Work

Economic impacts at the county level of marine protected areas designation in China

Year: 2024

Type: article

Abstract: Designating protected areas to balance environmental conservation and economic development is a widely debated issue. Evaluating the economic impacts of protected areas designation offers solutions to this challenge, and studying the economic impacts of China's marine protected areas (MPAs) holds particular significance due to their predominant location along the economically developed eastern coast of China. Treating MPAs designation as a quasi-natural experiment, it is analyzed using a multi-period difference-in-differences (DID) model based on the panel data of coastal counties during 2000–2021. The results consistently inform that China's MPAs designation has negative impacts on the economic development of coastal counties, and these negative economic impacts can accumulate over time. Mediator tests show that MPAs designation significantly hampers the improvement of the local industrial structure, which partially explains the negative economic impacts. This indicates that after the designation of MPAs in coastal counties, there is an opportunity cost in terms of economic development, highlighting the need for ecological compensation for the designation of MPAs in coastal counties. Additionally, the extent of the negative impacts varies depending on the location of the MPAs, with MPAs in the North Sea producing the biggest impacts and those in the South Sea the least. This suggests that priority should be given to the South Sea in selecting marine national parks to achieve a balance between economic and conservation objectives. The study effectively quantified the negative impact of MPAs on economic development within a novel context. The findings offer valuable insights for addressing the broader conflict between environmental protection and economic development.

Source: Ocean & Coastal Management

DOI: 10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2024.107366

Authors: Jin Zhang, Zetao Lang, Jianwei Wu, Fenggui Chen

Institutions: Taiyuan University of Technology, Ministry of Natural Resources, Third Institute of Oceanography

Language: English

Topic: Coastal and Marine Management

Subfield: Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law

Field: Environmental Science

Domain: Physical Sciences

SDGs: Life below water, Decent work and economic growth

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $4,040