Policy Recommendations

Abstract

China is facing great challenges in meeting increasing economic and social demands with limited natural resources and limited generation of ecosystem services. In China, 7 % of the world’s arable land, 4 % of forests, 14 % of grasslands, and 10 % of wetland ecosystems support 1.3 billion people – 22 % of the world’s population. The ecosystems provide necessary services, which range from food and timber to water, climate regulation, carbon storage, and biodiversity. During the process of industrialization and urbanization, GDP per capita is forecasted to increase fourfold from 2000 to 2020 (CPC 2007), more than half the population will live in urban areas, and the demand for ecosystem services will increase sharply. To meet the gap between the supply and demand of ecosystem services, ecosystems should be managed in a more sustainable way. The Task Force recommends that the Chinese government develops a national strategy on sustainable ecosystem management of equivalent stature as the national strategies on family planning, environment protection, and resource saving. Important elements of this national strategy should include adoption of a new national plan on ecosystem conservation and development; enhancement of the capacity of ecosystems to generate multiple services to meet increasing demand; support for sustainable development through better planning, cross-sectoral coordination, legislation, and additional funding; and increasing long-term research and technology capacity. Specifically, the Task Force recommends that the Chinese government: