Abstract
Under China’s changing political and economic conditions, its forest conservation policies have undergone significant changes—shifting from maintaining intensive timber production in the 1980s to the current efforts aimed at protecting biodiversity under Ecological Civilisation. Although various paradigms are committed to conservation, their specific actions differ based on diverse value orientations. These have affected the interests of different stakeholders, benefiting some and disadvantaging others. However, little is known about how nature is specifically valued in policies and by those living in forest conservation areas, or how such values have evolved over time. Meanwhile, environmental (in)justice—both for human and non-human—remains under-studied regarding the Chinese forest context. Despite emphasising nature valuation in achieving justice in the literature, empirical investigations on this connection are also insufficient.To address these gaps, this research examines the nexus between values of nature and environmental justice in Chinese forest conservation. The study focuses on the case of Qianjiangyuan National Park (QNP), which forms part of the Qianjiangyuan-Baishanzu National Park candidate area in the Yangtze River Delta. Once a forestry production hub prior to the 1980s, the region was designated as a national park pilot in 2017. Adopting a mixed qualitative approach, involving interviews, focus groups, observation and document analysis, this study focuses on three distinct paradigms of forest conservation in the QNP between 1980 and 2024—from Forestry Production (1980-1999), Green Development (2000-2017), to National Park Development (post-2017). It critically assesses how the values of nature (instrumental, relational, and intrinsic) held by conservation policies and local communities have changed over time. It then investigates environmental justice among different dimensions (distributive and procedural by the recognition of justice lens) and subjects (local communities, the wider public and non-human) of justice. In turn, the research reflects on how adopted values of nature influence (in)justice. Finally, the study reveals underlying mechanisms that account for observed changes shifting under developing socio-economic contexts.
The findings reveal a shift regarding nature values, from instrumental to emerging collective relational values expressed in recent conservation policies. However, resident-held values have remained instrumental because of reduced interactions with the forest over time and the legacy of long-term instrumentally laden conservation policies. Conservation policies have consistently been justified in the public interest; however, this has changed over time under the government’s understanding. Whereas multispecies justice is a byproduct of decision-making, it is gradually seen as a key to benefit the public justice; as a result, multispecies justice in the QNP region has increased. However, this is still insufficient, due to ecological destruction in history and the inadequate recognition of non-humans as separate justice subjects in policies with an anthropocentric perspective. The interests of local communities have been an afterthought in the balance between public and multispecies justice. Distributive justice for residents is partially achieved through forest tenure stability and government compensation policies; however, injustices have persisted due to still insufficient compensation measures, inequitable opportunities for ecotourism, and insufficient attention to vulnerable groups. The lack of participatory opportunities and recognition of residents’ related rights, as well as residents’ inadequate capacity with low participatory willingness, have contributed to procedural injustices. This study finds that differences between the government and residents in understanding recognitional justice amplify residents’ perceptions of injustice. It also highlights various ways in which nature valuation and environmental (in)justices are connected. Instrumental values have exerted both positive and negative influences on the realisation of multispecies justice. Meanwhile, relational values shaped by collectivism have contributed to multispecies justice when supported by strict policy enforcement. The misalignment of governments and residents’ nature valuations has also exacerbated residents’ perceptions of injustice. The central government’s development ideology and policies have fundamentally guided forest conservation in the QNP region. With the rise of environmental authoritarianism, county governments gradually withdrew from influencing QNP’s forest protection. Village committees transmit government policies but are largely ineffective in fulfilling their roles in grassroots democracy and mediating between residents and the government. These institutional arrangements and power dogmatics in environmental governance have significantly shaped both the nature valuation and justice trade-offs in the QNP region.
This study advances the discussion on the values of nature and environmental justice in the Chinese context and offers further empirical investigation of the nexus between these two concepts. Based on the findings, the study offers policy implications and practical recommendations, providing insights for the development of the QNP and the future just transition in forest conservation in China.
| Date of Award | 15 Jul 2026 |
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| Original language | English |
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| Supervisor | Yu-Ting Tang (Supervisor), Linjun Xie (Supervisor) & Meghan Alexander (Supervisor) |