An Integrated Analysis of Residents’ Preferences on Ecological Governance in Yarkant River Basin, China

This study investigates residents’ preferences for ecological governance in China’s Yarkant River Basin (YRB) through household surveys (N = 422) employing Discrete Choice Experiments (DCE), Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), and Latent Class Modeling (LCM). The analysis reveals a prioritized hierarchy of governance attributes: agricultural output enhancement emerges as the paramount concern, followed by desert governance, hydrological regulation, habitat conservation, and cultural recreation. Socioeconomic segmentation analysis identifies two distinct preference clusters - a majority agrarian-focused group (65.7%) and a cultural amenity-oriented minority (34.3%) – with income levels and educational attainment being key determinants. These findings underscores the importance of balancing ecological governance policies with residents’ preferences to support sustainable development.