<p>Achieving conservation goals in natural habitats requires a balanced approach that integrates both sustainable community development and nature conservation, rather than completely excluding human activities from wilderness areas. However, limited understanding exists regarding locals’ willingness to participate (WTP) in the construction and stewardship of national parks as well as their driving factors behind this willingness. To identify the key drivers that promote locals’ WTP in national parks, we investigated local residents’ participation willingness and embedded an additional structure perceived value (PV) into the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) model, analyzing the data by using structural equation modeling. Local communities were slightly willing to participate in Changtang National Park and conservation in general; interestingly, nomads’ willingness was stronger than settlers’. Perceived behavioral control (PBC) exhibited the most significant impact on WTP, with particular emphasis on the livelihood risks associated with grasslands. PV indirectly influenced WTP by affecting attitude (ATT), personal/social norms (PSN), and PBC, while it did not have a direct impact on WTP. For settlers and nomads, different variables influence their varying levels of willingness to engage in park participation. These results deepen our understanding of community willingness to participate and differences in drivers of WTP between settlers and nomads, contributing to relevant knowledge to inform seeking a balance between sustainable community development and nature conservation.</p>