Wildlife damage and cultivated land abandonment: Findings from the mountainous areas of Chongqing, China

- We examined the conflict between land use and wildlife in terms of both household and land plot characteristics.
- Cultivated land abandonment has become a significant trend in response to damage cause by wild boars.
- Seven main measures are adopted by peasants to protect crops and livestock.
- We analyzed the factors influencing whether or not farmers take measures to protect their cultivated land plots.
- The main factors include characteristics of non-farm activities, distance to road, land size and topographic feature.

Human-wildlife conflict (HWC) is a growing global issue that seriously threatens agricultural production and livelihoods. Studying the relationship between wildlife damage, land use, and livelihood enables us to understand the dilemma facing current wildlife protection and ecological restoration policies and to amend existing policies effectively. Using participatory rural appraisal (PRA), quantitative analysis, and a Multilevel Logit regression model, this paper analyzed land use and livelihoods among 160 households subject to wild boar (Sus scrofa) damage in four villages within Youyang County in the poor mountainous areas of Chongqing, China. The findings showed the following: (i) wild boars in Youyang County were responsible for large-scale crop and property damage; (ii) cultivated land abandonment has become a significant trend in land use, and the most important perceived driver for abandoning farmland is the land plot's vulnerability to wild boar damage; (iii) when protecting cultivated land plots, households tend to protect those plots that are close to the road, have larger land area, and have a slight or abrupt slope; however, households with more members working in non-farm labor, more female agricultural workers, and/or higher non-farm income are more inclined to abandon protection of their plots. This paper discusses seven main measures that are frequently adopted by farmers to protect their crops and livestock and are perceived by these farmers as the most effective and sensible countermeasures.