AbstractTo sustain long-term coexistence, it is important to avoid conflicts between protected area management and local people′s needs. Management policies implemented in protected areas play an important role in shaping their relationships with local people. To assess local people′s responses towards policies is a crucial step in information collection for decision-making. Based on a questionnaire survey and cross-tabulation analysis, we conducted a comprehensive investigation of local people′s responses to current policies, developmental conditions and policy scenarios in Wolong Nature Reserve, aiming to determine the factors affecting conflict mitigation between the reserve management and local people. Our results showed two potential conflicts existed threatening the biodiversity conservation and reserve management by the comprehensive analysis of current policies such as the “Grain for Green” Project, the Natural Forest Protection Project and the Substitute Electricity for Fuelwood Program. One conflict was that between the decrease of cropland holdings and overstocking of the labor force. The other was between the increase of electricity prices and the decrease of subsidies from the Natural Forest Protection Project. Local people′s responses were closely related to their personal characteristics such as gender and educational level, while responses to policy scenarios of relocation were associated with their residential place and educational level. We propose some measures to mitigate potential conflicts and modify management policies, including strengthening public participation, improving educational levels of and providing employment chances for local people, establishing reasonable prices for electricity and implementing a relocation policy.