An Evaluation of National Park System Pilot Area Using the AHP-Delphi Approach: A Case Study of the Qianjiangyuan National Park System Pilot Area, China

Abstract

With the national park as an important measure of ecological protection, China has started 10 national park system pilot areas. However, the research on the comprehensive evaluation of national park construction and development is insufficient. The main purpose of this study was to establish a comprehensive evaluation index system for the pilot area of the national park system. The method of the Analytic Hierarchy Process combined with the Delphi method by ten relevant experts was used. The comprehensive evaluation index system for the national park system pilot areas was composed of the objective level and the criteria level which includes three items: natural resource conditions; research, education and recreation functions; and protection and management conditions. The indicator level involved seven items and the factor level included 31 items. Furthermore, the weight of each item in these levels was obtained through the Delphi method by the judgement of selected experts. The Qianjiangyuan National Park System Pilot Area (QNPSPA) was selected as the study case for empirical research. The score of the comprehensive evaluation of the QNPSPA was 90.801, which belongs to Grade I in the five catalogues, indicating its comprehensive construction level was very high and its protection and management measures were efficient. However, significant deficiencies also existed in the area suitability, recreation facilities and production, natural resource property rights, human landscape value and ecosystem integrity. To address these problems, five suggestions were proposed. For example, strengthening cross-administrative cooperation and communication, improving the construction of recreational facilities, etc. The evaluation framework proposed in this study could play a positive role in the construction evaluation of the pilot areas of national parks in China and is conducive to promoting the evaluation research of national parks in China and promoting the development of conservation and construction.