Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

Ma, Chao, and Chai have presented a largely theoretical thought experiment. The authors identified that ethnic and cultural practices, when included into governance, can support increases in biodiversity and conservation of natural areas. The authors have used three ethnic populations- Miao, Tao, and Maasai in development of their ideas and the Bouyei as a fourth population on which to theoretically apply their ideas. 

The manuscript was mostly theoretical with a small amount of data mined from publications examining conservation and governmental regulations in the three groups (Miao, Tao, and Maasai). These calculations were not well justified and the percentages seemed to be arbitrarily determined. The application to the Bouyei group was also theoretical and lacked and grounding or actual data, again, this was a theoretical paper. 

There are specific comments throughout the manuscript by use of pdf notes. Please see those in attached file. In general, I fully support the foundational idea which is grounded in one as ecologists have been taught for at least 50 years- the local population needs to be invested in conservation and need to have stewardship of the land. The cultural ideas of incorporating practices and traditional knowledge have also been regularly discussed in Environmental Ethics classes and organizations focused on the One Health concept. Although I fundamentally support the ideas expressed, I had many issues with the manuscript. Generally speaking 1) it was extremely long and redundant at times. Many sentences were lines longer than really consumable (e.g. the entire methods section was one sentence); 2) there is an overuse of quotation marks reminiscent of a law article which at times is necessary to reference specific legal terms or policies, but here it is used beyond those instances; 3) many assumptions are made without ground-truthing them with data or otherwise support from the literature to demonstrate how the authors think what they think is possible in actual situations; the 'application' example was applying their theory - in theory- to a fourth population, but again was not nailed down with data or support; 4) there is no mention of how any of the ideas could be funded. Much if what is being proposed is very lofty, wrought with difficulty of not just money, but time and data; 5) possible negative sides are never addressed. Ecotourism is being promoted but that brings in more than just money to these ethnic villages- some of it is good and things that are needed and some are developments that actually erode ethnic ways of life. I have seen shifting norms with the Maasai in the last 7 years and it's not always positive for the people living in these communities.

Again, while I fundamentally agree with the ideas, the overall manuscript would benefit from being more concise and more grounded in reality of what can be accomplished. Given this paper is theoretical in nature and includes a scant amount of already published data, major revisions are more possible than if this were data collected by the authors from interviews or scientific exploration in these areas. Therefore, I would suggest some major revisions to streamline, sharpen, and ground the arguments presented. 

Comments for author File: Comments.pdf

Comments on the Quality of English Language

The quality of the English is largely excellent. My biggest criticism is merely the length of many sentences and the overuse of quotation marks. Other minor items are noted in the pdf. 

Author Response

Ma, Chao, and Chai have presented a largely theoretical thought experiment. The authors identified that ethnic and cultural practices, when included into governance, can support increases in biodiversity and conservation of natural areas. The authors have used three ethnic populations- Miao, Tao, and Maasai in development of their ideas and the Bouyei as a fourth population on which to theoretically apply their ideas. 

The manuscript was mostly theoretical with a small amount of data mined from publications examining conservation and governmental regulations in the three groups (Miao, Tao, and Maasai). These calculations were not well justified and the percentages seemed to be arbitrarily determined. The application to the Bouyei group was also theoretical and lacked and grounding or actual data, again, this was a theoretical paper. 

There are specific comments throughout the manuscript by use of pdf notes. Please see those in attached file. In general, I fully support the foundational idea which is grounded in one as ecologists have been taught for at least 50 years- the local population needs to be invested in conservation and need to have stewardship of the land. The cultural ideas of incorporating practices and traditional knowledge have also been regularly discussed in Environmental Ethics classes and organizations focused on the One Health concept. Although I fundamentally support the ideas expressed, I had many issues with the manuscript. Generally speaking 1) it was extremely long and redundant at times. Many sentences were lines longer than really consumable (e.g. the entire methods section was one sentence); 2) there is an overuse of quotation marks reminiscent of a law article which at times is necessary to reference specific legal terms or policies, but here it is used beyond those instances; 3) many assumptions are made without ground-truthing them with data or otherwise support from the literature to demonstrate how the authors think what they think is possible in actual situations; the 'application' example was applying their theory - in theory- to a fourth population, but again was not nailed down with data or support; 4) there is no mention of how any of the ideas could be funded. Much if what is being proposed is very lofty, wrought with difficulty of not just money, but time and data; 5) possible negative sides are never addressed. Ecotourism is being promoted but that brings in more than just money to these ethnic villages- some of it is good and things that are needed and some are developments that actually erode ethnic ways of life. I have seen shifting norms with the Maasai in the last 7 years and it's not always positive for the people living in these communities.

Again, while I fundamentally agree with the ideas, the overall manuscript would benefit from being more concise and more grounded in reality of what can be accomplished. Given this paper is theoretical in nature and includes a scant amount of already published data, major revisions are more possible than if this were data collected by the authors from interviews or scientific exploration in these areas. Therefore, I would suggest some major revisions to streamline, sharpen, and ground the arguments presented. 

 

Reply to Reviewer 1 (Blue-track changes)

Dear Professor Reviewer,

Thank you very much for your valuable comments and suggestions on this study. The line numbers mentioned in your review refer to the lines in the original submitted manuscript, while the line numbers in our response refer to the lines in the revised manuscript. All revisions made according to your suggestions have been highlighted in blue in the revised manuscript. Detailed responses are provided below.

 

Response to Comment 1 (Line 24): Are quotes needed here?

Response: We sincerely appreciate your careful review and valuable comment. After careful consideration, we agree that the quotation marks can be omitted to avoid redundancy, as there are already numerous quotation marks throughout the manuscript.The relevant content has been revised in Lines 26–29 of the revised manuscript as follows:At the policy level, construct a mechanism integrating customary law and diversified ecological compensation; at the community level, implement a model featuring benefit sharing, patrol mediation and digital management.

Thank you again for your careful suggestion.

 

Response to Comment 2 (Line 36): World Wildlife Fund is the organization that I am aware of as WWF. Is this that organization or something different?

Response: We sincerely appreciate your careful review and thoughtful question. WWF is indeed the abbreviation for World Wide Fund For Nature, and it refers to the same organization in this study. Originally, WWF stood for World Wildlife Fund. In 1986, the organization recognized that this name could not fully reflect its scope of activities, so it officially changed its name to World Wide Fund For Nature, which remains its current official title. Notably, the United States and Canada still retain the original name "World Wildlife Fund."

Thank you again for your careful observation and valuable comment.

 

Response to Comment 3 (Line 49): Deletion of “This data deserves our serious attention.”

Response: We sincerely appreciate your careful reading and constructive suggestion. We fully agree with your revision and have deleted this sentence entirely as recommended. The revision is clearly recorded and shown at Line 43 in the revised manuscript.

Thank you again for your valuable comment.

 

Response to Comment 4 (Line 50):displays deteriorating trends sounds confusing as if the trend itself is deteriorating-perhaps significant trends showing loss of species?

Response: We sincerely apologize for the inappropriate expression caused by our insufficient proofreading and greatly appreciate your careful correction. We fully accept your professional suggestion and have revised the relevant content in Lines 52–54 of the revised manuscript as follows:

The fifth edition of the Global Biodiversity Outlook, released in September 2020, notes that while indicators of policy and conservation actions for biodiversity present strongly positive trends, most metrics on biodiversity loss drivers and biodiversity status exhibit substantial declining trajectories.

Thank you again for your valuable comment.

 

Response to Comment 5 (Line 55): I suggest you mention what Target 18 is prior to noting it has not been achieved.

Response: We sincerely apologize for the unclear expression and greatly appreciate your valuable suggestion. We have followed your advice and revised the content in Lines 58–61 of the revised manuscript as follows:It is noteworthy that Target eighteen of the Global Biodiversity Outlook aims to respect the traditional knowledge and rights of indigenous and local communities in relation to genetic resources and ensure their effective participation in relevant implementation by 2020. Nevertheless, its progress is rated as Target not achieved (low confidence).

Thank you again for your careful and professional comment.

 

Response to Comment 6 (Line 58): This sentence is very long but the sentence is very important. I suggest breaking it up into smaller sentence(s) to increase the impact of the statement.

Response: We sincerely apologize for the unclear expression and appreciate your constructive suggestion. We have followed your advice and revised the content in Lines 64–69 of the revised manuscript as follows:Although some countries have made certain progress, relevant available information remains limited. On the one hand, it is unclear whether traditional knowledge and sustainable practices are fully recognized. Nor is it clear whether such practices have been integrated into national legislation for implementing the Convention on Biological Diversity. On the other hand, sufficient data is still lacking to verify the effective participation of indigenous peoples and local communities in relevant governance processes.

Thank you again for your careful and professional review.

 

Response to Comment 7 (Line 87): replace analysis with analyze.

Response: We sincerely apologize for our careless proofreading and greatly appreciate your suggestion. We have revised the content in Lines 95–97 of the revised manuscript as follows:This study aims to systematically review and analyze such ecological wisdom and explore its points of convergence with modern legal systems.

Thank you again for your careful and professional comment.

 

Response to Comment 8 (Line 95): This is a very long sentence too. I suggest breaking it up into at least two smaller sentences or adding some semicolons to help the reader not get lost.

Response: We sincerely apologize for the unclear expression and appreciate your constructive suggestion. We have followed your advice and revised the content in Lines 105–108 of the revised manuscript as follows:It reviews existing literature on biodiversity conservation, also examines the framework of the Convention on Biological Diversity (1992) and the fifth edition of the Global Biodiversity Outlook (GBO-5). In addition, relevant data are collected from official websites, including……

Thank you again for your careful and professional review.

 

Response to Comment 9 (Line 105): Confusing - if this is a definition it defines itself using the same words as in the term itself. I think it is unnecessary.

Response: We sincerely apologize for our careless proofreading and greatly appreciate your valuable suggestion. We agree with you and have deleted the whole sentence. The revision is shown in Lines 151–152 of the revised manuscript.

Thank you again for your careful and professional comment.

 

Response to Comment 10 (Line 109): semicolon?

Response: We sincerely apologize for our careless proofreading and greatly appreciate your suggestion. We have followed your advice and revised the punctuation to a colon. The revision is shown in Line 118 of the revised manuscript.

Thank you again for your careful and professional comment.

 

Response to Comment 11 (Line 158): editing needs to fix the awkward word breaks across lines of text.

Response: We sincerely apologize for the unclear expression and appreciate your constructive suggestion. We have revised the content in Lines 223–226 of the revised manuscript as follows:The confidence level reflects the probability that the overall parameter lies within the range of sample statistics. It can be divided into three grades: the low level means low reliability of model prediction; the medium level indicates moderate reliability of prediction results; the high level represents strong reliability of model prediction.

Thank you again for your careful and professional review.

 

Response to Comment 12 (Line 163): It is customary to spell out all numbers under twenty. So 8 becomes eight. Same with 10 to ten in the next paragraph.

Response: We sincerely apologize for our careless proofreading and greatly appreciate your valuable suggestion. We have followed your advice and revised the content in Lines 228 and 239 of the revised manuscript to: eight targets and ten targets.

Thank you again for your careful and professional comment.

 

Response to Comment 13 (Line 176): Capital F if this is a new sentence, however, if it is it is an incomplete sentence.

Response: We sincerely apologize for the inaccurate expression and appreciate your constructive suggestion. We have revised the content in Lines 240–243 of the revised manuscript as follows:Available data clearly indicate that these targets have not been achieved. Typical manifestations include the continuous degradation of ecosystems such as coral reefs and forests, as well as the rising risk of species extinction.

Thank you again for your careful and professional review.

 

Response to Comment 14 (Line 180): of fish populations.

Response: We sincerely apologize for our careless proofreading and greatly appreciate your valuable suggestion. We have deleted the redundant words as you suggested. The revision is shown in Line 245 of the revised manuscript.

Thank you again for your careful and professional comment.

 

Response to Comment 15 (Line 252): This is not a complete sentence.

Response: We sincerely apologize for our careless proofreading and greatly appreciate your valuable suggestion. We have revised the content in Lines 319–322 of the revised manuscript as follows:Another notable example is a forest conservation stele erected in 1628, the first year of the Chongzhen reign of the Ming Dynasty. Located in Houhao Village, Haocun Township, Pucheng County, Fujian Province, the stele is inscribed with local villagers’ mountain and forest protection covenants:……

Thank you again for your careful and professional comment.

 

Response to Comment 16 (Line 287): This section has numerous examples. Although they are all very interesting from a historical context, fewer could be used to make the same point - ethnic cultures from across the globe have similar messages of conservation and stewardship.

Response: We appreciate your valuable suggestion. We agree with you that all these examples converge on the same core idea you mentioned: ethnic cultures worldwide share similar values of nature conservation and stewardship. However, as part of the literature review, we aim to demonstrate diverse expressions of the same ecological philosophy to highlight the role of ethnic customary laws in biodiversity conservation. These examples fall into three categories: philosophical concepts, public opinion constraints, and clan doctrines, each emphasizing different dimensions. Therefore, we hope to retain these illustrative cases. Meanwhile, we have streamlined the wording throughout Section 3.2 The Mechanisms through Which Ethnic Customary Laws Contribute to Biodiversity Conservation in the revised manuscript.

Thank you again for your careful and professional comment.

 

Response to Comment 17 (Line 303): kilometers is one word, not two.

Response: We sincerely apologize for our inaccurate expression and greatly appreciate your careful reminder. We have revised the content in Line 372 of the revised manuscript to: a multi-kilometer radius.

Thank you again for your careful and professional comment.

 

Response to Comment 18 (Line 311): Bio-diversity.

Response: We sincerely apologize for our inaccurate expression and greatly appreciate your careful reminder. We have revised the content in Line 375 of the revised manuscript to: biodiversity.

Thank you again for your careful and professional comment.

 

Response to Comment 19 (Line 478): There are a lot of quotes in these last handful of lines. I understand you are using the specific terms in the statutes but I'm wondering if there is a better, less messy, way to do so.

Response: We sincerely apologize for the messy presentation and greatly appreciate your careful observation. We have streamlined the English expressions to reduce excessive quotation marks. The revision is shown in Lines 527–551 of the revised manuscript.

Thank you again for your careful and professional comment.

 

Response to Comment 20 (Line 490): Can you include a time period for what you mean by recent?

Response: We sincerely apologize for our careless proofreading and greatly appreciate your careful question. We have revised the content in Line 547 of the revised manuscript to: In the past three years.

Thank you again for your careful and professional comment.

 

Response to Comment 21 (Table 3): I'm assuming if there was a decrease the % would be negative? If so, given there are no negative values, maybe just say % Increase? Also, this says rate- is this just % change from 2014 to 2023 or is this the rate i.e. change per year in those years? I think it is the former and therefore not technically a rate.

Response: We sincerely apologize for the inaccurate expression and greatly appreciate your careful and professional comment. Your understanding is entirely correct. We have revised Table 3 in the revised manuscript to percentage increase and removed all plus signs before the figures.

Thank you again for your thoughtful reminder.

 

Response to Comment 22 (Table 3): Higher plants as in vascular plants?

Response: We sincerely apologize for our careless proofreading and greatly appreciate your careful question. We have consulted the Technical Specifications for Investigation and Assessment of Terrestrial Higher Plant Diversity at County Level issued by the Ministry of Ecology and Environment of the People’s Republic of China in 2017 (URL: https://www.mee.gov.cn/gkml/hbb/bgg/201801/W020180108485749716649.pdf). According to the document, higher plants are defined as plants with differentiated roots, stems and leaves in morphology, tissue differentiation in structure, multicellular reproductive organs, and embryos developed from zygotes within the maternal body.

We have supplemented the above definition in the data source and notes of Table 3 in the revised manuscript.

Thank you again for your careful and professional comment.

 

Response to Comment 23 (Table 3): Is there a definition of National Class I and II somewhere? It may help to have that definition in the table legend.

Response: We sincerely apologize for our careless proofreading and greatly appreciate your careful question. In China, the classification of national Class I and Class II protected wild animals and plants is specified in the List of National Key Protected Wild Animals and the List of National Key Protected Wild Plants, both issued by relevant departments of the State Council.

We have supplemented the legal basis for the classification of national Class I and Class II protected wild species in the caption of Table 3, as shown in Lines 595–599 of the revised manuscript. The relevant legal provisions are as follows:According to Article 10 of the Regulations of the People’s Republic of China on the Protection of Wild Plants, the state key protected wild plants are classified into Class I national protected wild plants and Class II national protected wild plants. The list of national key protected wild plants shall be formulated by the competent forestry and agricultural authorities of the State Council (hereinafter referred to as the competent wild plant authorities of the State Council), in consultation with the competent environmental protection, construction and other relevant authorities of the State Council, and submitted to the State Council for approval and promulgation.

According to Article 10 of the Wild Animal Protection Law of the People’s Republic of China, the state implements classified and graded protection of wild animals. The state provides key protection to precious and endangered wild animals. The state key protected wild animals are classified into Class I protected wild animals and Class II protected wild animals. The list of national key protected wild animals shall be formulated by the competent wildlife protection authority of the State Council through scientific demonstration and evaluation, and then submitted to the State Council for approval and promulgation.

Thank you again for your careful and professional comment.

 

Response to Comment 24 (Line 536): Are there other management scientific processes occurring here too that may not be attributed to the Miao customary laws given this is a reserve?

Response: We sincerely apologize for the inaccurate expression and greatly appreciate your careful question. We fully agree with your view. The improvement of biodiversity in Leigongshan National Nature Reserve is the result of the synergy between national-level reserve management measures, local policy implementation, and Miao customary laws, rather than driven by a single factor. The role of Miao customary laws should be positioned as a key complementary force.

We have supplemented and revised the original expression accordingly, as shown in Lines 607–616 of the revised manuscript.

Thank you again for your careful and professional comment.

 

Response to Comment 25 (Line 541): This is redundant as it is already noted in the Table.

Response: We sincerely apologize for our careless proofreading and greatly appreciate your suggestion. We fully agree with your comment and have deleted the entire redundant sentence. The revision is presented in Lines 602–607 of the revised manuscript.

Thank you again for your careful and professional comment.

 

Response to Comment 26 (Table 4): Is this the flying fish end of season ritual or the flying fish end of consumption ritual or neither? It would be helpful to keep all of the terminology and the text similar. Are the ceremonies listed here the pinyin terms? - they are much shorter than the terms in parentheses and could decrease the verbosity of the above paragraph by using pinyin in the text and descriptors only in the table for easy reference.

Response: We sincerely apologize for our careless proofreading and greatly appreciate your valuable suggestion. The first column of Table 4 is classified according to the function and stage of the flying fish ritual within the fishing season, while the second column presents the specific ritual names and forms expressed in the native language of the Tao ethnic group. We have added relevant explanatory notes to the footnote of Table 4, which can be referred to in Lines 651–653 of the revised manuscript.

Thank you again for your careful and professional review.

 

 

Response to Comment 27 (Figure 1): Will this map be in English? Or have English subtitles in the legend?

Response: We sincerely apologize for our careless oversight and greatly appreciate your careful reminder. This map is sourced from the official website of the Ocean Conservation Administration, Ocean Affairs Council of Taiwan, and there is currently no official English version available. To facilitate readers' understanding, we have added detailed supplementary explanations in the caption of Figure 1, as shown in Lines 702–706 of the revised manuscript.

Thank you again for your careful and professional comment.

 

Response to Comment 28 (Table 6): This table also seems unnecessary as the content was directly stipulated in the text above.

Response: We sincerely apologize for our careless proofreading and greatly appreciate your valuable suggestion. We fully accept your advice. To avoid content repetition and keep the manuscript concise, we have deleted the redundant descriptive sentences in the main text while retaining Table 6 for intuitive legal comparison. The relevant revision is shown in Lines 720–726 of the revised manuscript.

Thank you again for your careful and professional comment.

 

Response to Comment 29 (Line 654): Lines 649 to here could be omitted and I would suggest jumping right into the Maasai.

Response: We sincerely apologize for our careless proofreading and greatly appreciate your thoughtful suggestion. We fully agree with your advice and have deleted the redundant paragraphs accordingly, directly moving on to the discussion of the Maasai group. The revision is shown in Lines 730–735 of the revised manuscript.

Thank you again for your careful and professional comment.

 

Response to Comment 30 (Line 654): How does it demonstrate the optimal path?

Response: We sincerely apologize for the inadequate and abrupt expression in the original text and greatly appreciate your insightful question. The original statement regarding the optimal path lacked sufficient logical support and demonstration. We have removed the inappropriate concluding expression and established a clear logical connection between the development process of Amboseli National Park and the optimal path of community participation governance. The revised content is presented in Lines 754–766 of the revised manuscript.

Thank you again for your careful and professional comment.

 

Response to Comment 31 (Line 654): Why is this sentence needed?

Response: We sincerely apologize for our careless proofreading and greatly appreciate your careful inquiry. We fully recognize that this sentence carries no substantial logical or analytical value. We have therefore deleted it entirely. The corresponding revision can be found in Lines 771–772 of the revised manuscript.

Thank you again for your careful and professional comment.

 

Response to Comment 32 (Line 710): Is there evidence of this? There is no citation.

Response: We sincerely apologize for the missing citation and greatly appreciate your careful reminder. We have supplemented relevant literature evidence and added the reference at Line 821 of the revised manuscript as follows: Cornu, L.; Broekhuis, F.; Kavwele, C. M.; Mogensen, N.; Sakat, D.; Briefer, E. F. Coexisting with Carnivores: Insights into Local Attitudes Toward African Wild Dogs (Lycaon pictus) in the Maasai Mara, Kenya. Hum. Dimens. Wildl. 2024, 29(6), 691–707.

Thank you again for your professional and careful comment.

 

Response to Comment 33 (Figure 2): What are artificial records? Do you mean official? Is each dot an individual siting by a park ranger? Does the size of the dot represent abundance? Did the amount of darker green space in the bottom middle not increase since 1965? That seems strange if the land is being managed to foster biodiversity? Why the increase in species if there isn't more available habitat?

Response: We sincerely apologize for the ambiguous description in the original figure caption and greatly appreciate your detailed and thoughtful questions.

This map presents the spatiotemporal distribution of occurrence records of IUCN Red List species in Amboseli National Park from 1965 to 2024. Each dot represents an independent species occurrence record documented by researchers or park rangers, rather than the number of individual organisms. The size of the dots is only designed for visual distinction and does not indicate population abundance.

The dark green area in the bottom middle is delineated based on the official boundary of Amboseli National Park in 2025, serving as a fixed statistical scope to count the frequency of IUCN Red List species records within this zone. The growth in recorded sampling points mainly reflects the enhancement of survey intensity and the improvement of habitat quality, rather than an expansion of the park’s land area.

We have supplemented detailed explanations of data sources, symbol definitions and spatial scope interpretation in the caption of Figure 2, as shown in Lines 877–886 of the revised manuscript.

Thank you again for your rigorous and professional comments.

 

Response to Comment 34 (Table 7): Human records? I'm not sure what that means. The extinct column is unnecessary given once extinct there is no way to have a number here. Extinct in the wild may make sense but not unless there were specific repatriation programs of introductions from captive breeding. Species extinct in the wild wouldn't just reappear.

Response: We sincerely apologize for the confusing expression and greatly appreciate your professional feedback.

Table 7 presents the statistical data corresponding to Figure 2. The term "human records" refers to species occurrence records formally documented on-site by researchers and park rangers in Amboseli National Park.

Meanwhile, we fully accept your rational suggestion. We have removed three redundant columns from Table 7: Extinct (EX), Extinct in the Wild (EW), and Data Deficient (DD), as they are not applicable to the statistical context of this study.

Thank you again for your careful and rigorous comment.

 

Response to Comment 35 (Table 8): It isn't accurate to express this as an annual growth rate from the initial to the final measurement as that would suggest each year this was the increase in the number of species. If those data weren't recorded annually, this is just the term growth and not the annual growth rate.

Response: We sincerely apologize for the inaccurate terminology and greatly appreciate your professional correction. We fully agree with your suggestion. We have renamed the seventh column of Table 8 from Annual Growth Rate to Growth, and revised all corresponding data in this column to overall percentage growth.

Thank you again for your careful and valuable comment.

 

Response to Comment 36 (Line 781, 797, 804, 814, 823, Table 9, Line 856): Multiple questions and suggestions raised at Line 781, 797, 804, 814, 823, Table 9 and Line 856.

Response: We highly appreciate your careful review and insightful comments, which are of great value and inspiration for improving our research.

During the revision, we found that this section has many imperfections. Moreover, the discussion here is less closely aligned with the core theme of the paper and deviates from the research focus of the three-dimensional optimization path. In consideration of academic rigor and manuscript conciseness, we have decided to delete this entire discussion section. The relevant revision is shown in Lines 921–1035 of the revised manuscript.

Thank you again for your rigorous and constructive comment.

 

Response to Comment 37 (Line 905): This seems rather indirectly related to collaboration with Maasai pastoralists. Especially when other variables are not being considered nor is this park being compared with parks that do not collaborate with the Maasai to see what is happening to their elephant populations.

Response: We sincerely apologize for the inappropriate logical attribution in the original text and greatly appreciate your rigorous reminder. To avoid misleading readers and overinterpreting the causal relationship, we have revised the original statement and added necessary caveats and explanations in Lines 1056–1067 of the revised manuscript:

It has played a positive role in increasing the African elephant population from 1,200 individuals in 2010 to 1,870 in 2023. It should be noted that the growth of the African elephant population cannot be entirely attributed to the community participation model; changes in the population may also be affected by multiple factors such as anti-poaching efforts, rainfall patterns, and regional conservation policies. As this study does not include a control group, it only aims to reveal that the collaborative governance between the Maasai community’s traditional grazing agreements and the park’s management regulations has played a positive role in mitigating human-elephant conflict. The magnitude of this contribution, however, requires further verification through comparative studies in future research.

Thank you again for your professional and thoughtful comment.

 

Response to Comment 38 (Line 948): Doesn't this need a citation?

Response: Thank you very much for your careful review and valuable reminder.

The viewpoint presented in this paragraph is an inductive conclusion summarized independently from the three case studies of customary law governance in this paper. By comprehensively analyzing the practical experience and effects of the Miao, Tao and Maasai cases, we logically derive that constructing a diversified ecological compensation system led by national compensation and supplemented by market and smart compensation is the key guarantee for sustaining ecological conservation achievements. This is an original research summary formed from the theoretical analysis and empirical discussion of this study, rather than quoted viewpoints from external literature, so no additional citation is required here.

Thank you again for your rigorous and professional comment.

 

Response to Comment 39 (Line 962): What are these programs? I assume just young Maasai males and not all youth given the structure of these communities? Or are female youth included?

Response: We sincerely apologize for the unclear and inaccurate expression and greatly appreciate your careful question.

We have supplemented a precise and appropriate example: the professional Maasai youth conservation training program launched and implemented by The Maa Trust, a leading local conservation organization in Kenya. Unlike the traditional gender restrictions in Maasai community structure, this program is open to all young men and women in the community, not only young males. It provides systematic courses including ecological monitoring, environmental management, and biodiversity conservation skills.

We have revised the content in Lines 1127–1132 of the revised manuscript as follows: a typical example is the specialized Maasai youth conservation programme run by Kenya’s The Maa Trust. It delivers systematic skill training to young males and females within the community, thereby strengthening local endogenous capacity for independent ecological conservation.

We have also added the reference website:https://www.indigoearthfoundation.com/organizations/the-maa-trust

Thank you again for your rigorous and thoughtful comment.

 

Response to Comment 40 (Line 988): Is this full respect or compromised respect? As pastoralists the Maasai historically moved farther than they currently are able to move for grazing.

Response: We greatly appreciate your insightful and pointed question.

The so-called full respect for Maasai customs and livelihoods in our text refers to adaptive and realistic respect under the current land management and conservation governance framework, rather than unrestricted restoration of their historical long-distance nomadic grazing. Restricted by modern land use planning and protected area boundaries, it is impractical to completely restore the traditional grazing range of the Maasai. The local community co-governance model aims to strike a reasonable balance between wildlife conservation and pastoralists’ livelihoods. Through joint management agreements, rotational grazing zoning and benefit-sharing mechanisms, it respects and retains their core traditional practices such as seasonal grazing and cultural inheritance, enabling the Maasai to participate in conservation as partners rather than being excluded.

To clarify this logical connotation for readers, we have added supplementary explanation in Lines 1166–1171 of the revised manuscript:It should be clarified that the term full respect used here refers to adaptive respect and constructive accommodation of Maasai customary practices and livelihoods within the current land and conservation policy framework, rather than a full restoration of their historical pastoral ranges. The community participation model in question aims to strike a viable balance between conservation goals and pastoral livelihoods, thereby ensuring the long-term sustainability of conservation measures.

Thank you again for your rigorous and thoughtful comment.

 

Response to Comment 41 (Line 1010): Stakeholders who have access to blockchain technology....do ethnic groups have this ability? In what language are these data recorded? How disseminated?

Response: We sincerely apologize for the insufficient clarity in the original expression and greatly appreciate your careful and insightful questions.

We would like to clarify that the "customary law + blockchain" platform does not require ethnic group members to directly master blockchain technology. The project team collaborates closely with local community leaders to translate customary law rules into automatically executable smart contracts. Community members can use the system smoothly without the need to learn complex coding or blockchain operations.

Regarding the language of data recording, the platform adopts a bilingual format: it uses the ethnic group’s native language to preserve the authenticity of their culture, and also uses a common language to facilitate understanding among stakeholders inside and outside the community. As for information dissemination, it is carried out through multiple channels adapted to the community scenario, such as community meetings, bulletin board announcements, a simple mobile APP with a multilingual interface, and an open data dashboard for conservation organizations and researchers.

To help readers better understand our discussion, we have added supplementary explanations in Lines 1189–1197 of the revised manuscript:It should be clarified that the implementation of the customary law + blockchain platform does not require ethnic group members to master blockchain technology directly. Instead, technical teams collaborate with communities to translate customary law rules into smart contracts, which are then executed automatically by the system. Data is stored bilingually in both the ethnic group’s native language and a common language, preserving cultural authenticity while facilitating cross-stakeholder sharing. Information is disseminated through multiple channels, including community announcements, mobile applications, and online platforms, ensuring that community members can easily access conservation rules and relevant records.

Thank you again for your rigorous and professional comment.

 

Response to Comment 42 (Line 1017): I'm not familiar with the Maio people of Leishan but for how long has this system been in place? Is it working for families? Has this affected any traditional roles in the groups?

Response: Thank you sincerely for your careful and insightful questions.Regarding the system of customary law among the Maio ethnic group in Leishan County, it has been formally implemented in written form as part of the village regulations and conventions since the 1950s.

In terms of its effectiveness for families, this customary law system has indeed played a positive role: it helps reduce the burden of human relationships (such as excessive gift-giving and social gatherings), effectively resolves neighborhood disputes through traditional mediation mechanisms, and further enhances the sense of belonging and happiness of local families.

As for its impact on traditional roles within the group, this system has brought about positive changes — especially through mechanisms like the "Aunt Court" (a community mediation platform led by women), women have gained new public roles in community governance beyond their traditional family roles, which has promoted gender equality and enriched the participation of community members in public affairs.

Thank you again for your valuable comments, which help us further improve the rigor and comprehensiveness of our research.

 

Response to Comment 43 (Line 1035): Are there data to support this claim?

Response: We greatly appreciate your careful query and rigorous academic reminder.

After careful verification, we have not found available empirical data or existing literature evidence to support this statement, and conducting targeted field social surveys to obtain relevant data is currently difficult to implement. Meanwhile, we notice that the discussion in this paragraph is repetitive with the previous content. For the sake of academic rigor and manuscript conciseness, we decide to delete the entire paragraph directly. The revision is recorded in Lines 1212–1227 of the revised manuscript.

Thank you again for your professional and thoughtful comment.

 

Response to Comment 44 (Line 1076): I don't disagree that higher education undergraduate students need to learn science as well as humanities and social sciences- especially if they are to work outside of their own cultural framework. However, many institutions have degrees like these so I'm not sure I see how this is quickly supplying society. Students would need classroom work, lab work in the sciences, and then to spend a considerable amount of time with a specific ethnic group before being able to make significant and lasting change. That's not quick.

Response: We sincerely appreciate your rigorous and insightful comment, which helps us further clarify the core meaning of our argument. We fully agree with your viewpoint that cultivating professional talents capable of working effectively across cultures requires substantial investment in classroom learning and long-term practice within specific communities.

The term "quickly" in our research does not mean that students can become fully mature practitioners in a short period of time. Instead, it emphasizes the structural advantages of the interdisciplinary training pathway itself: by integrating customary law, ecological science, and community practice into the curriculum system, we can adopt diverse modern educational methods to optimize the training process — such as online general education courses, virtual simulation experiments, case-based seminars, and short-term field training. For institutions with sufficient conditions, customized talent training programs can be launched to further improve the training effect.

Compared with the traditional model where students learn these skills scattered after graduation, this integrated training pathway can effectively shorten the cycle from students’ graduation to their ability to make meaningful professional contributions. At the same time, we also emphasize that this pathway does not replace the subsequent long-term practice with specific ethnic groups; on the contrary, it lays a solid foundation for students to engage in practical work and achieve lasting results in cross-cultural scenarios.

Thank you again for your professional reminder, which helps us improve the accuracy and rigor of our argument.

 

Response to Comment 45 (Line 1079): This is an interesting but lofty idea. Are there current VR technologies that would support that VR can lend itself to cultural affinity or greater reverence for something? If this is expensive, I'm not sure how it would be backed and profitable.

Response: We greatly appreciate your thoughtful and realistic questioning on the feasibility and sustainability of the VR application proposal.

In terms of technical and theoretical support, existing studies have confirmed that immersive virtual reality can significantly enhance people’s empathy, cultural affinity and reverence for other cultures through embodied cognition and spatial presence. A series of experiments conducted by Stanford University’s Virtual Human Interaction Lab have verified that participants who experienced role immersion as coral reefs, wild animals, or members of different ethnic groups in VR showed stronger willingness for environmental conservation and cross-cultural respect in subsequent real behaviors. In addition, UNESCO has also adopted VR immersive experience in several intangible cultural heritage and heritage education projects, proving that relevant technologies and practical cases are already available rather than merely conceptual assumptions.

Regarding cost and operational sustainability, our proposal is primarily an academic and public welfare-oriented communication pathway, rather than a commercial profit-driven product. Its implementation can be supported through multiple feasible approaches: applying for cultural heritage protection funds, public welfare venture capital, or university research grants; cooperating with museums, nature reserves and visitor centers to embed VR experiences as offline exhibition items to share operational costs; and adopting a step-by-step development strategy by launching low-cost prototypes such as 360° panoramic videos with simple interaction first to verify practical effects before technical upgrading.

Moreover, relevant ecological education games and VR cultural experiences can be operated as open educational resources or low-charge public projects, prioritizing cultural inheritance and public education rather than commercial profitability. Even if large-scale VR popularization faces practical constraints in the short term, alternative low-cost and promotable solutions such as IP-based cultural narration and gamified education can still be implemented independently.

Thank you again for your valuable comment that helps us refine the rationality and practicality of our discussion.

 

Response to Comment 46 (Line 1138): italics are needed for scientific names

Response: We sincerely appreciate your professional and meticulous suggestion, and we apologize sincerely for the oversight in the original manuscript due to inadequate proofreading.

In accordance with academic norms for scientific naming, we have corrected the formatting of the scientific names in the revised manuscript. Specifically, at Line 1327 of the revised version, the scientific names have been updated to Amentotaxus argotaenia and Davidia involucrata (with italics added as required).

Thank you again for your careful review and valuable correction, which helps us improve the quality of the research manuscript.

 

Response to Comment 47 (Line 1155): How is that defined?

Response: We greatly appreciate your thoughtful question on the definitional boundary of relevant behaviors.

The classification of minor violations and legal offenses is mainly defined by the degree of social harm. In practice, law enforcement authorities follow the Public Security Administration Punishment Law and relevant judicial principles, comprehensively considering behavioral nature, specific circumstances, subjective intent and actual consequences.

Minor inappropriate acts eligible for village elder mediation generally refer to those with remarkably trivial circumstances and negligible social harm, which do not constitute a crime or administrative punishment. Typical cases include picking a small number of non-protected wild plants due to insufficient legal awareness without causing severe ecological damage.

By contrast, acts that need to be transferred to judicial organs refer to violations of the Criminal Law or administrative regulations deserving official penalties, such as illegal hunting with prohibited tools or logging of nationally protected plants. Such behaviors carry sufficient social harm to warrant intervention by state public power.

In practical governance, minor acts that do not constitute a crime are handled by traditional community elders through criticism, education and ordered ecological restoration. Once behaviors meet the criteria for administrative punishment or criminal filing, they will be seamlessly transferred to township law enforcement and judicial procedures. This mechanism gives full play to the flexible governance advantages of customary law while strictly adhering to the bottom line of national laws.

Thank you again for your rigorous comment that helps us clarify the definitional criteria and logical boundaries in our research.

 

Response to Comment 48 (Line 1160): Who pays for that? You need training and salary.

Response: We greatly appreciate your incisive question regarding funding, training and salary support.

The relevant arrangement is grounded in China’s existing mature institutional system. Salaries and training expenses for ecological forest rangers are included in special budgets at both central and local fiscal levels. As stipulated in the Administrative Measures for Ecological Forest Rangers and the Measures for the Administration of Forestry and Grassland Ecological Conservation and Restoration Funds jointly issued by national authorities, the annual subsidy for each ecological forest ranger follows the national standard and is directly allocated via the special fiscal fund system. Training costs are independently arranged as special funds from local finance. Pre-job training and annual continuing education are mandatory institutional requirements, and rangers are not permitted to take up their post without completing relevant training.

Thank you again for your valuable reminder that helps make our institutional discussion more solid and practical.

 

Response to Comment 49 (Line 1163): There is so far no mention of the possible negatives of ecotourism.

Response: We sincerely appreciate your valuable observation and thoughtful reminder.

In this chapter, our discussion of ecotourism only focuses on its function as an integral part of the diversified ecological compensation system within the research cases. The aim here is to illustrate how the three-dimensional optimization framework operates in practice, and how market mechanisms such as community-managed ecotourism reconcile ecological conservation and local livelihood demands. A comprehensive systematic analysis of the environmental, social and cultural risks brought by ecotourism goes beyond the research scope and thematic focus of this paper.

We fully acknowledge the existing potential negative impacts of ecotourism in real practice. From the perspective of this study centered on customary law, the intervention of traditional community governance inherently contains targeted solutions to such risks. Through elder deliberation mechanisms, village regulations and traditional cultural taboos, local communities can restrict over-commercial development, standardize tourist behaviors, and protect cultural spaces and natural habitats. This constrains ecotourism development within the boundaries of community consensus and ecological carrying capacity, which implicitly responds to the potential downsides of ecotourism.

Thank you again for your rigorous comment, which helps us clarify the boundary and logical orientation of our discussion.

 

Response to Comment 50 (Line 1172): On what are these percentages based?

Response: We sincerely appreciate your careful observation and valuable suggestion, and we fully agree with your point. In the revised manuscript, we have adjusted the specific percentage figures to qualitative descriptions such as the majority, a considerable portion, and a small part. These descriptions serve as a conceptual framework to illustrate how the benefit-sharing mechanism should be designed to balance the three core goals of ecological conservation, community livelihoods, and sustainable development.

Specifically, the design logic of the benefit-sharing mechanism is as follows: First, prioritize the direct livelihood benefits of residents (the majority) — to establish effective participation motivation, most of the income generated from conservation efforts must be directly distributed to local households. This is consistent with the core principle of community-based conservation, where strong direct incentives are crucial to reducing unsustainable resource use behaviors. Second, re-invest in collective conservation work (a considerable portion) — a significant share of the funds must be allocated to collective conservation needs such as habitat restoration and patrol equipment maintenance, to ensure the health and sustainability of the ecosystem itself, which is also a common and necessary practice in cooperative management models. Third, support community development (a small part) — allocating an appropriate proportion of funds to community infrastructure construction helps reflect the connection between ecological conservation and the overall well-being of the community, thereby enhancing collective support for conservation projects.

By adopting qualitative descriptions, we avoid presenting these distribution plans as rigid mandatory numerical values, and instead focus on the functional logic of the benefit-sharing model. The relevant revisions are reflected in Lines 1357–1364 of the revised manuscript.

Thank you again for your rigorous comment, which helps us improve the accuracy and rigor of the research discussion.

 

Response to Comment 51 (Line 1180): Location of rare species can sometimes lead to increased illegal poaching.

Response: We highly appreciate your professional reminder and fully agree with your viewpoint. The risk that publicizing the location information of rare species may trigger intensified illegal poaching is widely recognized in conservation practice.

In response to this concern, the blockchain-based system we proposed adopts encrypted storage and hierarchical authorization mechanisms to avoid such risks. Sensitive raw data such as precise coordinates of rare species are processed through desensitization and geographic blurring. The original high-precision data are only accessible to internal community members and authorized supervisors and researchers. The information displayed on public mobile applications is anonymized with reduced precision. Real-time data such as patrol records are stored separately immediately after upload, enabling traceability and performance assessment without exposing sensitive high-risk location details.

Similar practical precedents already exist. For instance, Māori communities in New Zealand have developed applications integrating blockchain and geographic masking tools to protect the precise distribution of culturally valuable and rare species, while allowing necessary data sharing with research institutions. Furthermore, traditional forest protection conventions and community co-governance mechanisms inherent in local ethnic groups have embedded conservation knowledge within the community, reducing reliance on externally released precise spatial data.

Thank you again for your thoughtful and rigorous comment that improves the practical rationality of our research design.

 

Response to Comment 52 (Line 1189): Many times graduates educated in larger cities do not wish to return to rural homelands.

Response: We highly appreciate your insightful comment and fully acknowledge the common phenomenon that many graduates educated in big cities are reluctant to go back to rural hometowns. Nevertheless, we argue that this dilemma cannot be simply attributed to personal willingness, but needs to be addressed through rational institutional design.

The talent training framework proposed in this study adopts a targeted enrollment, tailored training and designated employment model, which is specially designed to solve this practical problem.

1.This model prioritizes recruiting local students. It has been widely piloted and promoted across China, with supportive policies such as guaranteed establishment posts upon enrollment and secured job opportunities after graduation. University-local cooperation for customized talent training in agriculture and ecological conservation majors has achieved remarkable results in ethnic minority and remote areas. Relevant practical programs have maintained a high employment rate for local graduates, providing a proven reference for cultivating interdisciplinary conservation talents who can serve their hometown communities as ecological instructors after graduation.

2.Complete supporting institutional guarantees form a closed-loop guarantee system. Setting full-time ecological forest ranger positions in villages with stable fiscal subsidies and standardized career training provides solid job security for returning graduates. The salary of ecological forest rangers is covered by special central and provincial financial funds, while pre-job training and annual continuing education are set as mandatory requirements. With stable posts, guaranteed income and clear career development paths, returning to hometowns becomes a reliable professional choice rather than relying merely on personal emotional attachment.

3.Practical practices in ethnic minority regions have further verified the feasibility of this approach. With sound policy support and industrial development foundations, an increasing number of local college graduates have chosen to return to rural areas to take grassroots governance and ecological conservation positions, driving the development of collective economy and community construction. These cases indicate that the core constraint limiting graduates’ return is not subjective unwillingness, but the lack of institutional access and attractive career prospects. Reasonable institutional arrangement and supporting welfare policies can effectively reverse the tendency of talent outflow and guide educated young people to serve local ecological and cultural conservation.

Thank you again for your valuable suggestion.

 

 

Response to Comment 53 (Line 1216): Is there documentation that these strategies do what you are saying in this sentence?

Response: We greatly appreciate your rigorous reminder about academic citation. We fully accept your suggestion and have supplemented four authoritative references to provide solid documentation for our arguments, as listed below:

1.Liu, Y. L., & Leng, J. (2022). Research on the collaborative ecological governance path of multiple rural subjects under the rural revitalization strategy. Journal of Yunnan University of Finance and Economics, 38(11), 100–110. https://doi.org/10.16537/j.cnki.jynufe.000822

2.Xie, H. L., & Li, Z. Y. (2023). Multi-agent collaborative mechanism and path for the realization of ecological product value in the field of natural resources. Journal of Natural Resources, 38(12), 2933–2949. https://doi.org/10.31497/zrzyxb.20231201

3.Wang, P., He, S. Q., & Su, H. Y. (2025). Realization mechanism of the enriching effect of carbon sink ecological products in national parks. National Parks, 3(11), 691–700. https://doi.org/10.20152/j.np.202510140099

4.Zeng, W., & Yang, W. S. (2026). Ethnic ecological culture empowering the construction of a beautiful China: Connotation, value and approach—Taking the construction of beautiful Guizhou as an example. Journal of Inner Mongolia Minzu University (Philosophy and Social Sciences), 52(1), 104–115. https://doi.org/10.14045/j. cnki.nmsx.2026.01.006

Thank you again for your careful and professional comment, which helps us improve the academic rigor and persuasiveness of our manuscript.

 

Response to Comment 54 (Line 1229): I expected after reading this to see that this was implemented as a 'case study' in this ethnic group but there are no data that this was implemented. Instead it is being proposed and assuming that it will do what it was intended to do in an ideal world and stating it in ways that sound like it was done, but it wasn't. It's a confusing thought experiment that reinforces its own assumptions by predicting its correct.

Response: We sincerely thank you for your candid and critical comment, and we fully acknowledge your point that the institutional design proposed for the Buyi ethnic group lacks on-site implementation evidence and empirical data in the current manuscript.

We would like to clarify the positioning and research orientation of this paper. This study is a path-proposing and theoretical refinement research based on comparative analysis of multiple existing mature cases, rather than an empirical field investigation or implemented case study of the Buyi community. By systematically sorting out the practical measures and conservation outcomes of the Miao, Tao, and Maasai groups in three dimensions—policy formulation and implementation, community participation and co-governance, as well as cultural inheritance and education—this paper aims to logically summarize and derive a three-dimensional optimization framework for biodiversity conservation.

The relevant framework and institutional arrangement for the Buyi group are proposed through logical deduction and theoretical generalization drawn from proven successful experiences of typical existing cases, rather than a completed local practice with verified operational data. We recognize that the current discussion is theoretical and prospective in nature, and it does not attempt to present the proposed framework as already implemented practice.

In our follow-up research, we will conduct long-term tracking of the practical application of this three-dimensional path in ethnic minority regions. We plan to carry out targeted empirical investigations in due course, so as to test, revise and further improve the rationality and practicality of the proposed framework with real field data.

Thank you again for your rigorous and pointed feedback, which helps us clearly define the research boundary, avoid narrative ambiguity, and lay a solid foundation for subsequent empirical expansion of this topic.

 

Response to Comment 55 (Table 10): This alone is a gigantic undertaking of financial input, natural history of species which may not exist, and time intensive. Abundance data are time intensive whereas presence/absence through the use of eDNA would be more cost effective and time appropriate.

Response: We sincerely appreciate your highly constructive and practical feedback.

After careful consideration, we have decided to remove the entire relevant section and Table 10 to keep the manuscript focused on the core discussion of the three-dimensional optimization framework without unnecessary extended speculation.

We fully agree with your insightful observation. Conducting comprehensive species abundance monitoring and systematic habitat quality assessment in remote ethnic minority regions does impose enormous constraints on funding, baseline species natural history data, and long-term time investment. It is important to clarify that the original table was intended only as a conceptual evaluation framework, listing ideal indicators for assessing conservation outcomes under customary law-based governance, rather than a rigid, fully prescriptive implementation plan that must be followed strictly in practice.

We entirely endorse your practical suggestion that adopting eDNA-based presence/absence surveys represents a far more cost-effective and time-efficient alternative to labor-intensive long-term abundance monitoring. This approach aligns perfectly with our research framework: species occurrence and occupancy data acquired via eDNA together with community citizen science monitoring can serve as a realistic substitute for rigorous abundance surveys. Habitat quality evaluation can also be achieved through periodic line transect surveys combined with remote sensing interpretation, avoiding sustained high investment in continuous ecological monitoring.

We acknowledge that specific implementation arrangements including monitoring methodology selection, budget allocation and time schedules should be flexibly adjusted according to local conditions and available resources in practical application.

Thank you again for your valuable comment, which greatly improves the practical rationality and feasibility of our research design.

 

Response to Comment 56 (Table 10): Font shift?

Response: We sincerely apologize for the font inconsistency caused by insufficient proofreading. We have carefully checked and standardized the font format throughout surrounding text to ensure uniform typesetting and layout compliance with journal formatting requirements.

Thank you very much for your careful review and meticulous correction.

 

Response to Comment 57 (Line 1326): The market for TCM is expected to grow with the Belt and Road initiative but researchers are also cautioning that growth could lead to additional traffiking in illegal collections and the inability to ID species sold to a specific legal region (or sometimes even to species if plant or animal parts are the commodity and without genetics analysis cannot be traced by customs and enforcement to a protected species).

Response: We sincerely appreciate your in-depth and rigorous review, and fully agree with your concern that the growth of the TCM market may exacerbate illegal wildlife trade—this is a realistic risk that cannot be ignored. Although we have decided to remove the entire relevant section to focus on the core research theme, we would like to respond to your valuable question in detail:

1.This risk has been fully documented by international authoritative conservation organizations. Smuggling cases involving medicinal materials listed in the CITES appendices occur frequently, which is a proven practical challenge rather than a theoretical assumption. We fully recognize the severity of this issue and its potential impact on biodiversity conservation.

2.The institutional framework proposed in our study embeds dual technical response mechanisms to address this risk. On the port law enforcement side, DNA barcoding technology can effectively break through the bottleneck of visual identification—solving the problem that some TCM materials are incomplete in form and cannot be accurately identified to the species level through visual observation alone. On the source governance side, the blockchain traceability system realizes full-process traceability of medicinal materials from production areas to customs, clearly distinguishing legally sourced products from illegally collected ones, and providing strong technical support for law enforcement supervision.

3.The fundamental proposition of this study is that the modernization of ethnic customary law guided by cultural confidence should move beyond the traditional model of "over-reliance on wild species consumption" and transform into standardized and scientific management capabilities. By integrating species identification technology into community governance and converting on-chain compliance into economic incentives for local communities, we can align the development of the TCM market with ecological protection. Only in this way can a "prosperous market" not damage the "fragile ecology", and conservation can become a voluntary choice consistent with the interests of ethnic groups, rather than an external restrictive measure.

We fully agree with your prudent judgment that "grand narratives often rely on accurate prediction of practical risks". Your reminder helps us further improve the comprehensiveness and rigor of our research, and we will pay more attention to the balance between industrial development and ecological protection in subsequent studies.

Thank you again for your valuable comment.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

Are official reports/statements always trustworthy?

There is an extent to which reported increases may be due to more intensive surveys.

Overall clear presentation; good examples; some redundancy; perhaps your results could be presented more simply.

Comments for author File: Comments.pdf

Author Response

Are official reports/statements always trustworthy?

There is an extent to which reported increases may be due to more intensive surveys.

Overall clear presentation; good examples; some redundancy; perhaps your results could be presented more simply.

 

Reply to Reviewer 2 (Red-track changes)

Dear Professor Reviewer,

Thank you very much for your valuable comments and suggestions on this study. The line numbers mentioned in your review refer to the lines in the original submitted manuscript, while the line numbers in our response refer to the lines in the revised manuscript. All revisions made according to your suggestions have been highlighted in red in the revised manuscript. Detailed responses are provided below.

 

Response to Comment on Line 15: Revision of the underlined sentence at Line 15: perspective of ethnic ecological intelligence

Response: We sincerely apologize for the oversight due to inadequate proofreading. We have revised the expression at Line 15 in the revised manuscript to: This research is based on the perspective of ethnic ecological wisdom.

Thank you greatly for your careful review and correction.

 

Response to Comment on Line 16: Revision of the underlined sentence at Line 16: Miao in the ethnic minority regions of Southwest China

Response: We sincerely appreciate your careful review and valuable reminder. We apologize for the inaccurate expression in the original text, which was caused by our insufficient rigor in wording.

We have revised the content at Line 16 in the revised manuscript to: Miao ethnic group in Southwest China. This revision clarifies the specific subject (the Miao ethnic group) and corrects the ambiguous expression, making the description more accurate and rigorous, in line with academic writing standards.

Thank you again for your meticulous attention to detail, which helps us improve the quality of the manuscript and avoid potential misunderstandings in expression.

 

Response to Comment on Line 17: Revision of the underlined sentence at Line 17: Tao people in Orchid Island (Lanyu), Taiwan.

Response: We sincerely apologize for the imprecise expression caused by our careless proofreading. We have revised the sentence at Line 17 in the revised manuscript to: Tao ethnic group on Orchid Island (Lanyu), Taiwan.

Thank you very much for your careful review and correction.

 

Response to Comment on Line 17: The underlined fragment at Line 17: Maasai on.

Response: We sincerely apologize for the incomplete and non-standard expression due to our negligence in proofreading. We have revised it in the revised manuscript at Line 17 to the standardized academic expression: Maasai ethnic group.

Thank you for your careful review and pointing out the mistake.

 

Response to Comment on Line 20: Underlined sentence at Line 20: case studies of three ethnic groups

Response: We sincerely apologize for the imprecise expression caused by careless proofreading. We have revised the sentence at Lines 20–21 in the revised manuscript to:the ecological conservation wisdom models of the Miao, Tao and Maasai ethnic groups.

Thank you greatly for your meticulous review and valuable correction.

 

Response to Comment on Lines 37–38: Revise the underlined sentence: from 1970 to 2020, the average size of monitored wildlife populations declined by 73%.

Response: We sincerely apologize for the non-standard wording due to inadequate proofreading. We have revised the sentence at Lines 40–41 in the revised manuscript to:over the past 50 years (1970–2020), the average size of monitored wildlife populations has shrunk by 73%.

Thank you very much for your careful review and correction.

 

Response to Comment on Lines 45-46: The underlined sentence: the number of critically endangered species increased from 2,325 in 2013 to 3,951 in 2022.

Response: We sincerely apologize for the insufficiently rigorous writing and proofreading. We have revised the content at Lines 48–50 in the revised manuscript to: the number of Critically Endangered species increased from 2,325 in 2013 to 3,951 in 2022, while the number of Endangered species rose from 3,444 in 2013 to 6,162 in 2022.

Thank you very much for your careful review and professional correction.

 

Response to Comment on Lines 57-58: Underlined sentence at Lines 57-58: growing recognition of the value of traditional knowledge and sustainable practices.

Response: We sincerely apologize for the overly concise and incomplete expression due to our careless proofreading. We have revised the sentence at Lines 61-64 in the revised manuscript to: The summary highlights that both in global policy forums and within the scientific community, there is a growing recognition of the value of traditional knowledge and sustainable practices that embody the ecological wisdom of ethnic groups.

Thank you greatly for your meticulous review and valuable revision suggestion.

 

Response to Comment on Lines 73-74: Underlined sentence at Lines 73-74: practices that arise from the ethnic groups’ own living environments and their innate simple ecological concepts become a specific form of environmental behavior.

Response: We sincerely apologize for the awkward sentence structure and inaccurate expression resulting from inadequate polishing and proofreading. We have revised the sentence at Lines 80-84 in the revised manuscript to: Though shaped by ethnic groups’ living surroundings and their inherent simple ecological ethics, such practices constitute a specific type of environmental behavioral norm and play a vital role in biodiversity conservation, sustainat Line 17le utilization of biological resources, and ecological protection.

Thank you very much for your careful review and thoughtful guidance on linguistic improvement.

 

Response to Comment on Line 88: The underlined sentence at Line 88: uncovering the ecological wisdom of different groups.

Response: We sincerely appreciate your careful review and valuable suggestion. Recognizing that the original expression of the research purpose was too vague and lacked clarity, we have made adjustments by deleting redundant content and rewriting the relevant section to clearly define the research objectives.

The revised content at Lines 97–102 in the modified manuscript is as follows: By systematically sorting out the effective measures and practical conservation achievements of integrating the ecological wisdom of the Miao, Tao, and Maasai ethnic groups into eco-conservation customary laws from three dimensions—policy formulation and implementation, community participation and cooperation, and cultural inheritance and education—this study attempts to summarize a three-dimensional optimization path applicable to global biodiversity conservation.

This revision not only clarifies the research scope and core methods but also makes the research purpose more specific and rigorous, avoiding the ambiguity of the original expression. Thank you again for your careful guidance, which helps us further improve the academic standard and logical rigor of the manuscript.

 

Response to Comment on Line 97: Are official websites reliable sources?

Response: We sincerely appreciate your rigorous question about source reliability. We apologize for the incomplete citation in the original text due to our insufficient proofreading.

We have revised the content at Lines 108–111 in the revised manuscript to clearly list authoritative official websites as reliable sources: official websites including Leishan People's Government (http://www.leishan.gov.cn), Lanyu Township Government (https://lanyu.taitung.gov.tw/), Amboseli National Park (https://www.kws.go.ke/amboseli-national-park), and the Ocean Conservation Administration of Taiwan Ocean Affai-rs Council (https://www.oca.gov.tw/).

Thank you very much for your careful review and professional reminder.

 

Response to Comment on Lines 100-101: laws related to flying fish fishing of the Tao people in Taiwan, and the Maasai people's customary practices for ecological protection by delineating areas and periods in Africa

Response: We sincerely apologize for the incomplete sentence and inappropriate wording caused by our negligence in proofreading. We have revised the relevant content at Lines 145–149 in the revised manuscript to: This study elaborates the full discussion by combining the ecological protection customary laws of the Miao ethnic group in Leishan County, the flying fishery customary laws of the Tao ethnic group in Taiwan, and the zonal and seasonal ecological protection customary laws of the Maasai ethnic group in Africa.

The revised version fixes the incomplete ending of the original sentence, standardizes the appellation and expression of each ethnic group and region, and makes the academic wording more accurate and standardized.

Thank you very much for your meticulous review and valuable correction.

 

Response to Comment on Lines 115–116: Underlined sentence: Customary law of ethnic groups has not been specifically defined in the international academic community.

Response: We sincerely apologize for the inaccurate and inappropriate statement caused by careless proofreading and imprecise wording. We have revised the original sentence at Line 182 in the revised manuscript concisely to:With regard to customary law.

Thank you greatly for your careful review and kindly correction.

 

Response to Comment on Lines 180-181: Underlined sentence: many fishing activities have destroyed marine habitats.

Response: We sincerely apologize for the improper expression due to insufficient proofreading. We have deleted this entire sentence completely, and the revision is recorded at Line 246 in the revised manuscript.

Thank you very much for your careful review and valuable feedback.

 

Response to Comment on Lines 192-193: Underlined sentence: people’s awareness of biodiversity conservation.

Response: We sincerely apologize for the non-standard expression caused by inadequate proofreading. We have revised it at Lines 258–259 in the revised manuscript to:public awareness of biodiversity conservation.

Thank you very much for your careful review and correction.

 

Response to Comment on Lines 233-234: The underlined sentence and its context: reconstruct or redefine the relationship between the Maasai people and wildlife.

Response: We sincerely apologize for the oversimplified expression and inadequate contextual explanation due to careless proofreading. We have revised and supplemented the whole paragraph including the original sentence at Lines 299-302 in the revised manuscript to: Just as in Amboseli, Kenya, the conflict over land between humans and animals has persisted for a long time. To ease this tension, over the past half-century, efforts have been made to reconstruct and redefine the relationship between the Maasai ethnic group and wildlife.

Thank you very much for your meticulous review and valuable revision suggestion.

 

Response to Comment on Lines 236–238: Underlined sentence: Mindanao in the Philippines, people rely on marine resources for their livelihood and understand coral reefs are important habitats for fish. The destruction caused by dynamite fishing is substantial.

Response: We sincerely apologize for the awkward sentence structure and inaccurate wording. We have revised the content at Lines 303–305 in the revised manuscript to: In terms of specific national practices, some ethnic groups along the coast of Mindanao, the Philippines, rely on marine resources for their livelihoods. They are fully aware that coral reefs serve as vital habitats for fish, and that blast fishing causes severe damage to coral reefs.

Thank you very much for your careful review and professional guidance on linguistic polishing.

 

Response to Comment on Lines 240–241: Underlined sentence: The Maya clan, living in the Raja Ampat Islands of Indonesia, has developed certain behavioral restrictions out of reverence for the sea.

Response: We sincerely apologize for the vague and oversimplified expression. We have revised and expanded the content at Lines 307–310 in the revised manuscript to: The Maya clan inhabiting the Raja Ampat Islands of Indonesia have formulated rules such as prohibiting overfishing and destructive fishing practices out of reverence for the ocean. These norms have been passed down within the ethnic group by word of mouth.

Thank you greatly for your careful review and valuable suggestions for expression improvement.

 

Response to Comment on Lines 254–257: The underlined quotation: “All villagers shall collectively purchase the soil on Shuikou Mountain, known as Huangyuan Ridge.” The prohibitions state: “Villagers are forbidden to enter the mountain suddenly to steal firewood, extract stones, or damage Shuikou. Those caught shall be severely fined one tael of silver.

Response: We sincerely apologize for the inaccurate and oversimplified translation of the ancient inscribed text. This passage is excerpted from the ecological customary law stele in Fujian during the Ming Dynasty. We have fully revised and polished the content at Lines 322–328 in the revised manuscript for academic accuracy and formal expression: No one shall trespass into the mountains to steal firewood, quarry stones, or damage the water entrance and geomantic landscape. Anyone caught or witnessed violating this rule shall be heavily fined one tael of fine silver. For all villagers collectively, any stubborn offenders shall be reported to the authorities for legal punishment, without any leniency. This inscription is made to protect the trees, water passages, mountains and soil, shelter the village’s geomantic fortune, secure prosperity of residents and wealth, and ensure everlasting prosperity and thriving development for all time.

Thank you very much for your careful review and professional correction.

 

Response to Comment on Lines 265–266: Underlined sentence: no one is allowed to cross boundaries to cut down trees.

Response: We sincerely apologize for the overly simplistic and imprecise translation of the ancient customary law clause. This passage is excerpted from ecological protection customary law in Yunnan during the Ming Dynasty. To faithfully retain the original legal connotation and contextual details, we have fully revised and supplemented the relevant content at Lines 331–338 in the revised manuscript: It is stipulated that forests in mountain valleys shall be conserved to nourish water sources and shelter farmland. All households of Dongsai Village jointly make this public covenant, which shall be strictly observed by all. No one is allowed to cross the boundary to fell trees. Anyone who violates the prohibition shall be fined three taels of silver, to be used as public funds for god worship rituals. The conserved forest area in the valley extends forward to the seedling fields and backward to the mountain ridge. The forest reserve on the right side of the valley stretches forward to the village temple and backward to the hilltop. The forest reserve on the left side of the valley is confined within the boundary stones.

Thank you very much for your meticulous review and valuable guidance.

 

Response to Comment on Line 274: Underlined sentence: belief that all things possess spirit.

Response: We sincerely apologize for the vague and imprecise wording. We have revised the sentence at Lines 341–342 in the revised manuscript to: This embodies the simple ecological wisdom of ancient Chinese ancestors, who upheld animism and pursued harmonious coexistence between humanity and nature.

Thank you very much for your careful review and valuable revision suggestion.

 

Response to Comment on Lines 287-288: Underlined sentence: establishing traditional resource management institutions.

Response: We sincerely apologize for the overly simplistic and inappropriate expression due to inadequate proofreading. We have revised the relevant content at Lines 355-356 in the revised manuscript to: The ecological wisdom of ethnic groups is often embodied in that administrative institutions manage and supervise natural resources in accordance with customary law.

Thank you very much for your careful review and professional guidance.

 

Response to Comment on Line 290: Underlined sentence: only fallen trees are used for building houses.

Response: We sincerely apologize for the overly concise and incomplete expression caused by insufficient polishing and proofreading. We have revised and supplemented the content at Lines 356–360 in the revised manuscript to enrich the context and standardize academic wording: Such as the Yurok ethnic group in California, who regard coast redwoods as living beings. Traditionally, only fallen coast redwoods are used to build houses and canoes. Accordingly, in the management of coast redwood resources, local governments designate certain areas as specially protected zones in accordance with the customary norms of the Yurok tribe.

Thank you very much for your meticulous review and valuable revision advice.

 

Response to Comment on Lines 292–293: Yurok Tribe became the first tribe in the United States to designate a tribal Indigenous Marine Stewardship.

Response: We sincerely apologize for the inaccurate and oversimplified statement in the original sentence. We have revised the content at Lines 360–363 of the revised manuscript with precise and complete academic expression: Therefore, in California, the Yurok-Tolowa-Dee-ni’ Indigenous Marine Stewardship Area, jointly established by the Resighini Yurok Tribe, the Tolowa Dee-ni’ Nation and the Cher-Ae Heights Indian Community, has become the first tribally designated marine protected area in the United States.

Thank you very much for your careful review and valuable guidance on wording accuracy.

 

Response to Comment on Line 301: Underlined word: Tibetan.

Response: We sincerely apologize for the non-standard and incomplete expression due to careless proofreading. We have revised the term at Line 370 in the revised manuscript to the standardized academic wording: Tibetan ethnic group.

Thank you very much for your careful review and correction.

 

Response to Comment on Lines 312–313: Underlined sentence: ancient plants predominantly exist in temples, sacred sites, and other locations dedicated to blessings and worship.

Response:We sincerely apologize for the inappropriate wording and inaccurate statement caused by insufficient proofreading. We have deleted this entire sentence, and the revision is recorded at Lines 376–377 in the revised manuscript.

Thank you very much for your careful review and valuable feedback.

 

Response to Comment on Line 337: Underlined sentence: 20 years of protection have attracted numerous migratory birds to return.

Response: We sincerely apologize for the inappropriate and unsubstantiated statement due to inadequate proofreading. We have deleted this entire sentence, with the revision recorded at Lines 391–393 in the revised manuscript.

Thank you very much for your meticulous review and valuable correction

 

Response to Comment on Lines 358–360 and Line 362: Phrases custom stronger than state law and coexist with state law.

Response: We highly appreciate your professional comment. We fully recognize that state law holds supreme legal authority and serves as the fundamental guarantee for national governance, while customary law only acts as an important auxiliary part of the national governance system. Since the subsequent context already elaborates this logical connotation, we have deleted these inappropriate expressions entirely. The revision is recorded at Lines 414–420 in the revised manuscript.

Thank you very much for your rigorous review and valuable academic guidance.

 

Response to Comment on Line 385: Underlined sentence: clarify the distinction between customs and customary law

Response: We greatly appreciate your careful and rigorous review of this research. After careful consideration, we maintain that it is necessary to retain the discussion and clarify the conceptual distinction between custom and customary law. Without such differentiation, it may lead to the arbitrary generalization of ordinary customs as customary law, weaken the authority of formal state law, and even cause confusion in legal governance and theoretical logic.

We welcome further academic discussion if you have different opinions.

Thank you sincerely for your valuable comments.

 

Response to Comment on Lines 392–393: Underlined sentence: Broadly speaking, customs that have not undergone long-term practical verification are temporarily referred to as customs and cannot be classified as customary law.

Response: We sincerely appreciate your careful review and professional feedback. After careful consideration, we confirm this statement is unnecessary for the theoretical framework of the paper and have deleted the entire sentence. The revision is documented at Lines 449–451 in the revised manuscript.

Thank you very much for your valuable guidance and careful scrutiny.

 

Response to Comment on Line 394: Underlined phrase: mountain closure

Response: We sincerely apologize for the oversimplified and imprecise expression. We have revised it at Lines 451–452 in the revised manuscript to the complete and academically standardized wording: the Dong ethnic group has a traditional custom of closing mountains for afforestation.

Thank you very much for your careful review and valuable correction.

 

Response to Comment on Line 420: Underlined sentence: Yilang is a deliberative council organization within the daily life of the Miao people

Response: We sincerely apologize for the inaccurate and non-standard expression. We have revised the sentence at Lines 477–478 in the revised manuscript to: The Yilang Regulations is a deliberative assembly organization in the life of the Miao ethnic group inhabiting southwestern China.

Thank you very much for your careful review and professional correction.

 

Response to Comment on Lines 424–425: Underlined sentence: traditional customs passed down by the Miao people for generations are endowed with legal significance.

Response:We appreciate your rigorous review of the manuscript. After checking, we find this statement redundant in context and have deleted the entire sentence accordingly. The revision is recorded at Lines 482–484 in the revised manuscript.

Thank you very much for your valuable comments and careful scrutiny.

 

Response to Comment on Line 433: Underlined sentence: the rules are carved on stones to symbolize their unshakable status.

Response: We greatly appreciate your careful review and professional suggestion. Inscribing rules on stone tablets is a unique cultural manifestation of the Yilang regulations among the Miao ethnic group, so we decide to keep this core expression. Meanwhile, we have polished and enriched the wording for academic rigor and contextual completeness at Lines 489–492 in the revised manuscript: To highlight the authority and significance of Yilang regulations, the local people usually hold a stone-burying ceremony at a designated site, where the regulations are inscribed on stone tablets, symbolizing their unshakable status.

Thank you sincerely for your valuable guidance on manuscript refinement.

 

Response to the Query on Line 480: can you cite more examples when it was not harmonious?

Response: Thank you very much for your thoughtful question. After careful consideration, we hold the view that the customary law constraints discussed in this paper are well compatible with national laws and ethnic group governance. They exert positive and constructive effects on the administration of the four villages. At the national level, China has always advocated the implementation of sound village regulations and folk conventions, which serve as an important component of the rural revitalization strategy. Therefore, there is no need to elaborate on inharmonious cases in this study.

Thank you again for your valuable review comment.

 

Response to Comment on Lines 479–480: Underlined sentence: Miao customary law integrates harmoniously with national statutory law.

Response: We highly appreciate your careful review and professional advice. We believe it is reasonable to retain this statement. In China’s administrative system, ethnic autonomous regions provide an institutional foundation for benign interaction between Miao customary law and national written law. Such integration preserves ethnic cultural traditions, complements national legal provisions, and promotes the institutionalization of customary law.

We have refined the English expression for academic accuracy and fluency at Lines 537–540 in the revised manuscript: The Miao ethnic group’s customary law achieves benign integration with national written laws. It inherits traditional behavioral norms rooted in ethnic culture, complements national legislative arrangements, and facilitates the institutional development of customary law.

Thank you sincerely for your valuable guidance on manuscript revision.

 

Response to the Query on Line 538: could these numbers reflect more accurate reporting??

Response: Thank you very much for your thoughtful question. We confirm that the adopted data can objectively and truthfully reflect the ecological changes of Leigong Mountain.

First, all statistics are sourced from official releases of the Guizhou Provincial Forestry Department and Leishan County People’s Government, which are authoritative and credible. Furthermore, ecological conservation has long been a core development principle in China, guided by the philosophy that lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets. As a national nature reserve, Leigong Mountain has witnessed notable ecological improvement and sustainable development, with local customary law playing a supportive role in advancing effective environmental governance.

Thank you again for your careful review and valuable inquiry.

 

Response to Comment on Line 553: the Tao have long relied on flying fish to supplement the protein needed by their community.

Response: We appreciate your careful review of the manuscript. We consider it appropriate to keep this sentence. It not only explains the implication of the harvest mentioned in the previous context, but also lays a logical foundation for the regulation against overfishing in the following content. The flying fish ritual is an inherent part of the traditional life of the Tao ethnic group in Taiwan, originating from their reliance on marine environments and awareness of ecological protection. Since flying fish are crucial for meeting the protein demand of the community, the Tao ethnic group have formed inherent norms to maintain the sustainable development of their ethnic group.

Meanwhile, we have polished the English expression for accuracy and academic formality in the revised manuscript Lines 622–623: Therefore, the Tao ethnic group has long relied on flying fish to supplement the protein needs of its members.

Thank you very much for your valuable scrutiny and revision suggestions.

 

Response to Comment on Line 554: guided by divine dreams.

Response: We sincerely apologize for the inaccurate and overly simplistic expression in the original text. We have revised and refined the sentence at Lines 623–625 in the revised manuscript to ensure academic rigor and clear logical expression: At first, the ancestors of the Tao ethnic group received a divine revelation in a dream, instructing that the fishing of flying fish must never be unrestrained.

Thank you very much for your careful review and professional correction.

 

Response to Comment on Lines 560–563: Before the arrival of each flying fish season, a series of ritual ceremonies are carried out, including the Great Boat Flying Fish Ritual, Harvest Ceremony, Small Boat Daytime Fishing Ritual, End-of-Flying-Fish Ritual, Flying Fish Storage Ritual, and Final Consumption Ritual.

Response: We sincerely apologize for the non-standard and imprecise listing of ritual names in the original manuscript due to inadequate proofreading. We have revised the content with standardized local ethnic proper nouns and polished the academic expression at Lines 630–635 in the revised manuscript: Before the annual flying fish season arrives, a series of sacrificial ceremonies are held in succession, including the Mivanwa (the large boat flying fish summoning ritual), the Papataw (the small boat daytime fishing ritual), the Mipiabengan (the harvest ritual), and the Manoyotoyon (the final flying fish consumption ritual).

Thank you very much for your careful review and professional revision guidance.

 

Response to Comment on Lines 563–565: Among these, the Flying Fish End of Season Ritual and the Flying Fish End of Consumption Ritual are typical examples of the balance between natural resources and human utilization.

Response: We sincerely apologize for the redundant and imprecise wording in the original sentence. We have revised and optimized the expression at Lines 659–662 in the revised manuscript: Among these rituals, the Manoyotoyon is a typical example that embodies the balance between natural resources and human utilization.

Thank you for your careful review and valuable correction.

 

Response to the Query on Line 562:ritual regulation (like Roy Rappaport)

Response: Thank you very much for your insightful question and valuable theoretical suggestion. We fully agree with your view that the flying fish ritual of the Tao ethnic group in Taiwan is indeed a form of ritual regulation for ecological protection, reflecting the complex interaction among ecology, rituals and culture. This is consistent with Roy Rappaport’s research finding that the rituals of the Maring ethnic group is not isolated religious activities, but a sophisticated ecological regulation mechanism.

We would like to express our sincere gratitude again for the important inspiration you have provided for our follow-up research ideas. This study aims to extract commonalities from the ecological protection models of three ethnic groups and draw conclusions that respond to the research theme, so it has not involved excessive theoretical dialogue.

We hope that in the extension of subsequent research, we will carry out more in-depth theoretical dialogue and research guidance with the help of Roy Rappaport’s theory.

Thank you again for your careful review and valuable guidance.

 

Response to Comment on Lines 587–588: fish with a strong fishy odor are considered bad fish.

Response: We sincerely apologize for the overly simplistic and inaccurate original expression. We have revised and supplemented the content with complete contextual logic at Lines 608–612 in the revised manuscript: The Tao ethnic group does not have a clear-cut standard for distinguishing the three categories of flying fish. Generally speaking, fish with a strong fishy smell are considered bad fish, while the most pungent ones are called the elder fish. Even if caught, these fish are not eaten and are released back into the sea.

Thank you for your careful scrutiny and professional correction.

 

Response to Comment on Lines 631–632: the fishing boats used by the indigenous residents of Orchid Island are all under 5 tons.

Response: We sincerely apologize for the oversimplified and imprecise statement in the original text. We have revised and enriched the content with more rigorous and complete elaboration at Lines 712–716 in the revised manuscript:

In contrast, the tonnage of all local fishing boats engaged in flying fish fishing on Orchid Island is within the 5-ton class, with small-scale fishing gear, exerting low fishing pressure on fishery resources. Furthermore, the cultural and sacrificial activities of the local ethnic group are centered on flying fish fishing, so the sustainable utilization of flying fish resources is crucial to the inheritance of the local flying fish marine culture.

Thank you very much for your careful review and valuable correction.

 

Response to Comment on Lines 687–688: reduce human-wildlife conflicts, and pre-serve and promote the Maasai’s customary respect for nature and unique pastoral

Response: We sincerely apologize for the incomplete and inaccurate expression in the original sentence. We have revised and polished the wording for academic integrity and logical completeness at Lines 776–779 in the revised manuscript: This helps achieve a win-win situation for ecological conservation and community development, reduce human-wildlife conflicts, and inherit and carry forward the awe and respect for nature embedded in the customary law of the Maasai ethnic group.

Thank you very much for your careful review and professional correction.

 

Response to Comment on Lines 687–688: rite of passage for Maasai men involves hunting a lion. Although most Maasai communities have now abolished the lion-hunting initiation ceremony.

Response: We greatly appreciate your careful review and valuable feedback. After careful consideration, we deem this paragraph unnecessary for the research context and have deleted the entire sentence. The revision is recorded at Lines 821–824 in the revised manuscript.

Thank you again for your meticulous scrutiny and thoughtful suggestions.

 

Response to the Query on Line 818: clarify

Response: We sincerely appreciate your careful review and insightful comments, which offer valuable inspiration for our in-depth research. During the revision process, we identified many imperfections in this section. Moreover, its discussion has limited relevance to the core theme of the paper and deviates from the elaboration of the three-dimensional pathway.

In consideration of academic rigor and manuscript conciseness, we have decided to remove this entire section and no longer retain the relevant discussion. The revision is documented at Lines 921–1035 in the revised manuscript.

Thank you again for your professional guidance and valuable suggestions.

 

Response to Comment on Lines 859–861: the X variable represents the absolute increase in the degree of customary law integration in each community from 2018 to 2023, while the Y variable represents the compound annual growth rate of core species within the corresponding geographic units.

Response: We sincerely apologize for the oversight in our proofreading. After consideration, we have deleted the entire sentence. The revision is recorded at Lines 1009–1015 in the revised manuscript.

Thank you very much for your careful review and valuable correction.

 

Response to the Query on Lines 916–917:what makes a law superior?

Response: Thank you very much for your thoughtful question. We would like to elaborate on the connotation of a superior legal norm from a general jurisprudence perspective.

Globally, the superiority and hierarchical validity of laws are fundamentally determined by three core dimensions: the universality of legal norms, the hierarchical authority of legislation, and inherent value foundations. Legal norms with universal applicability, public interest orientation and fundamental rule-of-law principles hold a higher normative rank and enjoy priority in validity. By contrast, localized norms applicable only to specific regions and ethnic groups can only function as supplementary rules on the premise of not conflicting with higher-level legal principles. This follows the universally recognized jurisprudence logic that higher-level laws take precedence in validity while special laws apply preferentially within their scope.

Thank you again for your valuable inquiry and rigorous review.

 

Response to Comment on Lines 916–917: it is important to observe the principle of legal application between flexible laws and the superior laws being adapted.

Response: We sincerely appreciate your careful review and professional suggestion. We have reorganized and refined the expression to accurately convey the research viewpoint at Lines 1078–1084 in the revised manuscript:

In practice, regarding the applicable relationship between flexible law and the superior law it amends, it should be clarified that the principle of superior law prevailing over inferior law governs the priority of validity, determining whether a legal norm is valid. By contrast, the principle of special law prevailing over general law governs the priority of application, determining which valid legal norm shall be applied first. Therefore, only when flexible law does not contravene the principled provisions of superior law can it be applied preferentially in accordance with the principle of special law prevailing over general law.

Thank you very much for your valuable scrutiny and revision guidance.

 

Response to Comment on Lines 942–944: Market compensation, on the other hand, relies on market-driven mechanisms such as ecotourism, green product certification, and carbon trading, attracting social capital participation.

Response: We sincerely apologize for the imprecise expression in the original text due to insufficient proofreading. We have revised the sentence for concise and standardized academic wording at Lines 1106–1108 in the revised manuscript: Market compensation relies on market-oriented mechanisms such as ecotourism, green product certification and carbon sink trading to attract the participation of social capital.

Thank you very much for your careful review and professional correction.

 

Response to Comment on Line 958: Sherpa herbal industry.

Response: We sincerely apologize for the incomplete expression in the original manuscript. We have supplemented and revised the sentence to form a complete logical statement at Lines 1122–1125 in the revised manuscript:such as the Sherpa herbal industry, it conserves biodiversity based on local endowments and ethnic traditions, creates local jobs for residents, raises product added value, and ultimately achieves a win-win outcome of ecological protection and income growth.

Thank you very much for your careful review and valuable correction.

 

Response to the Query on Line 1117: Perhaps need to include these points in introductory paragraphs as well.

Response: Thank you very much for your valuable and constructive suggestion. We fully agree with your opinion and have supplemented clearer research objectives in the introductory section. The revision has been completed at Lines 97–102 in the revised manuscript:

By systematically sorting out the effective measures and practical conservation achievements of integrating the ecological wisdom of the Miao, Tao, and Maasai ethnic groups into eco-conservation customary laws from three dimensions including policy formulation and implementation, community participation and cooperation, and cultural inheritance and education, this study attempts to summarize a three-dimensional optimization path applicable to global biodiversity conservation.

Thank you again for your careful review and thoughtful guidance on improving the manuscript structure.

 

Response to the Query on Lines 1284–1286: how are findings related to rigor of surveys?

Response: Thank you very much for your thoughtful question and rigorous review. We believe it is essential to add practical application elaborations following the research conclusions at the end of this study. Therefore, we take the mountainous settlements of Hani and Yi Autonomous County in Pu'er, Yunnan as an example, and incorporate the evaluation dimension table of the promotion effect of ethnic ecological customary law into the practice of biodiversity conservation, carrying out a case discussion on comprehensive landing application and effect monitoring. It serves as a practical application illustration of the three-dimensional optimization path conclusion derived from this study, and further reflects the rigor and practicality of the research survey and findings.

Thank you again for your valuable suggestion,.

 

Response to the Query on Lines 1317–1318: villager often have very different motivations for participation. Is frequency of attendance a good measure?

Response: Thank you for your incisive comment. We fully acknowledge that villagers do hold diverse individual motivations for participating in ecological conservation. Even so, attendance frequency remains an observable and horizontally comparable behavioral indicator, which can directly reflect the normalization and implementation degree of community conservation actions.

Moreover, participation frequency is not the sole measurement criterion for community engagement. This study adopts a comprehensive evaluation system that integrates multiple dimensions such as patrol coverage and governance effectiveness. Although subjective motivations vary among individuals, attendance frequency still serves as a vital reference for assessing community participation activity and retains practical value in the evaluation of ecological conservation governance.

Thank you again for your rigorous review and thoughtful.

 

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 3 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

Dear Authors, 

your manuscript addresses an important and timely topic by examining biodiversity conservation through the lens of indigenous ecological knowledge across three distinct cultural contexts. The comparative approach is valuable, and the integration of customary law with modern conservation frameworks is a compelling contribution.

However, several areas would benefit from clarification and further development:

1. Conceptual Clarity

The term “ethnic ecological intelligence” is intriguing but insufficiently defined. Please provide a clearer theoretical grounding and explain how it differs from or relates to established concepts such as traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) or indigenous knowledge systems.

The “three-dimensional optimization approach” would benefit from clearer conceptual framing and justification.

2. Methodology

The paper mentions “in-depth case studies” and “data validation,” but the methodological design lacks detail.

Please clarify:

- Data collection methods (e.g., interviews, ethnography, secondary data);

- Sampling strategy and selection criteria for the three groups;

- Analytical framework used to compare cases.

Explain how “population growth trends of key species” were measured or verified.

3. Case Study Depth

While the three cases are interesting, they currently feel somewhat descriptive. Consider:

- Providing more concrete examples of specific customary laws or practices;

- Including quantitative or longitudinal data where possible:

- Clarifying differences and similarities across the three groups more explicitly.

4. Causality and Evidence

The claim that integrating customary law with modern systems has led to biodiversity recovery needs stronger evidence:

- Are there control comparisons or counterfactuals?

- Could other factors (policy changes, external funding, climate conditions) also explain the observed trends?

5. Policy Recommendations

The proposed framework is promising but somewhat abstract:

- Provide concrete examples of how “diversified ecological compensation” or “digital management” would work in practice

- Discuss potential challenges or limitations in implementation (e.g., governance conflicts, scalability)

6. Structure and Language

The manuscript would benefit from improved organization, particularly clearer transitions between case studies and synthesis sections.

Some sentences are overly long and could be simplified for clarity.

Minor grammatical revisions are needed throughout.

7. Contribution and Originality

The comparative cross-regional perspective is a strength. Emphasize more clearly what new insights this study provides beyond existing literature on indigenous conservation practices.

Author Response

your manuscript addresses an important and timely topic by examining biodiversity conservation through the lens of indigenous ecological knowledge across three distinct cultural contexts. The comparative approach is valuable, and the integration of customary law with modern conservation frameworks is a compelling contribution.

However, several areas would benefit from clarification and further development:

1. Conceptual Clarity
The term “ethnic ecological intelligence” is intriguing but insufficiently defined. Please provide a clearer theoretical grounding and explain how it differs from or relates to established concepts such as traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) or indigenous knowledge systems.

The “three-dimensional optimization approach” would benefit from clearer conceptual framing and justification.

2. Methodology
The paper mentions “in-depth case studies” and “data validation,” but the methodological design lacks detail.

Please clarify:

- Data collection methods (e.g., interviews, ethnography, secondary data);

- Sampling strategy and selection criteria for the three groups;

- Analytical framework used to compare cases.

Explain how “population growth trends of key species” were measured or verified.

3. Case Study Depth
While the three cases are interesting, they currently feel somewhat descriptive. Consider:

- Providing more concrete examples of specific customary laws or practices;

- Including quantitative or longitudinal data where possible:

- Clarifying differences and similarities across the three groups more explicitly.

4. Causality and Evidence
The claim that integrating customary law with modern systems has led to biodiversity recovery needs stronger evidence:

- Are there control comparisons or counterfactuals?

- Could other factors (policy changes, external funding, climate conditions) also explain the observed trends?

5. Policy Recommendations
The proposed framework is promising but somewhat abstract:

- Provide concrete examples of how “diversified ecological compensation” or “digital management” would work in practice

- Discuss potential challenges or limitations in implementation (e.g., governance conflicts, scalability)

6. Structure and Language
The manuscript would benefit from improved organization, particularly clearer transitions between case studies and synthesis sections.

Some sentences are overly long and could be simplified for clarity.

Minor grammatical revisions are needed throughout.

7. Contribution and Originality
The comparative cross-regional perspective is a strength. Emphasize more clearly what new insights this study provides beyond existing literature on indigenous conservation practices.

Reply to Reviewer 3 (Brown-track changes)

Dear Professor Reviewer,

Thank you very much for your valuable comments and suggestions on this study. The line numbers in our response refer to the lines in the revised manuscript. All revisions made according to your suggestions have been highlighted in brown in the revised manuscript. Detailed responses are provided below.

 

Response to the Query on Conceptual Clarity 1

Response: Thank you very much for pointing out the issue regarding the clarity of the concept. First of all, we sincerely apologize for the inaccurate translation caused by insufficient proofreading. The correct English expression should be "ethnic ecological wisdom" instead of "ethnic ecological intelligence".

To enhance the clarity and theoretical rigor of the concept, we have added a dedicated explanation of "ethnic ecological wisdom" in Section 1.4 Definition of Key Concepts of the revised manuscript. Meanwhile, we have clarified the differences and connections between "ethnic ecological wisdom" and Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK): TEK focuses more on empirical knowledge and practical skills accumulated through long-term practice, while ethnic ecological wisdom emphasizes the ecological ethics, group identity, and customary law binding force contained in such knowledge—it is a normative sublimation of TEK.

In addition, we have cited relevant literature including Sinthumule, N.I. (2023), Carroll, D. et al. (2025), and da Silva, E.C. et al. to provide solid theoretical support for this concept. All the above revisions have been completed in Lines 162–181 of the revised manuscript.

Thank you again for your rigorous review and valuable suggestions, which have helped us improve the accuracy and standardization of the concept definition.

 

Response to the Query on Conceptual Clarity 2

Response: Thank you very much for your valuable suggestion regarding the conceptual clarity of the "three-dimensional optimization approach". We have carefully absorbed your advice and strengthened the theoretical elaboration of this approach in the revised manuscript.

Specifically, we have clearly clarified that the "three-dimensional optimization approach" is a holistic governance solution summarized and refined based on the practical experience of multiple ecological protection cases. To enhance its theoretical rigor, we have introduced the Social-Ecological System (SES) theory as supporting evidence, emphasizing that the effectiveness of ecological protection depends on the collaborative coupling of institutional, community, and cultural elements. This not only clarifies the theoretical basis of the three-dimensional path but also makes its internal logical framework more persuasive.

Meanwhile, we have explicitly defined the core functions of each dimension and the key issues they address: the policy dimension focuses on solving the problems of governance rules and incentive mechanisms; the community dimension is responsible for confirming the implementation subject and ensuring the long-term sustainability of ecological protection efforts; the cultural dimension aims to strengthen value recognition and realize the intergenerational inheritance of ecological concepts. This clear division of functions further refines the structure of the three-dimensional path, making its logical hierarchy more rigorous and its practical guidance more clear.

All the above revisions have been completed in Lines 1304–1318 of the revised manuscript.

We sincerely appreciate your rigorous review and valuable suggestions, which have effectively improved the theoretical depth and operability of the research.

 

Response to the Methodology Issue 1 (Data Collection Methods)

Response: Thank you very much for your careful reminder regarding the data collection methods. We have supplemented the detailed description of data collection methods in Section 1.3 Research Methodology of the revised manuscript, as follows:

This study mainly adopts literature research method and cross-case comparison method, supplemented by verification of publicly available online data to ensure the rigor and authenticity of the research.

The specific data sources are detailed as follows:

1.For the Miao ethnic group case: Based on the "Village Rules and Regulations" published on the official website of Leishan County Government, the public work reports released by the local forestry and environmental protection departments, and the biodiversity survey reports of Leigong Mountain National Nature Reserve issued by scientific research institutions (all secondary data).

2.For the Tao ethnic group case: Based on the flying fish festival regulations, fishery management announcements, and marine reserve planning documents released on the official websites of Lanyu Township Government and the Marine Conservation Agency, as well as the long-term monitoring data of coral reef fish published by academic institutions such as National Taiwan Ocean University.

3.For the Maasai ethnic group case: Based on the species monitoring reports of Amboseli National Park, community co-management agreements released by the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS), and the species distribution records from the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF).

In addition, during the case study process, we conducted interviews with village cadres from Danjiang Town and Langde Town of Leishan County through telephone interviews and email inquiries, to obtain first-hand information and verify the authenticity of the collected data.

All the above supplements and revisions have been completed in Lines 104–113 and 136–145 of the revised manuscript.

We sincerely appreciate your rigorous review, which helps to improve the scientificity and comprehensiveness of the research methodology.

 

Response to the Methodology Issue 2 (Sampling Strategy and Selection Criteria)

Response: Thank you very much for your question regarding the sampling strategy and selection criteria of the three ethnic groups. We have clearly supplemented and explained the relevant content in the revised manuscript to address this concern.

In this study, the case selection is comprehensively based on four core criteria: type of ecosystem, cultural representativeness, integrity of customary law preservation, and degree of institutional integration. The specific selection criteria and basis for each case are as follows:

1.For the Miao ethnic group case, four traditional villages (Wudong Village, Jiaomeng Village, Shanglangde Village, and Nanmeng Village) in Leishan County, Guizhou Province were selected. This area has a high concentration of Miao ethnic group, a well-preserved traditional Yilang system (a traditional autonomous governance system of the Miao ethnic group), and a mature mechanism for the coordinated implementation of customary law and modern village rules and regulations. It can fully reflect the typical practice of ethnic minorities in mountainous areas of southwest China participating in ecological protection through customary law.

2.For the Tao ethnic group case, the Tao ethnic group living on Orchid Island, Taiwan were selected. This ethnic group has completely retained the flying fish season ritual ceremonies and the traditional fishery taboo system. Its ecological customary law has been recognized and connected by formal systems such as the Marine Basic Law and the Indigenous Peoples Basic Law, making it a typical sample for the integration of customary law and marine ecological protection systems.

3.For the Maasai ethnic group case, communities around Amboseli National Park in Kenya were selected. Since the 1970s, this area has achieved a transformation from exclusive protection to community co-management, and the traditional grazing norms have formed a stable cooperative relationship with the modern national park management system. It is a representative example of community participation in biodiversity protection in Africa.

The three cases mentioned above correspond to three typical ecosystem types: mountain forest ecosystem, island marine ecosystem, and tropical grassland and wildlife reserve. Meanwhile, they cover different cultural backgrounds and governance scenarios in Asia and Africa, with good diversity and comparability in terms of region, ecosystem, and institutional model. These cases provide a sufficient and reliable empirical basis for the cross-case comparative analysis of this study.

All the above supplements and revisions have been completed in Lines 114–135 of the revised manuscript.

We sincerely appreciate your rigorous review and valuable questions, which help to improve the scientificity and rationality of the case selection and sampling design of the study.

 

Response to the Methodology Issue 3 (Framework for Case Comparison)

Response: Thank you for your question regarding the analytical framework used to compare cases.

To address this concern, the analytical framework of this study is constructed based on time-series data analysis and cross-case comparative analysis. Specifically, we first collect and sort out long-term time-series data related to each case (including ecological environment indicators, customary law implementation effects, and community participation status), which are used to reflect the long-term change trends of the ecological environment in different case areas. On this basis, we systematically extract the effective experiences and practices of ecological protection from different ethnic groups (such as the Miao, Tao, and Maasai ethnic groups), focusing on comparing the differences and commonalities in their customary law application, institutional coordination, and ecological governance effects.

We sincerely appreciate your rigorous review and valuable questions.

 

Response to the Methodology Issue 4 ( Key Species Population Growth Trends)

Response: Thank you for your detailed question regarding the measurement and verification of "population growth trends of key species".

We have clearly specified the methods for measuring and verifying the population change data of key species in Section 1.3 Research Methodology and the data source notes of Table 8 in the revised manuscript. It should be emphasized that the data presented reflect the overall change trend of the population rather than the accurate annual growth rate. Therefore, we have revised the column header "Annual Growth Rate" in Table 8 of the revised manuscript to "Growth" to avoid any misunderstanding.

The revision is located in the 7th column of Table 8 in the revised draft.

We sincerely appreciate your careful review and valuable reminder, which helps to further standardize the data expression and ensure the scientificity and accuracy of the research.

 

Response to the Case Depth Issue 1 (Supplementing Specific Customary Law or Practices)

Response: Thank you very much for your valuable suggestion regarding the depth of case studies, specifically the proposal to provide more concrete examples of customary laws or practices. We fully agree with your opinion that supplementing specific practical cases of customary laws will significantly enhance the solidity and persuasiveness of the argument.

We confirm that the cases of the Miao and Tao ethnic groups already contain rich and specific examples of customary laws and practices, which can effectively support the research conclusions. However, we acknowledge that the part about the Maasai ethnic group lacks sufficient specific examples of customary laws. Therefore, we have supplemented detailed and specific traditional rules and practical details related to the Maasai ethnic group, and added Table 7 to systematically present these supplementary contents for clearer demonstration.

All the above revisions are completed in Lines 802–819 and 846–857 of the revised manuscript.

We sincerely appreciate your rigorous review and valuable suggestions, which help to improve the depth and comprehensiveness of the case studies, making the research more credible and persuasive.

 

Response to the Case Depth Issue 2 ( Supplementing Quantitative/Longitudinal Data)

Response: Thank you sincerely for your valuable suggestion regarding the inclusion of quantitative or longitudinal data to enhance the depth of the case studies. We fully understand your expectation of using more quantitative or longitudinal data to support comparisons between cases, and we would like to explain the research design and related supplements as follows:

The core objective of this study is to systematically sort out the ecological customary laws of the Miao, Tao, and Maasai ethnic groups, and extract feasible paths that can be referenced for global biodiversity conservation. At present, the study does not include strict quantitative comparisons or causal inference between the three cases, which is closely related to the research orientation and the characteristics of the research objects.

The three cases are distributed in different ecological systems, cultural backgrounds, and institutional environments. Their ecological protection effects are the result of the complex interaction of multiple factors such as history, policies, community governance, and cultural beliefs. It is difficult and not necessarily appropriate to conduct simple horizontal data comparison between them. Therefore, the data presented in this study (such as changes in species quantity and population density trends) are mainly used as auxiliary references to verify the ecological protection effects of each case, aiming to illustrate that with the gradual integration of customary laws and modern social systems, the populations of key species show a positive trend of recovery and growth.

In this study, we chose to use qualitative description supplemented by limited longitudinal data, focusing on showing the changing trend of ecological protection effects, rather than establishing strict causal chains or conducting direct quantitative comparisons between cases. The research focuses more on extracting transferable and operable practical paths from practical experience, rather than pursuing large-sample quantitative statistics.

In the revised manuscript, we have added explanations of other influencing factors in the discussion part to avoid misleading readers. For example, we clearly state that the improvement of biodiversity in Leigong Mountain National Nature Reserve is the result of the synergistic effect of national-level reserve management measures, local policy implementation, and the Miao customary law, rather than being driven by a single factor. The role of the Miao customary law should be positioned as a key supplementary force in ecological protection. (e.g., Lines 607-608 of the revised manuscript)

We believe that this research idea, oriented by experience extraction, has unique reference value for exploring localized and diversified biodiversity protection paths worldwide. Thank you again for your rigorous review and valuable suggestions, which help us further improve the rationality and persuasiveness of the research design.

 

Response to the Case Depth Issue 2 (Clarifying Differences and Similarities Across Cases)

Response: Thank you sincerely for your valuable suggestion regarding clarifying the differences and similarities across the three ethnic groups (Miao, Tao, and Maasai) more explicitly. We have systematically addressed this point in Section 5 "Reflections on Case Studies for Optimizing Global Biodiversity Conservation Efforts" of the revised manuscript, with detailed elaboration as follows:

Similarities Across the Three Cases

1.Policy Level: All three cases embody the collaborative governance model of flexible constraints of customary law + rigid protection of national law. Specifically, the Miao ethnic group in Leishan County have integrated their customary practices with national laws such as the Forest Law and Land Administration Law through village regulations; the Tao ethnic group have aligned their traditional fishing taboos with national marine protection laws and indigenous peoples’ rights regulations, forming a dual constraint mechanism; the Maasai ethnic group have supplemented the national park management regulations with their traditional pastoral customs, realizing effective coordination between traditional norms and modern institutional systems. All three cases fully demonstrate the effectiveness of the organic integration of customary law and modern legal systems in ecological protection.

2.Community Level: All three cases have established a motivation mechanism of "benefit sharing + community participation". In Leishan County, the "point system" and ecological forest ranger positions have been adopted to mobilize villagers’ enthusiasm for participation; the Tao ethnic group have maintained their ethnic cultural identity through traditional fishing subsidies and seasonal ritual management; the Maasai ethnic group have provided direct economic returns to the community through ecological tourism revenue sharing. These measures have all achieved a transformation from passive compliance to active participation in ecological protection among local communities.

3.Cultural Level: All three cases rely on oral traditions, ritual practices, and intergenerational inheritance to maintain their customary laws, and all are facing the challenge of inheritance under the impact of modernization. To address the loss of traditional ecological knowledge, we have proposed innovative solutions for all cases, including digital management (blockchain, VR technology), interdisciplinary talent training, and IP-based narrative dissemination, to promote the inheritance and development of traditional ecological concepts.

Differences Across the Three Cases

The three cases are located in distinct ecological and cultural contexts: the Miao case is based on mountain forest ecosystems in southwest China, the Tao case involves island marine ecosystems, and the Maasai case is situated in the tropical grassland ecosystem of Africa. There are significant differences in their ecological environments, cultural traditions, and institutional backgrounds.

Therefore, this study does not attempt to conduct a rigid, mechanical comparison between the three cases. Instead, it focuses on extracting a universal three-dimensional optimization path for biodiversity conservation from their distinctive practices, highlighting the adaptability of different customary law systems to diverse ecological and cultural contexts, and ensuring the practical guiding significance of the research conclusions.

We sincerely appreciate your rigorous review and valuable suggestions, which help us further clarify the logical framework of the research and enhance the clarity and persuasiveness of the case analysis.

 

Response to the Causality and Evidence Issue 1 (Are there control comparisons or counterfactuals?)

Response: Thank you sincerely for raising this key question regarding the causality and evidence strength of the research. We fully understand your concern about the robustness of the causal evidence linking the integration of customary law with modern systems to biodiversity recovery.

First, we would like to clarify that this study is based on the experience summary of three typical cases, rather than a quantitative empirical study with control groups. Therefore, we have not set up control groups or conducted counterfactual analysis in the research. The three selected cases are located in different ecological environments, cultural backgrounds, and institutional systems. The effectiveness of their biodiversity conservation is the result of the complex interaction of multiple factors, including historical context, policy support, community participation, cultural traditions, and climatic conditions. It is difficult to fully attribute the growth of a particular species or the improvement of biodiversity solely to the integration of customary law and modern systems.

To address this issue and ensure the rigor of the research, we have explicitly emphasized in the discussion section of each case (e.g., Lines 607-608 and 1061-1062 of the revised manuscript) that the improvement of biodiversity is the result of the collaborative effect of multiple factors, rather than being driven by a single factor. We clearly distinguish the role of customary law integration as a key auxiliary measure in biodiversity protection, rather than the sole determining factor. This not only avoids overinterpreting the causal relationship but also reflects the objective and rigorous attitude of the research.

We sincerely appreciate your valuable comment, which helps us further improve the rigor of the research and avoid misleading interpretations of the causal relationship. Moving forward, we will continue to refine the analysis of factors affecting biodiversity recovery to enhance the persuasiveness of the research conclusions.

 

Response to the Causality and Evidence Issue 2 (Could other factorsalso explain the observed trends?)

Response: Thank you sincerely for raising this important question regarding whether other factors (such as policy changes, external funding, and climate conditions) could also explain the observed biodiversity trends. We fully acknowledge that these factors may indeed have an impact on the observed biodiversity trends, and we have explicitly addressed this point in the revised manuscript.

Specifically, we have supplemented relevant explanations in the case analysis section to clarify that the positive changes in biodiversity are not driven by a single factor, but by the combined effect of multiple elements. For example, in the Amboseli case (related to the Maasai ethnic group), we have added the following clarification: "The growth of the African elephant population cannot be entirely attributed to the community participation model; population changes may also be affected by multiple factors such as anti-poaching efforts, precipitation patterns, and regional conservation policies." Similarly, in the Leigong Mountain case (related to the Miao ethnic group), we have clearly stated that the positive changes in biodiversity are the result of the collaborative effect of national conservation measures, local policies, and the Miao ethnic group’s customary laws, rather than being driven by a single factor. These supplementary explanations are detailed in Lines 1060–1067 of the revised manuscript.

Given the complexity of social-ecological systems, this study does not intend to isolate the net effect of customary law integration through controlled experiments or counterfactual analysis. Our core goal is to extract transferable governance experiences from successful cases, while recognizing that multiple driving factors work together to promote biodiversity conservation. In the revised manuscript, we have carefully used restrictive expressions such as "has played a positive role" and emphasized the complementary relationship between customary laws and other favorable conditions, to avoid overinterpreting the causal relationship.

We sincerely appreciate your rigorous review and valuable suggestions, which have helped us further clarify the limitations of the research and improve the scientificity and rigor of the study.

 

Response to the Suggestion on Policy Recommendations 1 (Provide concrete examples)

Response: Thank you for your valuable suggestion regarding the concreteness of policy recommendations. We fully agree that the proposed framework needs specific practical cases to avoid abstractness, and relevant details have been supplemented in the revised manuscript, specifically in Section 5 Reflections on Case Studies for Optimizing Global Biodiversity Conservation.

Specific Practice of "Diversified Ecological Compensation"

In Section 5.1 Policy Formulation and Implementation, we have elaborated on the specific forms of diversified ecological compensation through three typical cases, providing clear practical support for this abstract concept:

National-level insurance compensation: In Leishan County, Guizhou Province, the local government has purchased wildlife damage compensation insurance for Miao villages, effectively alleviating conflicts between humans and wildlife. This measure directly addresses the practical difficulties faced by local residents in ecological protection and provides a stable guarantee for their participation in conservation work.

Market-oriented compensation combining national and local finance: In the case of the Tao ethnic group, the local government provides special income support for their traditional fishing activities, which is used to subsidize the maintenance of traditional fishing boats and the renewal of fishing gear. This not only protects the traditional fishing culture but also ensures the sustainability of ecological protection.

Market-based community sharing compensation: In the Maasai community around Amboseli National Park, a considerable proportion of the income from ecotourism is directly returned to the local community through community co-management agreements. The funds are used for the construction of infrastructure and the improvement of ethnic group's livelihood, forming a positive cycle of "protection-benefit-sharing-protection".

Supplementary intelligent and industrial compensation: We have also added specific cases such as technical compensation (e.g., the "carving wood to determine water" method in Hani terraced fields), industrial compensation (e.g., the herbal industry of the Sherpa ethnic group), and intellectual compensation (e.g., the Maasai youth conservation training courses carried out by The Maa Trust), further enriching the forms of diversified ecological compensation.

Specific Practice of "Digital Management"

In Section 5.2 Community Participation and Cooperation, we have detailed the specific operation mode of the ecological governance platform based on the "traditional customary law + blockchain" model, combined with practical cases:Taking the traditional classification system of fish consumption norms of the Tao ethnic group as an example, we explain how to encode these norms into smart contracts, which automatically implement transparent management and control in links such as fish species selection, fishing processes, and harvest storage. The smart contracts record key operation information in real time according to preset rules and make it public to all relevant parties through the blockchain, ensuring traceability and fairness.

At the same time, a mobile APP is developed to realize functions such as patrol check-in, violation reporting, and point recording. Villagers can easily participate in ecological management through the APP, and relevant rules and records can be obtained through multiple channels such as community announcements and online platforms, improving the efficiency and participation of ecological governance.In addition, the point system implemented in Leishan County is also a specific practice of digital management: villagers can obtain points by participating in ecological activities such as tree planting and water source protection, and these points can be exchanged for daily necessities or community benefits on the digital platform, effectively mobilizing the enthusiasm of villagers to participate in ecological protection.

We sincerely appreciate your rigorous review and valuable suggestions.

 

Response to the Suggestion on Policy Recommendations 2 (governance conflicts, scalability)

Response: Thank you sincerely for your valuable suggestion regarding the discussion of potential challenges and limitations in the implementation of the proposed approach. We highly appreciate your rigorous review, which helps to further improve the comprehensiveness and practicality of the research.

In response to your suggestion, we have added a new section 6.3 Potential Challenges and Limitations in the revised manuscript, specifically addressing three key challenges and limitations in the implementation process, making the research conclusions more comprehensive and objective:

1.The challenge of governance conflicts and institutional connection between customary law and national law. In the process of integrating ethnic customary norms into modern ecological governance, there may be inconsistencies between traditional customary rules and national laws and regulations. For example, some traditional fishing taboos of the Tao ethnic group may conflict with modern fishery management policies, requiring further coordination and adjustment to achieve effective connection between the two, ensuring that the binding force of customary law is compatible with the authority of national law.

2.The technical threshold and scalability limitations of the digital management platform. The operation and promotion of the blockchain-based ecological governance platform require certain technical support and operational capabilities. For some remote areas with underdeveloped information infrastructure, it may be difficult to popularize and apply the platform, which restricts the scalability of the management model. At the same time, the updating and maintenance of the platform also require long-term investment in human and material resources, which brings certain challenges to the sustainability of the model.

3.The flexible adaptation requirements in cross-cultural and cross-ecological system promotion. The ecological protection practices summarized in this study are based on specific cultural backgrounds and ecological environments. When promoting this model to different regions and ethnic groups, it is necessary to fully consider the differences in cultural traditions, ecological conditions, and policy environments, and make appropriate adjustments according to local actual conditions. Blindly copying the model may lead to poor implementation effects, which is a key limitation in the promotion process.

All the above supplements and revisions are completed in Lines 1456–1484 of the revised manuscript.

We sincerely thank you for your constructive advice, which helps us fully consider the practical difficulties in the implementation process and makes the research framework more rigorous and comprehensive, laying a solid foundation for the practical application of the research results.

 

Response to the Suggestion on Manuscript Organization and Transitions

Response: Thank you sincerely for your valuable suggestion regarding the manuscript’s structure and language. We fully agree that improving the organization of the manuscript, especially enhancing the clarity of transitions between case studies and synthesis sections, is crucial for improving the readability and logical coherence of the research.

In response to your suggestion, we have added targeted transitional expressions at the beginning of Section 5. Reflections on Case Studies for Optimizing Global Biodiversity Conservation Efforts to better connect the case study section with the synthesis and discussion section. These transitional contents clearly summarize the core findings of each case study, establish the logical link between individual cases and the overall research conclusion, and avoid abrupt transitions between different sections.

The relevant revisions are completed in Lines 896–903 of the revised manuscript, which effectively improves the overall organization of the manuscript, makes the logical context more coherent, and helps readers better understand the connection between case practices and the research framework.

We sincerely appreciate your rigorous review and constructive suggestions, which have played an important role in optimizing the structure and expression of the manuscript.

 

Response to the Suggestion on Manuscript Structure and Language

Response: Thank you sincerely for your valuable suggestion regarding the manuscript’s readability. We fully agree that some sentences in the original draft were overly lengthy, which might affect understanding, and minor grammatical revisions were needed to enhance professionalism.

In response to your advice, we have thoroughly streamlined the entire manuscript: we deleted redundant content in Lines 90–91, 197–202, 232–239, 246–250, 251–254, 259–261, 363–368, 452–464, 742–754, and 1485–1560 of the revised manuscript; meanwhile, we polished and optimized the expression in Lines 152–156, 708–712, and 368–400 to simplify lengthy sentences, improve logical fluency, and correct minor grammatical errors.

All revised content is marked in green in the manuscript for easy reference.

We sincerely appreciate your careful review and constructive suggestions, which have effectively improved the readability and standardization of the manuscript, making the expression more concise and rigorous.

 

Response to the Comment on Contribution and Originality

Response: Thank you sincerely for your valuable suggestion regarding the contribution and originality of the research. We highly appreciate your recognition of the strength of the study’s cross-regional comparative perspective, and we have made targeted revisions to clearly emphasize the new insights provided by this research beyond the existing literature on indigenous conservation practices.

Specifically, we have revised the abstract (Lines 20–33 of the revised manuscript) to more clearly elaborate on the new insights of this study: compared with the existing literature on indigenous conservation practices, which mostly focuses on single-case analysis or single-region research, this study integrates cross-regional, cross-ecosystem case comparisons, and systematically summarizes the universal rules and practical paths of integrating traditional customary law with modern environmental governance. It fills the research gap of lacking systematic cross-regional comparative analysis in the field of indigenous ecological protection, and provides new theoretical and practical references for the integration of traditional ecological wisdom and modern conservation systems.

We sincerely thank you for your rigorous review and constructive suggestions, which help to enhance the academic influence and practical guiding significance of the research.

 

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Round 2

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The authors have addressed each comment and done so in a thorough and thoughtful manner. The additions (noted in pink) to the revised manuscript provided much needed clarity; thank you. I have no further suggestions. 

Reviewer 3 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

Dear Authors,

Thank you for the thorough and detailed revision of the manuscript. The responses to the reviewer comments are comprehensive and well-justified, and the manuscript has clearly improved in terms of clarity, methodological description, and overall structure. The revised version is significantly strengthened and makes a clearer contribution to the field. I support its acceptance, subject to minor editorial refinements if needed.