This research proposed a concept of conservation-compatible livelihoods (CCLs) and a systematic implementation approach based on the conservation-compatible idea and the "people-oriented" conservation policies and practices. A large number of case studies, plans, and management policies of protected areas with the key element of "conservation-compatible" were screened, and analysed in an inductive way to review the sustainable livelihoods in protected areas. This process led to the proposal of CCLs. The CCLs return to the reciprocity of humans and nature and are centered on the shift of the global conservation discourse from "fortress conservation" to "community conservation". We defined CCLs as the way of making a living from natural resource use and management, and production and operation based on or dominated by certain rural land use in the social-ecological system composed of the protected areas and their boundary communities. We identified four groups of CCL activities and summarised their major features concerning the ecological, economic, cultural and social aspects. Aiming at synergising local resource use and global biodiversity conservation, we suggested a triple-judgement approach for the conservation agency and local government to help communities to achieve CCLs, namely, the identification of the livelihood demands, whether they are compatible with conservation targets, and whether their economic returns are acceptable. We further constructed a master model of the mechanism of the conservation-compatible livelihood approach and illustrated how to reach a fair and sustainable rural livelihood through sustainable resource use and value-adding processes based on local resource endowment and multi-stakeholder participation. This mechanism also confirmed the application of the CCL approach beyond the scope of protected areas to a larger conservation network. We argued that the CCL approach is feasible concerning the on-going institutional changes in China, and promoting conservation-compatible livelihoods in conservation practices is very supportive to coordinate rural development and protected area management, and to secure the development needs of developing countries when they are taking great responsibility in global biodiversity conservation causes. Finally, we pointed out that it is necessary to apply the CCL approach in other effective area-based conservation measures (OECMs) at the landscape scale to enrich the way to achieve CCL and expand the appropriate spatial areas. Tracking the progress of CCLs and evaluating their outcomes are also important.

After human beings entered the age of eco-civilization, problems such as the quality decline of natural ecological environment and the deficiency of public moral consciousness have become increasingly prominent. It is urgent to find a new theoretical tool to restore the natural ecosystem and reconstruct the human public morality. The paper analyzed the genealogy of community theories, and explored the relationship between institutional development of national parks and the forming of communities. The results showed that community theory can provide a theoretical basis and a practical guidance for the national park construction. Through the analysis of the development of national park models in the world, it is found that there are three sets of relationships between the concept of national park institutions and the type of communities. Firstly, the national park on the institutional practice of right fairness vs. an abstract community for eco-space justice, which are the same ethic basis for the European countries, the countries in the New World, and China in the start-up stage of the national park construction. Secondly, the national park institutions under eco-space governance vs. a geopolitical community, which can be found in the North American and African countries which have experienced a period of human-nature conflicts and the rights deprivation of the aboriginal peoples in the national park construction. Thirdly, the national park institutions with human-nature coexistence vs. a dis-embedded imagine community which is an ideal period for the forming of emotional link cross the regions and dis-embedded community. There are three key points to promote the community-oriented national park institutions, that is to establish the legal basis for the formation of communities in national parks, to construct a foundation for common rights for the social communities, and to produce innovatively multi-agent participation mechanism for the formation of the real communities so as to provide a China solution for the promotion of the modernization of harmonious coexistence between man and nature.

As important symbols of beautiful China, protected areas are the core carriers of ecological civilization construction. Through content analysis with visualized software CiteSpace, this paper explores the topical changing process and characteristics of domestic study on protected areas, to penetratingly reveal the research status and problems, and put forward research prospects. The results show that: (1) The research course can be divided into three stages: the initial exploration (1998-2008), the diversified expansion (2009-2018), and the deepening development (2019-present). (2) Domestic research generally evolves from "natural resource investigation", "exploitation", "system construction", to "multi-governance". The research centers around five topics: system construction, spatial distribution and control, monitoring and evaluation of ecology, the mutual development of protected areas and community and the recreational exploitation of protected areas. Each topic presents different stage characteristics and evolution trends. (3) Based on the current research status and the new era background, the research framework of protected areas and the scientific issues of five research directions are proposed, including the deepening research on institutional construction in the context of protected areas system construction, the research on "nature-human-society" composite ecosystem of protected areas, the research on benign interaction between protected areas and communities, and the research on recreational exploitation and management of protected areas.