Rewilding Beyond Boundaries: Modeling the Wildland Network in Baishanzu National Park and Surrounding Landscape

National parks in densely populated regions face growing pressure to shift from boundary-based protection toward cross-boundary landscape governance, yet connectivity between wildlands within and outside the national park remains understudied. China’s large population and marked spatial variation in anthropogenic pressure make it a particularly informative setting for investigating this issue. We developed a rewilding-oriented framework for wildland network modeling, applied to Baishanzu National Park and its surrounding counties in China. By integrating Boolean overlay, wilderness continuum analysis, and circuit theory, we systematically delineated wilderness patches, corridors, and pinch points. We identified 143 wilderness patches covering 1102.79 km 2 (14.06% of the study area), dominated by small fragments indicative of severe landscape fragmentation. High current-density zones are concentrated along continuous montane forest belts, valley-ridge transition zones, and narrow inter-patch passages. Twenty-six pinch points were identified, primarily within Baishanzu National Park, southeastern Jingning County, and the northern Yunhe–Longquan interface, alongside 15 internal corridors within the park. Rewilding strategies for montane national parks in human-dominated landscapes may benefit from extending beyond boundaries. Cross-boundary wildland network modeling offers a methodological reference for corridor planning and rewilding practice globally.