Conservation and Management of Protected Areas in China and India: A Literature Review (1990–2021)

Abstract

Protected areas (PAs) are key to biodiversity conservation. As two highly populous and biodiverse countries, China and India are facing similar socioenvironmental pressures in the management of PAs. A comparative analysis of studies of PA policies in these two countries provides an objective assessment of policy concerns. This study involved a bibliometric analysis of studies of PA policies in China and India. Relevant publications were retrieved from the Web of Science and Scopus. The analysis was carried out using the Bibliometrix R Package, CiteSpace, and VOSviewer. The results indicate that PA policies studies in China are growing at an exponential rate, while Indian studies were cited significantly more often. “Environmental protection” was the main focus of the Chinese studies, with top keywords including “forest ecosystem” and “strategic approach”. In India, research was mainly focused on “wildlife management”, and the top keywords were “climate change” and “ecosystem service”. Studies from both countries were concerned with natural resource conservation and endangered species. Studies in India began relatively earlier and were more developed. India focused on people-related themes, while China emphasized strategic approaches. China is improving its system of PA and should learn from India to consider the relationship between environmental protection and people.