Abstract: Compensation for ecological services is an environmental policy which is effective for biodiversity protection. The willingness of farmers, as the main stakeholders, to participate in such a compensation project directly affects the performance and sustainability of the project. Based on an investigation of the ecological environment of the tidal flat in Yancheng City, a questionnaire was designed using payment card, and 125 farmers residing around the Yancheng Rare Bird Nature Reserve were interviewed face to face. The contingent valuation method (CVM) was used to analyze their willingness to accept (WTA) compensation. The basic social and economic characteristics of the farmers, such as their gender, age, annual income, acknowledgement of compensation for ecological services, and attitude toward environment projects, were selected as the independent variables. Next, taking the farmers' willingness to accept compensation as the dependent variable, the binary Logistic model was used to analyze the influencing factors affecting the farmers' WTA. The results show that the farmers residing around the protected area possessed a certain degree of awareness of environmental protection. A total of 88% of the farmers chose a non-zero WTA, with an average minimum WTA compensation of RMB 7 727.7 Yuan·hm^-2·a^-1. The analysis of the Logistic model show that the age of the farmers, acreage of farmland, and acknowledgement of compensation for ecological services were the major factors affecting their WTA compensation. The results of this study offer suggestions regarding the effective implementation of compensation for ecological services in the Yancheng Rare Bird Nature Reserve, while also provide a scientific reference for that in other protected areas.