Abstract
This article surveys the recent literature that assesses China's ecological restoration programs, including the Sloping Land Conversion Program (SLCP) and the Natural Forest Protection Program (NFPP). Our presumption is that the performance of these programs should be determined by their effectiveness of implementation and significance of impact. Implementation effectiveness can be measured with such indicators as land area converted or conserved, and survival and stocking rates of restored vegetation, while impact significance can be gauged by the induced changes in ecosystem productivity and stability, and socioeconomic conditions. Coupling this matrix with an exhaustive search of the publications, we find that: (1) the implementation effectiveness has not been examined as extensively as the impact significance; (2) efforts to assess the impact significance have concentrated on the SLCP, particularly its socioeconomic effects: growth of income, alternative industry, and employment, and likelihood of re-conversion; and (3) most of the socioeconomic studies are based on rural household surveys, and discrete choice and difference in differences models. Future work should pay more attention to the NFPP and other programs, and the environmental impacts and the implementation effectiveness of all of them. To these ends, analysts must gather more field data regarding the evolving ecosystem conditions and socioeconomic information of higher aggregation, and conduct their research across scales and disciplines, with better application of geospatial technology and more effective collaboration.
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Notes
- 1.
There have been many studies published in domestic Chinese journals. But because most of them are not peer reviewed and less accessible, only a few are covered here.
- 2.
This latter study and others conducted by Emi Uchida were based on Jintao Xu's household survey data and often have him as a coauthor.
- 3.
Of course, household grain production will entail various inputs and thus expenses, whereas government subsidies are completely free.
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Acknowledgments
This study was funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation (project 0624018). The authors are grateful for the comments and suggestions made by four reviewers of this journal and many participants of the International Symposium on Evaluating China's Ecological Restoration Programs, held on October 19, 2007, in Beijing. They appreciate Erin Shi for her assistance.
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Yin, R., Yin, G., Li, L. (2009). Assessing China's Ecological Restoration Programs: What's Been Done and What Remains to Be Done?. In: Yin, R. (eds) An Integrated Assessment of China's Ecological Restoration Programs. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-2655-2_2
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