Wang Ying, Zhang Qi, Bilsborrow Richard, Tao Shiqi, Chen Xiaodong, Sullivan-Wiley Kira, Huang Qingfeng, Li Jiangfeng, Song Conghe
School of Public Administration, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430074, China.
Frederick S. Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future, Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215, USA.
Land use policy. 2020 Dec;99. doi: 10.1016/j.landusepol.2020.105024. Epub 2020 Sep 9.
Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES) is increasingly used in developing countries to secure the sustainable provision of vital ecosystem services. The largest PES programs in the world are embedded in China's new forest policies, which aim to expand forest cover for soil and water conservation and improve livelihoods of rural people. The objective of this study is to identify the complex pathways of impacts of two PES programs - the Conversion of Cropland to Forest Program (CCFP) and the Ecological Welfare Forest Program (EWFP) - on household livelihood decisions, and to quantify the direct and indirect impacts along the identified pathways. We fulfill this objective by developing an integrated conceptual framework and applying a Partial Least Squares-Structural Equation Model (PLS-SEM), based on household survey data from Anhui, China. Labor allocation (for on-farm work, local paid work, local business, and out-migration) and land use decisions (i.e., rent in, maintain, rent out, or abandon cropland) for participating households are key to understand PES program effects on livelihoods. Results show that the PES programs have only small direct effects but significant indirect effects via the mediating factor of capital assets. Moreover, group heterogeneity analysis shows that lower-income households do not benefit any more than the better-off households from the PES, while households with medium wealth increase dependence on agriculture. In addition, household demographics, individual attributes, and geographic settings differ in their impacts on labor allocation and land use decisions. We conclude that CCFP and EWFP programs would be more efficient in conserving the environment while improving the economic welfare of lower-income households if capital assets were taken into account in the design of compensation schemes.
生态系统服务付费（PES）在发展中国家越来越多地被用于确保重要生态系统服务的可持续提供。世界上最大的生态系统服务付费项目融入了中国的新森林政策，其目的是扩大森林覆盖以保护水土，并改善农村居民的生计。本研究的目的是确定两个生态系统服务付费项目——退耕还林项目（CCFP）和生态公益林项目（EWFP）——对家庭生计决策影响的复杂路径，并量化沿已确定路径的直接和间接影响。我们通过构建一个综合概念框架并应用偏最小二乘结构方程模型（PLS-SEM）来实现这一目标，该模型基于来自中国安徽的家庭调查数据。参与项目家庭的劳动力分配（用于农业生产、当地有偿工作、当地商业和外出务工）和土地使用决策（即租入、维持、租出或撂荒农田）是理解生态系统服务付费项目对生计影响的关键。结果表明，生态系统服务付费项目的直接影响较小，但通过资本资产这一中介因素产生了显著的间接影响。此外，群体异质性分析表明，低收入家庭从生态系统服务付费中获得的收益并不比富裕家庭更多，而中等财富水平的家庭对农业的依赖增加。此外，家庭人口统计学特征、个人属性和地理环境对劳动力分配和土地使用决策的影响各不相同。我们得出结论，如果在补偿方案设计中考虑资本资产，退耕还林项目和生态公益林项目在保护环境的同时提高低收入家庭经济福利方面将更有效率。
