Evaluation of ecotourism suitability based on AHP-GIS: Taking Xiaoxiangling area of the Giant Panda National Park and the surrounding communities as an example.

The primary goal of national parks is to protect ecological environment, but also with the functions of scientific research, education, and recreation. Aiming for the realization of universal sharing, we used the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) to construct an ecotourism suitability evaluation system by selecting four factors, including landscape resources, ecological environment carrying capacity, recreation utilization capacity and social condition, taking Xiaoxiangling area of Giant Panda National Park and the surrounding communities as an example. We evaluated the ecotourism suitability based on GIS, and conducted a questionnaire survey of tourists, to propose suggestions on the functional zoning in terms of ecotourism suitability and subjective choice preferences of tourists. The results showed that the ecotourism suitability of the evaluation area could be classified into five levels. The most suitable areas were located nearby the natural landscape resources and far away from the core conservation area, and the least suitable areas distributed at the edge of the core conservation area. According to the results of suitability analysis, the evaluation area was divided into suitable development area, moderate development area, and restricted development area. Combined with the tourist preferences, we divided the recreational activities in the evaluation area into seven activities, namely, ecotourism, eco-camping, science education, leisure vacation, agricultural and animal husbandry culture experience, eco-education, and mountain adventure. These findings could help provide suitable services for different tourists and offer reference for the ecotourism developmental planning of the Xiaoxiangling area of the Giant Panda National Park.

Genetic Diversity and Prediction Analysis of Small Isolated Giant Panda Populations After Release of Individuals.

Release of individuals is an effective conservation approach to protect endangered species. To save this small isolated giant panda population in Liziping Nature Reserve, a few giant pandas have been released to this population. Here we assess genetic diversity and future changes in the population using noninvasive genetic sampling after releasing giant pandas. In this study, a total of 28 giant pandas (including 4 released individuals) were identified in the Liziping, China. Compared with other giant panda populations, this population has medium-level genetic diversity; however, a Bayesian-coalescent method clearly detected, quantified, and dated a recent decrease in population size. The predictions for genetic diversity and survival of the population in the next 100 years indicate that this population has a high risk of extinction. We show that released giant pandas can preserve genetic diversity and improve the probability of survival in this small isolated giant panda population. To promote the recovery of this population, we suggest that panda release should be continued and this population will need to release 10 males and 20 females in the future.