now been growing interest in this topic, partly because China is a megadiverse country with over 11,800 protected areas. Based on a document analysis of official documents and a literature review of academic papers, we examine how Chinese policies and the Chinese academic literature consider social impacts and local communities in relation to protected areas. We found that the social impacts most discussed related to the income and livelihoods of local communities, while intangible social impacts, such as culture and the rights of local communities, were neglected or ignored. Negative social impacts were reported more frequently than benefits. The persistent lack of consideration of the potential role of local communities in the management of protected areas has resulted in communities generally being disengaged. We suggest that the role of local communities in protected areas should be further considered, and that community engagement and benefit-sharing arrangements should be improved.