Influencing Factors of Household Income of Farmers in Protected Areas：Based on the Giant Panda Reserves in Sichuan

MA Ben，LIU Lingyu，QIN Qing，WEN Yali

(School of Economics and Management，Beijing Forestry University，Beijing 100083 China)

Influencing Factors of Household Income of Farmers in Protected Areas：Based on the Giant Panda Reserves in Sichuan

MA Ben，LIU Lingyu，QIN Qing，WEN Yali

(School of Economics and Management，Beijing Forestry University，Beijing 100083 China)

Background Nature reserve is the area with most abundant biodiversity in China．The government attaches great importance to ecological civilization construction．However，the surrounding farmers’ income is generally low，which is a major risk restricting the effectiveness of biodiversity conservation．Although scholars have done a great amount of work，the researchers are not in-depth and the methods are simple．There is a little research studies about influencing factors of different income levels．

Methods According to 927 valid household questionnaires which were surveyed by 16 communities around Sichuan Panda Nature Reserves，the quantile regression model was used to explore the factors which influenced the surrounding farmers’ income in the reserves through 3 aspects as family characteristic variables，resource endowment variables and protected area variables．

Results The results show that the surrounding farmers’ income in the reserve is significantly affected by household head health，average education of family and the number of labor force，but the impact of all income classes is different．Family average education makes a significant income increase for high-income groups and the number of labor force on the low-income groups has significant income effect．Social relations have a significant positive impact on all income groups，and the income increase of high-income farmers is significantly higher than that of low-income farmers．Household head gender，age，minority family，and cadre status not have a significant impact on reserve surrounding farmers’ income．Family burden ratio and market distance have significant negative impact on all income classes．Among them，family burden ratio has the greatest impact on the low-income farmers，while the market distance makes the greatest impact on high-income farmers．Migrant labors have a significant positive impact on all income groups，and the impact tendency has shrunk gradually．In terms of resource endowment，per capita arable land has a positive impact on low-income farmers．Per capita forest land makes a significant positive impact on middle and low income farmers in reserves．In terms of reserve factors，nature reserve rules have a negative impact on farmers’ income，especially for low-and middle-income groups．Ecotourism has a significant positive impact on all classes farmers，and the income increase efficiency is obvious of middle and high income farmers．Eco-tourism has the highest income contribution rate to high-income farmers．Reserve development projects and related trainings significantly enhance the income of farmers from all walks of life．

Conclusions and Discussions In order to improve the income level of the surrounding communities in the reserves，the government and the reserve agencies should take actions from three aspects．Firstly，the government needs to increase investment in education and infrastructure construction in the reserves surrounding areas．Secondly，the reserve management agencies should pay attention to community co-management work．The central government should set up a special fund for the reserves located in poor counties and design community development plan，which will reduce community dependence on natural resources．Thirdly，the reserve agencies need to carry out environmental education activities and mobilize the social welfare organizations and other non-governmental organizations to help the community for their development．

income；reserve；farmers；influencing factors；quantile regression model

Original Articlein馬奔，劉凌宇，秦青，等．自然保護(hù)區(qū)周邊農(nóng)戶家庭收入影響因素分析：以四川大熊貓自然保護(hù)區(qū)為例．林業(yè)經(jīng)濟(jì)問(wèn)題，2017，37(2)：45-50．

10.16832/j.cnki.1005-9709.2017.02.009