Moucheng Liu

Standards of ecological compensation for traditional eco-agriculture: Taking rice-fish system in Hani terrace as an example

Traditional eco-agriculture provides many ecosystem services which are important for the local environment, especially in mountain areas. In order to encourage the farmers to engage in eco-agriculture, it is necessary to establish an eco-compensation mechanism for them. As the compensation standard is one of key issues in establishing eco-compensation mechanism, this paper calculated the standard based on the farmers’ willingness to accept (WTA) and the input-output analysis of eco-compensation. We took the traditional rice-fish eco-agriculture as the research object, conducting field surveys in Hani Terrace of Honghe County. Through the questionnaires in 2011, we obtained the farmers’ willingness to accept government compensation and market compensation. Then, the research evaluated the output of eco-compensation, the economic value of rice-fish paddy ecosystem services. Finally, under different market compensation standards, we compared the input and output of government compensation. The results show that, in 2011 the government should to pay farmers 7462 yuan·ha−1·a−1 to meet their willingness, but the output (ecological benefit) was only 7393 yuan·ha−1·a−1. However, when the rice price increases 1 yuan·kg−1 because of the limited use of chemicals in the next year, the government just has to pay farmers 4062 yuan·ha−1·a−1 and the surplus will be 3331 yuan·ha−1·a−1.

Ecosystem service tradeoff between traditional and modern agriculture: a case study in Congjiang County, Guizhou Province, China

Besides crops, agriculture supplies all three major categories of ecosystem services (ES). However, agriculture also supplies an array of ecosystem dis-services (EDS) that may harm other ecosystems. The flows of ES and EDS are directly dependent on the management of agricultural ecosystems. The traditional method of Chinese agriculture, which supports sustainable agriculture, has been proven to increase ES and reduce EDS. However, there is a lack of a detailed understanding of the ES and EDS associated with traditional agriculture, and also of differences between traditional and modern agriculture.In this study, an investigation was conducted on the ecosystem services (ES) and ecosystem dis-services (EDS) of traditional and modern agriculture in Congjiang County, Guizhou Province, China. Afterwards, the economic values of ES and EDS were quantified experimentally and calculated based on the market price. The results show that: the net economic value of traditional rice-fish agriculture was 3.31×104 CNY·ha−1 (6.83 CNY = 1 USD as of July, 2009) and that of rice monoculture was 1.99×104 CNY·ha−1. Significant differences existed between traditional rice-fish and rice monoculture fields for their economic values of some ES or EDS.A benefit and cost analysis (BCA) model was used to adjust the conflict between the economic income and environmental loss from traditional and modern agriculture. The BCA model not only calculates the net income but also monetizes the EDS of the agricultural systems. The results showed that the net income of rice-fish agriculture was 1.94×104 CNY·ha−1 higher than that of rice monoculture. However, the benefit to cost ratio (BCR) of rice-fish agriculture was lower than that of rice monoculture, indicating that the traditional agricultural model was not the most optimized choice for farmers. The value of the rice-fish agriculture was much higher than that of the rice monoculture. Thus, when considering the benefits that rice-fish agriculture contributes to the largescale society, these agricultural methods needs to be utilized. Furthermore, the labor opportunity costs were calculated and the comprehensive value of rice monoculture was negative. Finally, the compensation standard was calculated based on the comprehensive benefit analysis. The lowest level was 1.09×103 CNY·ha−1, and the highest level was 1.21×104 CNY·ha−1.

The calculation of equivalence factor for ecological footprints in China: a methodological note

The Ecological Footprint (EF), a physical indicator to measure the extent of humanity’s use of natural resources, has gained much attention since it was first used by Wackernagel and Rees in 1996. In order to appraise land area types with different levels of productivity, they introduced the concept of an equivalence factor. This relates to the average primary biomass productivities of different types of land (i.e. arable land, pasture, forest, water/fishery, built-up land and fossil energy land) to the regional average primary biomass productivity of all land types in a given year. Hence, the equivalence factor is an important parameter in the EF model and it directly affects the reliability of all results. Thus, this article calculates equivalence factors on the national and provincial levels in China based on Net Primary Production (NPP) from MODIS 1 km data in 2008. Firstly, based on the Light Utility Efficiency and CASA model, the NPP of different biologically productive lands of China and of different provinces was calculated. Secondly, China’s equivalence factor for 6 land area types was calculated based on NPP: arable land and built-up land has an equivalence factor of 1.71, forest and fossil energy land has a factor of 1.41, pasture has a factor of 0.44 and water/fishery 0.35; Finally, the equivalence factor of 6 land area types in different provinces was also calculated. The NPP of each ecosystem type varies along with the equivalence factor in different provinces. However, the ranking of the equivalence factors in different provinces remain the same, with that of arable land being the largest, and the water/fishery being the smallest.

Conserving agricultural heritage systems through tourism: Exploration of two mountainous communities in China

Community plays an important role in the preservation of agricultural heritage system (AHS). Recently, many AHS have been valorized as interesting resources for rural tourism. The expectations are that tourism development (TD) can be supportive for the conservation of AHS while creating benefits for local communities. In this study, two mountainous pilot villages (Longxian and Xiaohuang) in a global conservation project for traditional agricutural systems — Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) were selected to identify the relationship between AHS conservation and TD. The study undertook in-depth interviews, and questionnaires of village residents and informal discussions with local villagers. A t-test and a linear regression model were implemented to explore the comparative dimensions of the two communities with different geographical location, economic situation, and stage of TD. The research found some similarities and differences in the two mountainous communities during AHS conservation and TD. Firstly, AHS are preservaed well in both villages unconsiously, while the residents in Xiaohuang value more highly the heritage elements than the respondents in Longxian, and the villagers in Xiaohuang are more worried about their heritage system; Secondly, both villages expect lots of benefits from TD and they clearly perceive more positive than negative impact from tourism and thus approve TD, while the huge different perception on transportation and accessibility in the two villages reflects the bottleneck of TD in Xiaohuang village. At the same time, the respondents from Xiaohuang perceive more positive and fewer negative impact from tourism than the respondents from Longxian. Thirdly, the respondents in the two villages all show positive attitudes towards participation in tourism mostly motivated by the high income expectation. The main factors to determine the community perception in two villages were also analyzed based on the data process. A location-based conceputal framework of AHS conservation in partnership with TD at community scale is proposed at the end of the paper. The dynamics of tourism development, that could enhance a better understanding of the complex relationship between conservation objectives and tourism development are discussed.

Residential Energy Consumption and Associated Carbon Emission in Forest Rural Area in China: A Case Study in Weichang County

Rural energy consumption in China has increased dramatically in the last decades, and has become a significant contributor of carbon emissions. Yet there is limited data on energy consumption patterns and their evolution in forest rural areas of China. In order to bridge this gap, we report the findings of field surveys in forest villages in Weichang County as a case study of rural energy consumption in northern China. We found that the residential energy consumption per household is 3313 kgce yr−1 (kilogram standard coal equivalent per year), with energy content of 9.7 × 107 kJ yr−1, including 1783 kgce yr−1 from coal, 1386 kgce yr−1 from fuel wood, 96 kgce yr−1 from electricity, and 49 kgce yr−1 from LPG. Per capita consumption is 909 kgce yr−1 and its energy content is 2.7 × 107 kJ yr−1. Due to a total energy utilization efficiency of 24.6%, all the consumed energy can only supply about 2.4 × 107 kJ yr−1 of efficient energy content. Secondly, household energy consumption is partitioned into 2614 kgce yr−1 for heating, 616 kgce yr−1 for cooking, and 117 kgce yr−1 for home appliances. Thirdly, the associated carbon emissions per household are 2556 kgC yr−1, including 1022 kgC yr−1 from unutilized fuel wood (90% of the total fuel wood). The rest of emissions come from the use of electricity (212 kgC yr−1), coal (1301 kgC yr−1) and LPG (21 kgC yr−1). Fourthly, local climate, family size and household income have strong influences on rural residential energy consumption. Changes in storage and utilization practices of fuel can lead to the 10%–30% increase in the efficiency of fuel wood use, leading to reduced energy consumption by 924 kgce yr−1 per household (27.9% reduction) and 901 kgC yr−1 of carbon emissions (35.3% reduction).

An integrated indicator on regional ecological civilization construction in China

China has come up with ecological civilization as one of major goals to improve its ecological sustainability during development in future. Under this broad framework, social, economic and natural ecosystems are expected to develop in harmony. However, there is lack of evaluation mechanism for this newly proposed strategy. Therefore, in this article, ecosystem services, Ecological Footprint and gross domestic product per capita were selected in order to reflect the resource endowment, human occupation on natural capital, and the economic growth. Thus, an integrated indicator was constructed from the three indexes based on the linear correlation among them, and we provided comprehensive evaluation on ecological civilization construction in the provinces and municipalities in China in 2010. When it comes to the indicator of ecological civilization construction, Hainan province has the greatest value which is 0.5091 and Beijing municipality has the smallest value which is 0.0377. At last, the article analyzed the ecological pressure and efficiency in ecological civilization construction in China. The results contribute to scientific and objective evaluation of regional ecological civilization construction in order to properly make decisions and take actions.

Dynamic prediction of Chinese development based on the ecological footprint method

Ecological footprint (EF), as a physical indicator to measure the extent of humanitys use of natural resources, is one of the most successful methods used to assess sustainable development. This paper calculated the per capita EF and biocapacity (BC) of China from 1949 to 2008 and the fluctuant cycles of per capita EF and BC, which were decomposed and assessed based on empirical mode decomposition and nonlinear dynamic prediction models. We propose prediction scenarios and the results show that: (1) over the last 60 years, the per capita EF increasingly fluctuated while the per capita BC constantly reduced, and since 1985, China has had an aggregate ecological deficit (ED); (2) the business-as-usual scenario looked at the consequences if average annual change rates of per capita EF and BC are constant, where the per capita ED would be 3.9024 gha in 2030, a very grim situation for China; and (3) if the productivity of natural ecosystems increases by 10%, consumption of natural ecosystems and emission of CO2 and contamination could be reduced by 10% and per capita ED would be 1.5217 gha in 2030, then the potential for sustainable development will be much better than the business-as-usual scenario. Finally, some policy recommendations are presented, such as increased land productivity to meet growing demand, reducing over-consumption of resources to mitigate ecological overload, promoting resource-saving consumption and paying attention to international trade.

Estimating cropland carbon mitigation potentials in China affected by three improved cropland practices

Agriculture is a large source of carbon emissions. The cropland practices of fertilizer substitution, crop straw and conservation tillage are beneficial and help to rebuild local soil carbon stocks and reduce soil carbon emissions, in addition to reducing the consumption of fertilizers and fossil fuels. These improved cropland practices can directly and indirectly mitigate carbon emissions, benefiting the sustainability of croplands. For these three improved practices, we estimated carbon mitigation potentials in rice, wheat and maize croplands in China. The combined contribution of these practices to carbon mitigation was 38.8 Tg C yr-1, with fertilizer substitution, crop straw return, and conservation tillage contributing 26.6, 3.6 and 8.6 Tg C yr-1, respectively. Rice, wheat and maize croplands had potentials to mitigate 13.4, 11.9 and 15.5 Tg C yr-1, respectively, with the combined direct and indirect potential of 33.8 and 5.0 Tg C yr-1. Because of differences in local climate and specific diets, the regional cropland carbon mitigation potentials differed greatly among provinces in China. In China, 18 provinces had a “target surplus” for which the carbon mitigation from these three practices was larger than the mitigation target set for 2020. At the national level, a net “target surplus” of 4.84 Tg C yr-1 would be attained for Chinese croplands with full implementation of the three improved practices. Regional cooperation must be developed to achieve carbon mitigation targets using such measures as carbon trading, establishing regional associations, and strengthening research programs to improve practices.

Establishment of an eco-compensation fund based on eco-services consumption

Eco-compensation is a type of institutional arrangement that uses economic measures to adjust the relationships among stakeholders in order to conserve and/or sustainably use ecosystem services. The externality of the value of ecosystem services is one of the theoretical bases for eco-compensation. Different types of ecosystem services are consumed by people from different regions. Some are consumed by people living where the services originate, while some are carried by rivers, wind, vehicles or other natural or manmade means to other areas. Thus, the flow and consumption of ecosystem services should be seen as the basis for establishing eco-compensation funds. This paper uses satellite images of the Zhang-Cheng area near Beijing in 2013 to discuss how to establish an eco-compensation fund for stakeholders in this area. Firstly, six important types of ecosystem services in the Zhang-Cheng area were identified based on ecological function zoning, and the value of these ecosystem services was calculated based on ecological pricing methods. Secondly, the field intensity model from physics was used to analyze where Zhang-Cheng area ecosystem services flowed and calculate how much of these services were used by other areas. Thirdly, based on this analysis and calculation, the paper proposes the rates that different stakeholders should invest in the eco-compensation fund, based on their consumption of eco-services.

Specialization or diversification? The situation and transition of households’ livelihood in agricultural heritage systems

ABSTRACT Zhagana Agriculture-Forest-Animal Husbandry Composite System (ZCS) is the first Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems site in the Tibetan Plateau. Similar to many traditional agricultural regions, with the development of tourism and leisure agriculture, the peasant households in ZCS have gradually changed their livelihood strategies and livelihood activities in the past 10 years, resulting in the disappearance of some traditional farming methods and agricultural landscapes with a long history. By taking livelihood assets as the entry point and livelihood strategies as the core, this paper analyzed the basic situation of households’ livelihood and the transition mechanism of different livelihood strategies in order to offer suggestions for the dynamic conservation and sustainable development of Agricultural Heritage Systems (AHS). (1) The livelihood strategies of peasant households in ZCS can be divided into two major categories: specialized strategies and diversified strategies. (2) According to the empirical calculation of the livelihood asset accounting framework of AHS, the average livelihood asset value of peasant households in ZCS is 2.040, showing that the situation of peasant households’ livelihood is inadequate. (3) The transition of peasant households’ livelihood strategies from traditional strategy to specialized or diversified livelihood strategies is mainly influenced by natural assets, human assets, cultural assets, social assets and informational assets. In order to meet the growing material and spiritual needs of peasant households and achieve the sustainable development of ZCS simultaneously, it is suggested that the agriculture-forestry-animal husbandry-tourism composite strategies shall be taken as the development direction of peasant households’ livelihood strategies.