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Arid Land Geography ›› 2019, Vol. 42 ›› Issue (3): 653-663.doi: 10.12118/j.issn.1000-6060.2019.03.22

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Residents perception and satisfaction on ecological migration in Xinjiang Tianshan heritage site

WANG Fang1, LUAN Fuming1, YANG Zhaoping2, XIONG Heigang3, HAN Fang2,SHI Hui2, WANG Zhaoguo4   

  1. (1 Business School,Lishui University,Lishui 323000,Zhejiang,China; 2 Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography,Chinese Academy of Sciences,Urumqi 830011,Xinjiang,China; 3 College of Art and Science,Beijing Union University,Beijing 100083,China;4 School of Tourism Management,Sun Yatsen University,Zhuhai 519000,Guangdong,China)

  • Received:2018-10-05 Revised:2019-02-15 Online:2019-05-25 Published:2019-05-21
  • Contact: 栾福明(1984-),男,山东青岛人,博士,讲师,主要从事旅游地理与区域发展研究. E-mail: luanfuming999@163.com

Abstract: For heritage researchers,decision makers and residents,it is a common concern whether the ecological migration in the heritage site can realize the ecological protection and the sustainable development of tourism,and improve peoples livelihood.A comprehensive assessment of the effect of ecological migration from the perspective of residentsperception and satisfaction is helpful to provide the feedback in tackling such concerns.The questionnaire survey and thorough interviewing method were applied in four immigrant communities in Bogda region,one of the four areas of Xinjiang Tianshan world heritage,Xinjiang,China to evaluate the migration effect from perspective of residents perception and satisfaction.The ecological migration perception is divided into four dimensions:Economic impact,social and cultural impact,environmental impact and psychological impact.The four communities are mainly Kazak immigrant communities,they have industry typicality and their distance to the heritage site is different.A total of 310 questionnaires were distributed and 295 questionnaires were valid.The effective rate was 95.16%.The data were analyzed with factor analysis,two independent sample [WTBX]T[WTBZ] test and single factor variance analysis using software SPSS19.0 the results showed that the majority of interviewees were Kazak ethnic groups (96.90%),and their educational level was low.There are 86.8% of households with annual incomes below 40 000 Yuan RMB and they are positioned in the low and middle income levels.There are 42.8 percent of families having tourism professionals,and those with tourism income accounts for the proportion of household income in the range from 71 percent to 100 percent,are up to 25.80 percent.Tourism is an important economic source of community migration near the heritage site,and even the entire economic source of some families.Residents are against the high rate of economic positive effects and psychological positive effects,and had divergent views on social impact perception,and highly accepted the positive environment effect.The results show that the ecological environment protection is effective,but the residents income and quality of life are not improved,and the residents have a weak sense of community attachment.Residents satisfaction is low.Residents approval rate of income,occupation,tourism status,welfare,environment,medical care,training and other indicators was lower than the rejection rate.More than 70% of residents are dissatisfied with the status quo of tourism,income and current occupation.The satisfaction about current income was the lowest,with an approval rate of 9.2%.There are significant differences in residents perception and satisfaction for their different demographic characteristics and different tourism dependency.Residents engaged in tourism have the highest income and satisfaction.The benefits of tourism are most obvious compared with agricultural cultivation,caged animal husbandry and other industries.At the same time,there are some deficiencies in the tourism industry,such as industry instability,limited employment opportunities,low level of tourism participation,and absence of residents.Compared with the settlement nation,larger changes of production and life style occurred after migration,from nomadic herding,to tourism,agriculture,animal husbandry,and work,etc.After immigration,the livelihood of the residents became monotonous.Finally,the suggestion is proposed which includes improving economic condition of residents,such as increasing employment opportunities,livelihood diversity and allowing the moderate grazing; strengthening their training of knowledge and skills and the community empowerment; and improving ecological compensation mechanism.

Key words: heritage site, perception on ecological immigration, resident satisfaction