Research progress and prospects of spatial integration and optimization of natural protected area in China

The spatial integration and optimization of protected areas is the foundation for establishing a protected area system with national parks as the main body, and it is crucial for resolving various conflicts and historical issues in protected areas. Systematically reviewing the research progress on the spatial integration and optimization of protected areas in China, and conducting in-depth studies in line with the national conditions, is of vital importance for building the world’s largest national park system. This article takes the research literature on the spatial integration and optimization of protected areas published in China from 2004 to 2024 as the basis, and uses Citespace software to systematically analyze the research process and main content of the spatial integration and optimization of protected areas, and to look forward to future research priorities. The study finds that: 1) The overall research on the spatial integration and optimization of protected areas in China follows the direction of “problem status-spatial analysis-policy recommendations”, continuously deepening and expanding. 2) The main research focuses on the diagnosis of major problems, the depiction of spatial patterns, the identification of protection vacancies, the optimization of ecological space integrity, and the policies and measures for integration and optimization. 3) Based on the deficiencies of existing research, future research prospects are proposed from aspects such as the coordinated development and integration pathways of transboundary protected areas, the functional zoning of protected areas under the background of territorial spatial planning, the evaluation and dynamic monitoring of the integration and optimization effects of protected areas, the division of labor and cooperation between different types of protected areas, and the research on coordinated path of ecological protection and human well-being of protected areas.