Natural Resource Dependence of Communities around the Giant Panda Protected Land Based on Livelihood Capital

Abstract

As the flagship species of biodiversity protection, the giant panda has an umbrella protection function. China is committed to building a natural protection system with national parks as the main body to achieve sustainable development. In this paper, the sustainable livelihood analysis framework is used to study the livelihood of farmers in the surrounding communities of the giant panda protected land. Based on the data obtained from the field survey, the evaluation index of the natural resource dependence of the community farmers is established, and then the measurement model is constructed to analyze the main factors affecting the natural resource dependence of the communities. The results showed that: (1) The food dependence of farmers around the giant panda protected area is the highest (46.32%), followed by energy dependence (37.67%), and income dependence is the lowest (27.91%). (2) In terms of regional characteristics, the natural resource dependence of farmers is the lowest in Minshan and Qionglai, followed by Daxiangling and Xiaoxiangling, and Liangshan is the highest. (3) Physical capital has no significant effect on the natural resource dependence. The influence of human capital, natural capital, and social capital on the natural resource dependence is significant.

Keywords

• livelihood capital
• natural resource dependence
• community
• protected land
• giant panda