Performance and prospects of payments for ecosystem services programs: evidence from China

Heterogeneous and interactive effects of payments for ecosystem services on household income across giant panda nature reserves

Numerous Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES) programs have been implemented simultaneously around the world but their outcomes in the literature are not consistent and their interactive effects remain understudied. The Natural Forest Conservation Program (NFCP) and Grain to Green Program (GTGP) are two largest PES programs in the world, and many studies have evaluated their effects on household income. However, the identified effects often varied across different studies and the factors explaining this variation are poorly understood. This study used linear regression and geographic detector analysis, based on questionnaire survey data from 14 giant panda natural reserves (NRs) in southwestern China, to evaluate the effects of the NFCP and GTGP on household income and the factors which moderate these effects. The results revealed that the effects of two PES programs on household income were spatially heterogeneous and enhanced by each other and livelihood activities, suggesting a synergistic interaction between policies and livelihood activities, particularly tourism. This study also found that livelihoods activities (e.g., labor migration and tourism), household capital (i.e., house area and farmland area) and demographic factors (i.e., number of labor and non-labor members), exhibit spatial heterogeneity in their effects on household income across NRs. These findings underscore the importance of considering local socioeconomic conditions and the interaction between policy and socio-economic conditions in PES program design to achieve desired outcomes, providing insights for policymakers and practitioners worldwide.

Pathways for achieving conservation targets under metacoupled anthropogenic disturbances

Enhancing connectivity between protected areas stands as a paramount objective in advancing global conservation goals, particularly in coastal regions grappling with escalating human disruptions. However, little attention has been given to quantitative assessment of human-nature interactions within and among protected areas. Here, we endeavored to model the connectivity between protected areas in rapidly urbanizing regions in China, drawing on insights from the framework of metacoupling based on connected corridors at short and long distances. In alignment with the overarching global conservation aim of increasing the overall coverage of protected areas, we found that adding new site to the protected area system yields superior connectivity gains compared to merely expanding the boundaries of the existing sites. Within the connectivity network between protected areas, we discerned specific sites acting as stepping stones, pivotal in enhancing connectivity among the chosen protected areas. Our study propounds a pragmatic methodology for prioritizing local protection initiatives and underscores the criticality of incorporating connectivity conservation strategies. This approach is vital for attaining regional biodiversity targets, given the dual perspective encompassing both human activities and the natural environment, particularly in the face of mounting anthropogenic disturbances.

Spatial variations and mechanisms for the stability of water use efficiency in China

A clearer understanding of the stability of water use efficiency (WUE) and its driving factors contributes to improving water use efficiency and strengthening water resource management. However, the stability of WUE is unclear. Based on the EEMD method, this study analyses the spatial variations and mechanisms for the stability of WUE in China, especially in the National Forest Protection Project (NFPP) areas. It is found that the stable WUE was dominated by non-significant trends and increasing trends in China, accounting for 33.59% and 34.19%, respectively. The non-significant trend of stable WUE was mainly located in the Three-North shelterbelt program area, and the increasing trend of stable WUE was in Huaihe and Taihu, Taihang Mountains, and Pearl River shelterbelt program areas. Precipitation and soil moisture promoted the stable WUE in these project areas. The unstable WUE was dominated by positive reversals or negative reversals of WUE trends. The positive reversals of unstable WUE were mainly located in the Yellow River shelterbelt program areas, which was promoted by temperature and radiation, while the negative reversals of unstable WUE were mainly distributed in the Yangtze River and Liaohe shelterbelt program areas, which were mainly induced by saturation water vapor pressure difference (VPD). Our results highlight that some ecological restoration programs need to be improved to cope with the negative climate impact on the stability of WUE.

Leveraging the metacoupling framework for sustainability science and global sustainable development

Sustainability science seeks to understand human-nature interactions behind sustainability challenges, but has largely been place-based. Traditional sustainability efforts often solved problems in one place at the cost of other places, compromising global sustainability. The metacoupling framework offers a conceptual foundation and a holistic approach to integrating human-nature interactions within a place, as well as between adjacent places and between distant places worldwide. Its applications show broad utilities for advancing sustainability science with profound implications for global sustainable development. They have revealed effects of metacoupling on the performance, synergies, and trade-offs of United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) across borders and across local to global scales; untangled complex interactions; identified new network attributes; unveiled spatio-temporal dynamics and effects of metacoupling; uncovered invisible feedbacks across metacoupled systems; expanded the nexus approach; detected and integrated hidden phenomena and overlooked issues; re-examined theories such as Tobler's First Law of Geography; and unfolded transformations among noncoupling, coupling, decoupling, and recoupling. Results from the applications are also helpful to achieve SDGs across space, amplify benefits of ecosystem restoration across boundaries and across scales, augment transboundary management, broaden spatial planning, boost supply chains, empower small agents in the large world, and shift from place-based to flow-based governance. Key topics for future research include cascading effects of an event in one place on other places both nearby and far away. Operationalizing the framework can benefit from further tracing flows across scales and space, uplifting the rigor of causal attribution, enlarging toolboxes, and elevating financial and human resources. Unleashing the full potential of the framework will generate more important scientific discoveries and more effective solutions for global justice and sustainable development.

Quantitative evaluation of China's basin ecological compensation policies based on the PMC index model

Policy evaluation is the premise of the scientific formulation and effective implementation of a basin ecological compensation policy. However, whether the formulation of the basin ecological compensation policy (BECP) is reasonable or not lacks theoretical and technical support. This study constructed a model based on the PMC and text mining methods. PMC index model enables decision-makers to determine the level of consistency and the strengths and weaknesses of any policy from multiple angles and makes the evaluation results more targeted and operable. By establishing an evaluation system for BECP and building a multi-input-output table, the score of each policy is calculated. Based on this, the rationality of nine ecological compensation policies in the Yangtze and Yellow River basins was then examined. The results show that the average value of the PMC index for the nine policies is 7.23, which indicate the formulation of the basin ecological compensation policy in China is generally reasonable. Ranking of policy scores from high to low is P2 > P1 > P5 > P7 > P3 > P4 > P6 > P9 > P8. However, deficiencies exist in policy timeliness, incentive measures, and policy receptors. In addition, there is a large gap in the formulation of policies at different levels. Moreover, the level of local policies is uneven.

Effects of global shocks on the evolution of an interconnected world

As the world grows more interconnected through the flows of people, goods, and information, many challenges are becoming more difficult to address since human needs are increasingly being met through global supply chains. Global shocks (e.g., war, economic recession, pandemic) can severely disrupt these interconnections and generate cascading consequences across local to global scales. To comprehensively evaluate these consequences, it is crucial to use integrated frameworks that consider multiple interconnections and flows among coupled human and natural systems. Here we use the framework of metacoupling (human-nature interactions within as well as across adjacent and distant systems) to illustrate the effects of major global shocks on the evolution of global interconnectedness between the early 1900s and the 2010s. Based on these results we make a few actionable recommendations to reduce the negative impacts of an ongoing global shock, the COVID-19 pandemic, to promote global sustainability.

Transformative adaptation through nature-based solutions: a comparative case study analysis in China, Italy, and Germany

This paper explores how claims for transformative adaptation toward more equitable and sustainable societies can be assessed. We build on a theoretical framework describing transformative adaptation as it manifests across four core elements of the public-sector adaptation lifecycle: vision, planning, institutional frameworks, and interventions. For each element, we identify characteristics that can help track adaptation as transformative. Our purpose is to identify how governance systems can constrain or support transformative choices and thus enable targeted interventions. We demonstrate and test the usefulness of the framework with reference to three government-led adaptation projects of nature-based solutions (NBS): river restoration (Germany), forest conservation (China), and landslide risk reduction (Italy). Building on a desktop study and open-ended interviews, our analysis adds evidence to the view that transformation is not an abrupt system change, but a dynamic complex process that evolves over time. While each of the NBS cases fails to fulfill all the transformation characteristics, there are important transformative elements in their visions, planning, and interventions. There is a deficit, however, in the transformation of institutional frameworks. The cases show institutional commonalities in multi-scale and cross-sectoral (polycentric) collaboration as well as innovative processes for inclusive stakeholder engagement; yet, these arrangements are ad hoc, short-term, dependent on local champions, and lacking the permanency needed for upscaling. For the public sector, this result highlights the potential for establishing cross-competing priorities among agencies, cross-sectoral formal mechanisms, new dedicated institutions, and programmatic and regulatory mainstreaming.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10113-023-02066-7.

Payments for environmental services strategy for transboundary air pollution: A stochastic differential game perspective

Air pollution has become a global threat to societal development. The main challenges of transboundary air pollution control include two perspectives: uneven socioeconomic development of regions and the diffusion of air pollution. This paper proposes an PES strategy to alleviate transboundary air pollution by coordinating regional economic interests and environmental preferences within the joint prevention and control of air pollution region. To make the model design more realistic, we introduce the stochastic differential game model to characterize the diffusion and uncertainty of air pollution. The optimal feedback Nash equilibrium is derived in three PES scenarios (no PES, dynamic PES, and fixed-fee PES) by using the Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman equation. Numerical simulations and sensitivity analysis are implemented to compare the optimal strategies under the three PES scenarios. The dynamic PES strategy is shown to outperform the no PES strategy and the fixed-fee PES strategy by encouraging the backward region to cut more emissions. Besides, the confidence interval theory is used to estimate the variation range of air pollution stocks, which provides a powerful diagnostic tool for policy-makers.

Eco-compensation in China: achievement, experience, and improvement

Payments for ecosystem services (PES) provide innovative solutions for global environmental governance. China, the largest developing country, always faces severe ecological and environmental problems. China created an eco-compensation mechanism that combines the PES mechanism with the government's standardized management, which has achieved remarkable results. Government-led, social participation, and market-oriented operation are its main characteristics. More importantly, the mechanism helps China achieve its anti-poverty goals. Part of its experiences has been transformed into formal institutions, i.e., farmland fallow and rotation policies. However, some problems have also plagued further development, such as the lack of environmental property rights, the single source of funds, and the shortage of standardized ecological value assessment technology. We suggest that it is necessary to improve the stability of China's eco-compensation mechanism. The achievement of China's eco-compensation mechanism provides helpful guidance for other developing countries. For example, it is enhancing the role of government administrative power and the flexibility of the system through the policy "sandbox," i.e., the policy pilot, encouraging the participation of multi-stakeholder groups, and so on. Last but most important, the policy and institutions must be closely integrated with the nation's state for it to be sustainable.

Wild Boar Survives in a Landscape That Prohibits Anthropogenic Persecution

Geopolitical borderlands are politically sensitive areas and biodiversity hotspots, strictly controlled by the government and military. How to ensure political security, while protecting the biodiversity in borderlands is a problem for ecologists and governments. In this study, the nest site selection of the wild boar Sus scrofa was a case study in the Sino-Russia borderland to understand the survival strategy of wild life under anthropogenic pressure. We investigated (a) how the spatial distribution of anthropogenic pressure and wild boar nests in the borderland and (b) how anthropogenic pressure and the border influence on the wild boars’ nest site selection. The Getis-Ord Gi* analysis was used to analyze the distribution patterns of wild boar nest sites and anthropogenic pressures in the borderland, the Structural Equation Models was used to explore the influence of border, roads, settlements, agricultural land, grassland and anthropogenic pressure on wild boars’ nest site selection. The results indicated that wild boar nest sites are close to the border, roads and agricultural land and away from settlements and grassland. Regardless of the combination of anthropogenic pressure, wild boars make the most advantageous choice and prefer to be closer to the borderland. We speculated that military control played a vital role in borderlands for animal protection under anthropogenic pressure. Wild boars benefit from the prohibition of anthropogenic persecution due to military control. Compared with existing measures, we suggest a different protection/wildlife management strategy, what we need to do may be to prohibit anthropogenic persecution rather than perform other human interventions to protect animals. However, for a species with trouble potential, we need to base our conservation strategies on the recovery of top predators, and play the community control role of top predators to avoid the occurrence of trouble.

Effects of China's ecological restoration on economic development based on Night-Time Light and NDVI data

Correctly understanding and handling the relationship between economic development and environment protection is an eternal subject for human society. Based on the panel data of 31 provincial administrative units in China from 2000 to 2013, this study used Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and Night-Time Light data to characterize the effect of ecological restoration practices and economic development, respectively, and made an empirical study on the impact of ecological restoration on economic development by means of trend analysis, panel regression model, and subsample analysis. The results showed that the spatial distribution of Night-Time Light was high in the east and low in the west, and the NDVI in the northwest of the Hu Line was generally low, while the southeast was higher. During the 14 years from 2000 to 2013, the overall vegetation coverage showed an upward trend, and the area with stable night lights accounted for the largest proportion. The influence of NDVI on Night-Time Light presented an inverted U-shaped relationship, which meant that the negative influence of the former on the latter was not an inevitable result but its periodic performance. In the process of economic development, there was an optimal value of vegetation coverage. The increase in vegetation coverage had a negative impact on the economic development of the eastern region, but it was beneficial to the central and western regions. In the future, the government should strengthen protection and restoration of ecosystem, promote high-level protection of environment and high-quality development with efficient environmental and economic policies, and differentiate the relationship between development and ecology in the eastern, central, and western regions.

Additionality and Leakage Resulting from PES Implementation? Evidence from the Ecuadorian Amazonia

Payments for Environmental Services (PES) are instruments which seem well suited for forest conservation. However, their impact on reducing deforestation might be weakened by negligible additionality and leakage effects; the first refers to the low variation in net deforestation rates even in the absence of PES, and the second refers to the displaced deforestation behavior to other areas not covered by PES. For the case of Ecuador, we examine both issues by assessing the historical deforestation trend of selected PES-enrolled areas and that of their adjacent areas to identify deforestation patterns before and after PES implementation. We analyze the additional effect of PES on reducing deforestation by comparison to a baseline as well as to comparable reference sites at two different spatial scales. We also analyze potential leakage effects of PES by comparing deforestation development in adjacent areas. We show that PES has achieved marginally low conservation impacts in enrolled areas with an average difference in net deforestation rates of 0.02 percent points over a period of 28 years. Overall, PES-enrolled areas depict lower annual net deforestation rates than unenrolled areas, albeit at a negligible rate, and there is also some evidence that deforestation decreased in adjacent areas after PES implementation. Additionally, there exists a statistically significant linear increasing deforestation trend in adjacent areas as distance increases from the PES-enrolled area. Our empirical results, however, raise the suspicion that the choice of PES-enrolled areas might have been influenced by self-selection.

Interventional Impacts of Watershed Ecological Compensation on Regional Economic Differences: Evidence from Xin'an River, China

Watershed ecological compensation (WEC) is a popular and effective policy instrument for promoting the coordinated development of environment protection and the regional economy in river basin areas. WEC affects the regional economic differences between upstream and downstream regions, as well as between protected areas and areas surrounding upstream regions. Thus, it is necessary to quantify these changes to ensure the balanced development of regions after the implementation of ecological compensation. In the present study, we established two types of Theil indexes for between-group inequalities (T_HH and T_HS) and an intervention analysis model in order to evaluate and predict the effects on regional economic differences caused by WEC in the Xin’an River basin. The results showed that the intervention comprising WEC affected regional economic differences, where the economic gap widened between Huangshan City in the upstream region and Hangzhou City in the downstream region, as well as between Huangshan and its surrounding cities. However, the impacts of the intervention gradually decreased in the later pilot period. Considering the fairness of regional social development, we recommend increasing the compensation for protected areas in order to improve the self-development capacity of upstream regions.

From payments for ecosystem services to eco-compensation: Conceptual change or paradigm shift?

Payments for ecosystem services (PES) is an effective policy in conserving ecosystem services and is increasingly applied globally. The concept of PES was firstly defined in 2005, researches with various terminologies, concepts, and practices emerged since then. This paper analyzed the research patterns of PES studies through bibliometric methods, with a special focus on the trends of terminology, location (geographical research hotspot), types of PES, and PES effectiveness evaluation based on author keywords analysis. The results showed that PES started to receive considerable academic attentions from 2005, and the number of PES publications have relatively kept an increasing trend since then. The most influential journal, country, research organization, and author were Ecological Economics, USA, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS, China), and Dr. Wunder. Further analysis revealed that there were various terminologies in PES studies, notably "ecological compensation" and "eco-compensation" (EC) were primarily adapted by Chinese research community. China was the geographical research hotspot and developing countries (Vietnam, Mexico, and Brazil) have received growing academic interests in last decade. "Forest and Carbon" PES was the most concerned types of PES in last five years. There were 125 articles evaluated the effectiveness of empirical PES initiatives, and the majority focused on the social aspect. We proposed two suggestions for future research: (1) adapting EC as an alternative term for PES studies because of its inclusiveness and representation of empirical practices; (2) enhancing integrated evaluation of PES programs to achieve multiple benefits.

Prohibited Grazing Policy Satisfaction and Life Satisfaction in Rural Northwest China-A Case Study in Yanchi County, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region

In order to restore degraded grasslands, the Chinese central government initiated the Prohibited Grazing Policy (PGP) in areas of severe grassland degradation and ecologically fragile regions which is an important payment for ecosystem services (PES) program. Since the initiation of this policy in the early 2000s, the PGP has significantly influenced participants’ lives. Therefore, in order for the policy to be successful, it is necessary to understand what determines participants’ satisfaction in the policy. This paper presents an analysis of survey data from Yanchi County using ordered probit regression models to explore the factors influencing PGP satisfaction and life satisfaction. The empirical results suggest that farmers’ policy perception, environmental perception, and livelihood strategies of raising sheep had significant effects on PGP satisfaction. Additionally, PGP satisfaction, marital status, environmental satisfaction, self-reported influence of the PGP on income, self-reported income level, and self-reported income and expenditure had significantly positive effects on overall life satisfaction. These results are important for promoting better implementation of such programs as well as enhancing social stability and sustainable development in these regions.

Multilevel Governments’ Decision-Making Process and Its Influencing Factors in Watershed Ecological Compensation

Transboundary water pollution is a long-standing problem in China, although the Chinese government has been committed to the protection of water resources. Due to the different interests of multilevel governments and the regionalization of management, there is still no unified plan to solve the transboundary water pollution in China. Watershed ecological compensation as a holistic plan to deal with transboundary water pollution is being promoted currently. Taking the South-to-North Water Transfer Project’ eastern route as an example, this paper firstly analyses stakeholders’ strategies and establishes a tripartite game model based on evolutionary game theory. Secondly, by introducing Cobb Douglas production function creatively, the supervision level of the central government is refined into supervisory attitude and supervisory skills. Thirdly, the numerical simulation is used to analyze the sensitivity of influencing factors. The results show that: (1) whether the central government supervises the local governments mainly depends on the benefits of water environment improvement and supervision costs; (2) the initial negotiation plan of the stakeholders has a significant impact on their optimum strategies; (3) the fines imposed by the central government on the local governments have a small impact on the stable state of the system; (4) the higher the eco-compensation fee, the lower their likelihood of cooperation; (5) the central government’s supervisory attitude and supervisory skills have significant effect on the sustainability of the optimum arrangement, even when willingness of upstream and downstream governments to cooperate is low; (6) the initial ecological benefits of downstream governments have no effect on the optimum strategy. Therefore, considering these insights is helpful to improve the watershed ecological compensation mechanism in order to solve transboundary water pollution and achieve the sustainability of water resources.

China's response to a national land-system sustainability emergency

China has responded to a national land-system sustainability emergency via an integrated portfolio of large-scale programmes. Here we review 16 sustainability programmes, which invested US$378.5 billion (in 2015 US$), covered 623.9 million hectares of land and involved over 500 million people, mostly since 1998. We find overwhelmingly that the interventions improved the sustainability of China's rural land systems, but the impacts are nuanced and adverse outcomes have occurred. We identify some key characteristics of programme success, potential risks to their durability, and future research needs. We suggest directions for China and other nations as they progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations' Agenda 2030.

Effects of payments for ecosystem services on wildlife habitat recovery

Conflicts between local people's livelihoods and conservation have led to many unsuccessful conservation efforts and have stimulated debates on policies that might simultaneously promote sustainable management of protected areas and improve the living conditions of local people. Many government-sponsored payments-for-ecosystem-services (PES) schemes have been implemented around the world. However, few empirical assessments of their effectiveness have been conducted, and even fewer assessments have directly measured their effects on ecosystem services. We conducted an empirical and spatially explicit assessment of the conservation effectiveness of one of the world's largest PES programs through the use of a long-term empirical data set, a satellite-based habitat model, and spatial autoregressive analyses on direct measures of change in an ecosystem service (i.e., the provision of wildlife species habitat). Giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) habitat improved in Wolong Nature Reserve of China after the implementation of the Natural Forest Conservation Program. The improvement was more pronounced in areas monitored by local residents than those monitored by the local government, but only when a higher payment was provided. Our results suggest that the effectiveness of a PES program depends on who receives the payment and on whether the payment provides sufficient incentives. As engagement of local residents has not been incorporated in many conservation strategies elsewhere in China or around the world, our results also suggest that using an incentive-based strategy as a complement to command-and-control, community- and norm-based strategies may help achieve greater conservation effectiveness and provide a potential solution for the park versus people conflict.

Impact evaluation to communicate and improve conservation non-governmental organization performance: the case of Conservation International

The rising prominence of more rigorous approaches to measuring conservation outcomes has included greater adoption of impact evaluation by conservation non-governmental organizations (CNGOs). Within the scientific literature, however, little consideration has been given to the unique and specific roles of CNGOs in advancing impact evaluation. We explore these issues in the context of one CNGO-Conservation International (CI)-and its experiences producing, using and funding impact evaluations over the past decade. We examine the contributions of impact evaluation to CI's mission at three different stages of CI's strategy: innovation, demonstration and amplification. Furthermore, we review incentives and barriers encountered by CI in its 10+ years' experience in impact evaluation. More coordinated and strategic use of impact evaluation by CNGOs would facilitate learning and promote accountability across the conservation community.

Going beyond the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment: an index system of human dependence on ecosystem services

The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA) estimated that two thirds of ecosystem services on the earth have degraded or are in decline due to the unprecedented scale of human activities during recent decades. These changes will have tremendous consequences for human well-being, and offer both risks and opportunities for a wide range of stakeholders. Yet these risks and opportunities have not been well managed due in part to the lack of quantitative understanding of human dependence on ecosystem services. Here, we propose an index of dependence on ecosystem services (IDES) system to quantify human dependence on ecosystem services. We demonstrate the construction of the IDES system using household survey data. We show that the overall index and sub-indices can reflect the general pattern of households' dependences on ecosystem services, and their variations across time, space, and different forms of capital (i.e., natural, human, financial, manufactured, and social capitals). We support the proposition that the poor are more dependent on ecosystem services and further generalize this proposition by arguing that those disadvantaged groups who possess low levels of any form of capital except for natural capital are more dependent on ecosystem services than those with greater control of capital. The higher value of the overall IDES or sub-index represents the higher dependence on the corresponding ecosystem services, and thus the higher vulnerability to the degradation or decline of corresponding ecosystem services. The IDES system improves our understanding of human dependence on ecosystem services. It also provides insights into strategies for alleviating poverty, for targeting priority groups of conservation programs, and for managing risks and opportunities due to changes of ecosystem services at multiple scales.

Going beyond the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment: an index system of human well-being

Understanding the linkages between ecosystem services (ES) and human well-being (HWB) is crucial to sustain the flow of ES for HWB. The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA) provided a state-of-the-art synthesis of such knowledge. However, due to the complexity of the linkages between ES and HWB, there are still many knowledge gaps, and in particular a lack of quantitative indicators and integrated models based on the MA framework. To fill some of these research needs, we developed a quantitative index system to measure HWB, and assessed the impacts of an external driver – the 2008 Wenchuan Earthquake – on HWB. Our results suggest that our proposed index system of HWB is well-designed, valid and could be useful for better understanding the linkages between ES and HWB. The earthquake significantly affected households' well-being in our demonstration sites. Such impacts differed across space and across the five dimensions of the sub-index (i.e., the basic material for good life, security, health, good social relations, and freedom of choice and action). Since the conceptual framework is based on the generalizable MA framework, our methods should also be applicable to other study areas.