Breaking the resource-oriented paradigm: public participation and legal harmonization in China’s wildlife conservation

Abstract

China’s Wildlife Protection Law (WPL), revised in 2022, reflects evolving efforts to align conservation with the state’s ecological civilization vision and traditional values. Yet, its persistent resource-oriented framework—prioritizing economic utilization over biodiversity conservation—undermines systemic effectiveness. Fragmented legislation, marked by conflicts among wildlife, biosafety, and environmental regulations, complicates enforcement and governance. Limited public participation, exacerbated by insufficient transparency and entrenched wildlife industry interests, further constrains reform. Although recent revisions gesture toward modernization, they inadequately address fundamental issues like narrow species protection, neglected animal welfare, and vague legal definitions. Structural inertia, compounded by centralized political control and bureaucratic entrapment, continues to prioritize political and economic agendas over ecological sustainability. However, scholars, leveraging public influence and digital platforms, are emerging as critical actors to foster grassroots engagement, reshape public discourse, and pressure legislative reform. Genuine progress requires harmonizing laws, embedding ecological ethics, strengthening public participation, and elevating animal welfare. Without deeper, bottom-up integration of societal stewardship, China’s WPL risks remaining trapped in outdated paradigms, unable to fulfill its aspirational vision of ecological civilization.