Abstract
To achieve the dual goal of poverty alleviation and ecological restoration, the policy of ecological forest rangers (EFRs) was implemented in rural poverty-stricken areas in China, where local residents commonly depend on nearby forest resources for livelihoods. This study aimed to analyze the short-term and long-term effectiveness of the EFRs policy in China mainly in poverty alleviation and income growth, with a brief discussion on the ecological effect of the policy. A questionnaire survey was conducted in four counties in the Karst rocky desertification region in southwest China. By combing through the early literature on REDD+, community forestry, leasehold forestry, etc., this paper summarizes the experience and lessons of similar community forest management models, aiming to explain the unsustainability of EFRs policy from the perspective of forest tenure and governance. The findings of the effectiveness analysis of EFRs policy in the four poverty-stricken counties reflect different degrees of effect in rural households with different income levels. We believe that the EFRs policy has played important roles in short-term regional poverty alleviation while its potential for long-term income growth has not been stimulated. For the amendment of EFRs policy, we put forward the following points: (1) It is necessary to redesign the selection and recruitment mechanism, as well as the exit mechanism of EFRs adapting to the local conditions. (2) It is advisable to further improve the local assessment and monitoring system of forest protection quality of EFRs and optimize the establishment of benefit linkage mechanism between protection effectiveness and EFRs remuneration. (3) The EFRs remuneration standards should be dynamically raised to assure the active participation of EFRs in forest protection. Furthermore, there is a need for one more effective integration model of forest protection and rural livelihoods improvement, which is considered as a potential future research direction.
Highlights
This paper presents the case study of the ecological forest rangers (EFRs) policy implemented in four counties in southwest China
EFRs have gradually become the main force in forest protection and even management in some areas of China, even if it is not always regard as a typical community forestry model, for EFRs policy is only to purchase services to allow local farmers to participate in forest protection, yet EFRs themselves almost have no right to develop or use this collective forest in the community
This paper introduces a unique policy oriented to rural poor populations to achieve dual goals of poverty alleviation and forest restoration in China, and analyzes the short-term and long-term effectiveness of this EFRs policy mainly in poverty alleviation and income growth, based on the survey in four counties in the Karst rocky desertification area in southwest China
Summary
The issues of poverty, ecological deterioration, as well as climate change have become hot topics of global concern [1]. Many countries around the world are devoted to the research of forestry-related policies or measures to improve farmers’ livelihood and ecological environment. The significant role of forests is clearly recognized in the UN sustainable development goals (SDGs) [2]. Forests have been seen as a key solution to environmental degradation in the context of tireless efforts to combat climate change [3]. Karren Habitat as the Key in Influencing Plant Distribution and Species Diversity in Shilin Geopark, Southwest China. Attachment: Regulations on the Management of Ecological Forest Rangers (Draft for Consultation).
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