[Objective] After nearly 70 years’ development, the strategy of zoning for soil and water conservation has gradually got matured with natural environment, socio-economic situation, type of soil erosion, and other factors in the region taken into account, thus becoming an effective tool for strategic planning. However, local management agencies now require more locale-specific schemes to guide soil management practices, and zoning of small watersheds for soil and water conservation is an effective method, very helpful for comprehensive control of soil erosion. Moreover, zoning uses an evaluation- and cluster-based approach to sort and organize spatial units according to their similarity from a technical perspective. There are many kinds of clustering algorithms applied to zoning, and each has its own characteristics that may be desirable in some applications, but undesirable in others. Therefore, it is significant to evaluate the schemes of zoning for soil and water conservation designed with different clustering algorithms. [Method] In this study, the Pressure-State-Response(PSR)model was used as a framework for establishing a tri-mensional indicator system that included soil erosion sensitivity, the soil erosion status, and ecosystem services. The Xiaoyang watershed is a small watershed typical of the hill red soil regions in South China, suffering severe soil erosion. Taking the Xiaoyang watershed as an example, evaluation and comparison was made of the schemes of zoning for soil and water conservation designed with the 3 commonly-used clustering algorithms, i.e. k-means clustering algorithm(k-means), Self-organizing Maps(SOM)and Iterative Self-organizing Data Analysis(ISODATA), in dispersion, diversity and practicability, in light with the 3 evaluation indices, i.e. Silhouette Coefficient(SC), Shannon's Diversity Index(SHDI)and Perimeter-Area Fractal Dimension Index(PAFRAC). [Result] Results show that the k-means algorithm was the most reasonable for the zoning. The final schemes were adjusted through filtering, trend-surface analyses and comparison with other schemes to ensure continuity and integrity of the zoning and in the end 5 kinds of zoning were screened out. [Conclusion] Zoning for soil and water conservation should take into account characteristics of a region so as to make a suitable arrangement for vegetation rehabilitation in terms of the surface landscape. This study provides a framework within which region-specific soil erosion measures can be planned, and it has also laid down a scientific basis for local management agencies to implement region-specific erosion control measures and improve their integrative management benefits.