Objectives  In the context of constructing China’s natural protected area system, it is crucial to coordinate ecological protection and tourism services in scenic areas. Mount Wutai Scenic Area is a national scenic area and a world heritage sitethat has undergone significant changes in land use and habitat quality over the past 30 years. However, there is a lack of research to evaluate the effect of its ecological environment protection.

Methods Taking Mount Wutai Scenic Area as the research object, based on the InVEST habitat quality model, this paper analyzed the temporal and spatial changes in land use types and habitat quality in the past 30 years (1991－2021), and evaluated the habitat contribution rate of land use change, and the improvement effect of current protection and development policies on the level of habitat quality in combination with the Overall Plan of Mount Wutai Scenic Area (2020－2035).

Results (1) In the past 30 years, the proportion of impervious and forest areas in the exploration area has increased by 3.36% and 2.43%, respectively, while the grassland has decreased by 6.32%. The main manifestation of the change was the transfer out of grassland and woodland and the transfer in of woodland and artificial surfaces, with a large fluctuation in land-use types from 1991 to 2011. (2) In the past 30 years, the average value of habitat quality in the research area has changed from 0.938 to 0.907, and the level of habitat quality in all levels of protected areas has shown a downward trend. The spatial distribution pattern of habitat quality in the study area showed a “high around, low in the center” pattern. Over the past 30 years, the proportion of high-quality and higher quality habitats has decreased from 98.2% to 94.5%. (3) The contribution rate of 50.9% improvement in habitat quality in the study area came from grassland to forest land conversion, and the contribution rate of 51.27% reduction in habitat quality came from grassland to impervious conversion. Under the protection scenario of the overall planning of the scenic area, the average habitat quality in the study area will increase from 0.907 in 2020 to 0.927 in 2035.

Conclusions In the past 30 years, the ecological environment protection effect of the scenic area has been unsatisfactory. In the future, the classified protection of resources and the coordinated development planning of residential areas should be carried out in strict accordance with the Overall Plan of Mount Wutai Scenic Area (2020−2035), and the quality level of the habitat of Mount Wutai Scenic Area should be improved through the planning and governance of land use types.