Search

Abstract Ecosystem restoration practices are gaining prominence in coping with the crisis of ecosystem degradation. To improve the long‐term effectiveness of restoration activities, community engagement in restoration projects needs to be strengthened. In communities where traditional and local values drive adaptation to environmental changes, a community‐engaged restoration approach requires the integration of restoration techniques and local value systems. In two pastoral communities on the Qinghai‐Tibetan Plateau, we used the Q method to explore pastoralists' attitudes towards grassland degradation and restoration and to understand different levels of community engagement in grassland restoration activities. Through this study, we aim to promote an understanding of the value‐based approach of local communities to enable better community engagement for the long‐term effectiveness of ecosystem restoration projects and contribute to the achievement and synergy of global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The study revealed eight types of pastoralists with different attitudes in two communities, with the type of Active Agents leverages transformative restoration action through creating value‐inclusive narratives of grassland restoration in the community with a higher level of engagement in restoration practices. Alongside this, we explored the pastoralists' perspectives of biodiversity in restoration and the importance of local elites in facilitating multiple‐actor cooperation in restoration projects. We recommend that decision‐makers recognize the significance of local worldviews and values in facilitating environmental adaptations, as well as the irreplaceable role played by local people in developing value‐inclusive narratives that align with the local cultural context. Open dialogues and sufficient communication between multiple stakeholders are needed to build mutual trust and accumulate social capital for driving transformative actions in traditional communities. Such approaches are essential to foster community engagement and gain better momentum in ecosystem management initiatives. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

Public perception of endangered species is crucial for successful management of community-based conservation and sustainability of national parks. By the method of choice experiment, our study evaluated conservation preferences and willingness to donate money for flagship and non-flagship species using a choice experiment with 409 residents living near the Lanstang river source of Sanjiangyuan National Park, China. We found that flagship species such as the Snow leopard (Pristine plateau) and White-lipped deer (Przewalskium albirostris) generated more conservation funds than non-flagship species. However, not all flagship species were accepted. Respondents disliked Tibetan brown bears (Ursus arctos pruinosus) due to direct human-wildlife conflicts such as bodily injury and property damage. Heterogeneity of preference was influenced by household income, religious beliefs, ethnicity, culture, and conservation awareness. Results can be used to establish a local community-participative framework by combining conservation motivations that alleviate human-wildlife conflict.

Southeast Tibet is significant in maintaining key ecological functions and providing irreplaceable ecosystem services but is also extremely vulnerable and susceptible to the impacts of human activities. Understanding the attitudes of local residents toward ecosystem conservation is considered essential for nature resource management. We therefore aimed to conduct an evaluation framework under hypothetical scenarios to measure communities’ willingness to participate in ecosystem conservation using the contingent valuation method (CVM). Second, this study determined the underlying factors that might affect local’s willingness to participate and then compared the willingness to pay (WTP) and willingness to work (WTW) for different types of nature reserves. We found that income, education, community attachment, and acceptance of a payment scheme are significant factors determining the average amount that residents are willing to pay for ecosystem conservation, while their income, acceptance of a work scheme, and education are significant factors influencing the average service time that residents are willing to devote to work. Our results revealed that community residents have considerable willingness to participate in ecosystem conservation, which points not only to the great value attached to the ecosystem service function of Southeast Tibet nature but also suggests that people’s willingness to participate is influenced by a conglomeration of socio-economic characteristics and their previous experience. The information herein can be used to implement conservation planning that involves community co-management and policymaking for sustainable development and will be beneficial to the dynamic conservation and adaptive management of Tibetan nature reserves.