Abstract: By using contingent valuation method (CVM), an investigation was made from November 2007 to March 2008 on the perception and attitude of 196 household s in 5 villages within 2 planned Asian elephant conservation corridors in Xishua ngbanna to the construction of the corridors. 8061% of the interviewees condit ionally supported the corridors construction. The main factors affecting the int erviewees’ support willingness included their education level, per capita incom e, and perceptions to Asian elephant protection, human-elephant relations, and corridor utilization patterns and its beneficiaries, among which, the interviewe es’ awareness of Asian elephant conservation, corridor utilization patterns, an d corridor beneficiaries had strong influence on the support willingness, with t he correlation coefficient being 0231, 0236, and -0304, respectively. The ru ral community holding the land tenure played a key role in the corridors constru ction. To effectively design and planning the construction of biological conserv ation corridor, it is necessary to have a deep understanding on the perceptions and attitudes of rural community to the construction of the corridor and to obta in their support and participation for this construction.

Key words: arid region, ecological restoration, sustainable development, farmer household livelihoods.