Sharing and evaluation of a new community co-management model for protecting Crested Ibis：a case study of Crested Ibis National Nature Reserve,China

TheCrestedIbis(NipponiaNippon)isendemictoQinlingMountainsofChinaandwasonceabundantovervastareasofnorth-eastofAsiahabitat.Duringthe20thcentury,however,thepopulationdeclinedgreatlyinnumbers.Habitatqualityusedtobethemainthreattothisspeciesbutrecentactionsbythegovernmentandwildlifeprotectionorganizationshavebroughtthisundercontrol.WiththeestablishmentofCrestedIbisNatureReserveinChina,conflictsbetweensocio-economicdevelopmentandCrestedIbisconservationhavebecomemoreacute.HowdowedealwiththerelationbetweenCrestedIbisconservationandcommunitydevelopment?Inthisstudy,theCrestedIbisNatureReserveco-managementmodelnamely'companies+farmers+NatureReserve'modelisproposedandevaluatedwithdemonstrationinvestigationmethods,includingcontinuoussix-yearfixed-sitesocio-economicdevelopmentdataofsurroundingcommunity,companysalesrevenuedataandmonitoreddataofCrestedIbisNatureReserve.Theresultsshowthatfarmers'incomeandconservationawarenessincreasedgreatlyfrom2003to2008;companysalesrevenuehasincreasedbyabout20%annuallyintherecentyears;managementlevelhasnoticeablyimprovedinNatureReserve,thescopeofCrestedIbishabitathasexpanded50hm2;chemicalcompositionofhabitatreducedyearafteryear;andthenumberofCrestedIbishadbeengrowingannually.Attheend,thesuccessofthemodelisevaluated,andproblemsinimplementationofthemodelarediscussedfromthefollowingaspects:managementsystem,co-managementconcept,economicbaseofpartners,marketingmechanism,technicalcapacityandsoon.