The ecological protection and high-quality development of the Yellow River Basin have been designated as a national strategy in China, with ecological issues in the basin assuming a focal point of national concern. Due to the comprehensive influence of climate change, landform shifts, and human activities, serious ecological environmental challenges are being confronted in the Yellow River Basin. Residents play a direct role as participants and beneficiaries in the ecological environmental protection of the Yellow River. Therefore, the discussion of people’s participation in ecological environmental protection (PEEP) in the Yellow River Basin is deemed necessary. Therefore, the concept of PEEP was presented in this paper, then the evaluation Indicator system of PEEP was established in the Yellow River Basin. An improved grey target evaluation model, utilizing relative entropy, was constructed to determine the weights of the indices. Taking 8 cities in the Yellow River Basin (Henan Section) as examples, the people PEEP was evaluated, and the results indicated that ZhengZhou (2.136) scored the highest, while PuYang (1.201) scored the lowest, highlighting significant spatial differences. Finally, the paper proposed several countermeasures to enhance PEEP effects among residents along the Yellow River, aiming to offer scientific insights for the government in formulating ecological and environmental protection policies for the Yellow River Basin residents.