In addition, the management of nature reserves involves many ministerial sectors, such as environmental protection, forestry, agriculture, land resources, water resources and oceans (Xu & Melick, 2006). Nature reserves provide the core of China's protected areas (Xie et al., 2004; Xu et al., 2008; He, 2009).
The evolution of the nature reserve system in China Since the first nature reserve was established in 1956, the development of the nature reserve system in China has evolved into four stages (see Fig. A1 ). The first stage, from 1956 to 1978, was an experimental period, during which only 35 nature reserves were established.
Overall, nature reserve development in China is facing policy challenges that could undermine the achievements so far made for biodiversity conservation in the country, and the existing policy framework requires reform. However, China is planning to amend the Forest Law and enact the Law of Nature Reserves (DWCNRM, ), and experiences
Within this context, nature reserve designation has become an important policy vehicle for protecting areas of importance for wildlife, flora, and fauna in China. As of 2016, China had established 2750 nature reserves, covering approximately 1.47 million km 2 or 14.9% of the country’s land area ( Ministry of Environmental Protection, 2017 ).
The first stage, from 1956 to 1978, was an experimental period, during which only 35 nature reserves were established. The promulgation of the Environmental Protection Law of China ( Tentative) in 1978 propelled environmental protection and signaled the start of a period of rapid nature reserve development in China. Fig. A1.
Previous case-based research on China's Nature Reserves has found mixed results for economic development (Chen et al., 2005; Su and Wall 2012; Wang et al., 2012; Duan and Wen 2017; Ma et al., 2019a).