The Environmental Education Path of National Forest Parks Integrating Ethnic Cultures: A Case Study of Hainan, China

Against the backdrop of the coordinated development of biodiversity conservation, the preservation of ethnic cultures, and public environmental education, the traditional environmental education model in national forest parks—which primarily focuses on showcasing natural landscapes and one-way knowledge dissemination—struggles to fully address the practical needs of dynamic ecosystem conservation and the sustainable preservation of local cultures. This paper focuses on the objectives, content, and implementation mechanisms of environmental education in national forest parks that integrate ethnic cultures. It analyzes the intrinsic connections among digital technology, community collaboration, traditional ecological knowledge, and hands-on environmental education and constructs a “Hub” model centered on the integration of digital knowledge and collaborative governance. This model employs digital technology, community collaboration, and hands-on environmental education as its three primary implementation pathways. Through a cyclical mechanism of “knowledge collection—digital integration—community validation—educational transformation—ecological practice—feedback optimization,” it connects ethnic cultural knowledge, modern ecological science, and public participatory conservation actions. In this model, digital technology primarily serves to record, integrate, and disseminate ecological data and ethnic cultural archives; community collaboration emphasizes the leading role of ethnic communities in knowledge interpretation, curriculum design, ecological practices, and conservation decision-making; and environmental field education promotes the transformation of learners from ecological awareness and cultural identity toward environmental responsibility and conservation behavior through nature observation, cultural experiences, ecological field studies, and community participation. This paper argues that this model can drive the transformation of environmental education in national forest parks from static displays and one-way communication toward knowledge co-creation, scenario-based learning, and adaptive governance, thereby providing a theoretically grounded framework and practical pathway—tailored to local contexts—for achieving the coordinated development of biodiversity conservation, the preservation of ethnic cultural heritage, and the enhancement of public ecological literacy.