Reconsidering the eco-economic benefits of Grain for Green Program in Sichuan Province, China

Abstract

The Grain for Green Program (GFGP) is an important policy implemented by the Chinese government to restore degraded forests. However, there is a limited understanding of the eco-economic benefits of GFGP in Sichuan province. In this study, the ecosystem service value (ESV) in Sichuan from 2001 to 2019 was evaluated dynamically based on the improved value equivalent method. Then, the impact of climate and human activities on ESV was explored. Finally, the eco-economic benefit model of afforestation was constructed to calculate its value efficiency in 183 counties and the return rate on afforestation investment in Sichuan. Our results indicated that the forest ESV (R2 = 0.82, P < 0.05) in Sichuan increased significantly from 2001 to 2019. Moreover, GFGP investments had a significant positive effect on forest ESV, and the correlation between afforested area and forest ESV was the highest (r = 0.88, P < 0.05). Besides, the value efficiency was relatively low in central and southwestern Sichuan, especially in and around Chengdu. In general, a total of 106 counties demonstrated low value efficiency, making up 57.92 % of the total number of counties. We also found that the return rate on GFGP investments in Sichuan was only 17.09 %. Finally, we discovered that during the consolidation phase of afforestation, 38.05 % of ESV in the core area afforested experienced degradation. Based on these findings, there is a need to encourage multistakeholder participation to jointly improve the eco-economic benefits of investing in GFGP in Sichuan now and in the future. In addition, the findings could help inform government regulators to reconsider their approach to GFGP investments and also promote more effective nature-based ecological solutions and management practices.