Effects of payment for ecosystem services and tourism on conservation and development: Trade-off or synergistic?

Abstract

The effects of various strategies aimed at simultaneously promoting environmental conservation and human development are closely related to the sustainable development regionally and globally. However, despite the effects of many such strategies have been evaluated by ecologists and sociologists separately, their ability to simultaneously meet these two anticipated goals (i.e., environmental conservation and human development) at the fine spatial scale remains vague. To answer this fundamental but crucial question, incorporating household and forest change data, we concurrently estimated the ecological and socioeconomic effects of two world-renowned Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) programs (i.e., the Nature Forest Conservation Program, the Grain to Green Program) and nature-based tourism in 30 protected areas across 8 provinces in China. Here we showed a trade-off between the ecological and economic effects of two PES programs, while synergistic effects exist in the ecological and economic benefit of tourism. Attributes of household and protected area significantly influenced economic and environmental benefit as well. Our research provided new insights into the complex effects of PES programs and tourism, and crucial information to support their adequate and sustainable implementation in China and the rest of the world.