Credibility measurement as a tool for conserving nature: Chinese herders’ livelihood capitals and payment for grassland ecosystem services

Abstract

The involvement of land users, such as farmers and herders, is crucial in protecting ecosystems, and the Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) is often regarded as a suitable measure to achieve this. Simultaneously, PES programs have sometimes failed to deliver on their stated aims. This article moots that livelihood capitals and policy credibility are important to consider in the implementation of PES programs. Livelihood capitals affect land users’ perceptions towards ecological protection, which in turn, affect policy credibility. To assess the relation between policy credibility and livelihood capitals, we developed a theoretical framework predicated upon the credibility thesis and the sustainable livelihoods approach. We constructed quantitative models for the measurement of credibility, and for the assessment of the relation between credibility and livelihood capitals. The models were applied to a Payment for Grassland Ecosystem Services (PGES) scheme implemented in Inner Mongolia, China. We thus were able to pinpoint the mechanisms that explain how policy credibility affects herders’ livelihood capitals and livelihoods. This study contributes to the research on PGES and pastoralism by: 1) delineating a new approach for studying the endogenous mechanisms of credibility in relation to livelihood capitals; 2) providing a theoretical and methodological basis that enables differentiating ecological conservation policies for various target groups (i.e. full-time, part-time, and non-agricultural herders); 3) presenting a selection of operational measures that may be used following the implementation of the Credibility Scales and Intervention (CSI) policy tool.