Rural Land Use Research Articles

Impact Mechanism of the Three Pilot Reforms of the Rural Land System on Rural Residential Land Use Transition: A Regime Shifts Perspective

Understanding the impact of the three pilot reforms of the rural land system (TRRLS) on rural residential land use transition (RRLUT) based on the land use transition (LUT) theory is crucial for promoting rural land system reform. However, there is still a lack of research on this, and the LUT theory also needs to be improved from a systematic perspective to eliminate the misunderstanding of LUT in academia. To address this, this study firstly attempts to deepen the conceptual model and the understanding of characteristics of LUT from a regime shifts perspective. LUT is the transformation of the land use system as one regime passes into another, where a difference in the analytical perspective of land use morphology generates different transition results. The process of LUT can simultaneously or solely involve dominant morphology and recessive morphology transitions, and there are two types of LUT: positive and negative transitions. Moreover, LUT in different regions may have pathway differences and the convergence of results. Then, a theoretical analysis framework of the pathways of RRLUT under the TRRLS is constructed to detect the impact mechanism by using Wujin district, China to obtain empirical evidence. The results reveal that the recessive morphology transition of rural residential land in Wujin under the TRRLS is significant, while the dominant morphology transition in land quantity structure and spatial distribution is relatively slow. Furthermore, two internal factors of population urbanization and migration, the demand for rural collective economic development, as well as the two external factors of the TRRLS and market factors, such as nonlocals’ demand for housing and rural enterprises’ demand for land, have, to a certain extent, weakened the resilience of the rural land use system and promoted RRLUT. Here, the TRRLS have, by removing the institutional barrier to RRLUT, become the key to the transition.

Cultivated land loss and construction land expansion in China: Evidence from national land surveys in 1996, 2009 and 2019

Knowledge of cultivated land conservation and construction land expansion in China and its provincial scale is still insufficient due to the lack of accurate and reliable data. Based on the dataset of three nationwide land surveys in China, this study used the statistical analysis and two-way fixed effect model to explore the spatio-temporal patterns and driving forces of cultivated land and construction land change in China at the provincial and regional levels during the period 1996–2019. Results show that over the past 20 years, China's cultivated land increased first and then decreased. Distinct regional land use change characteristics were also detected, showing a continual increase in Northeast China, Inner Mongolia and Xinjiang, and a continuous decrease in eastern coastal and southwestern provinces. The center of gravity of China's cultivated land area had a trend of moving northward as a whole. Between 1996 and 2019, the area of high-quality cultivated land with slope of 2° and below in eastern China decreased by 23.33 %, while that in the three northeastern provinces and the 13 major grain producing provinces increased by 41.66 % and 11.1 %, respectively. Construction land across the country and all provinces continued to expand, and township land was expanding faster than city and village construction land. In rapidly urbanizing China, rural settlement land did not shrink but expanded rapidly, especially in the provinces of Hebei, Shandong, Henan and Sichuan where the rural population continued to decrease substantially. The mismatch between urban expansion and population growth scale was prominent. The problem of extensive and inefficient use of rural construction land is still widespread and has become more serious. Road construction has also contributed to the expansion of construction land in China. About 80 % of cultivated land loss in China was occupied by construction purposes, while the increase of construction land was driven by the expansion of built-up areas and population growth. China's land policy to control the expansion of construction land and the loss of cultivated land appears to be a double failure. The adjustment of land use planning and land policy needs to fully consider the characteristics of regional land use change, socioeconomic level and land use demand.

Response Mechanism of Farmers’ Livelihood Capital to the Compensation for Rural Homestead Withdrawal—Empirical Evidence from Xuzhou City, China

The Chinese government has implemented a homestead withdrawal policy to improve the efficiency of rural construction land use. The compensation for rural homestead withdrawal (CRHW) is crucial to the reconstruction and sustainable development of farmers’ livelihoods. This paper analyzed the response mechanisms of farmers’ livelihoods to the CRHW with the combined application of the logistic regression, the mediation effect model, and the moderating effect model. The results indicated that CRHW had a significant positive impact on the sustainable livelihoods of rural households, mainly by improving the physical capital and social capital. In addition, adaptability and livelihood diversity played intermediary and regulatory roles in the positive impacts of the CRHW on sustainable livelihoods, respectively. The conclusions may provide insight into the demand for more reasonable compensation policies to ensure the sustainability of farmers’ livelihoods.

A Study on the Factors Influencing Farmers’ Intention to Revitalize Idle Homesteads Based on Improved TPB Framework—Analysis of the Moderating Effect of Farmer Differentiation

Under the dual structure of urban and rural lands, revitalizing rural idle homesteads is an effective measure for reducing resource waste and improving the efficiency of rural land use. Therefore, the intention of farmers, as the primary decision-makers in revitalizing rural idle homesteads, is the key to the success of revitalizing idle homesteads. With an analytical framework based on the theory of planned behavior (TPB), this study used multiple linear regressions to analyze the survey data (N = 680). The results showed that attitude toward the behavior (AB), subjective norms (SN), and perceived behavioral control (PBC) had significant positive effects on the farmers’ intention to revitalize, with SN, PBC, and AB in descending order of influence. It confirmed that the TPB applies to the study of farmers’ intention to revitalize idle homesteads in the context of China. In addition, this study focused on the social phenomenon of farmer differentiation, which is prominent in the urbanization process. It emphasizes the moderating effect of farmer differentiation on the relationships of “attitude toward the behavior–intention to revitalize,” “subjective norm–intention to revitalize,” and “perceived behavioral control–intention to revitalize,” and further improves TPB. The present empirical study using hierarchical regression found that the deeper the differentiation of farmers, the stronger the effective influence of AB, SN, and PBC on farmers’ intention to revitalize idle homesteads. Therefore, it is suggested that the Chinese government should enhance farmers’ intention to revitalize by cultivating a positive attitude toward the behavior, strengthening the positive influence of subjective norms on farmers, and enhancing farmers perceived behavioral control. Furthermore, it is more important to pay full attention to the phenomenon of farmer differentiation and design a revitalization policy according to the differences in sensitivity of different types of farmers to attitudes toward the behavior, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control.

Discussion on Ecological Land Consolidation under the Background of Rural Revitalization

The current domestic land consolidation project management has basically realized the regularization development, but with the overall popularization of green environmental protection concept and the continuous improvement of related work attention, the sustainable development of land ecological consolidation work is very important. For a long time, the imbalance between supply and demand of rural land use function is one of the main causes of rural problems. Based on the perspective of rural revitalization, this paper explains the mutual feed-back relationship between rural land consolidation and rural revitalization, and discusses how to achieve the balance between supply and demand of rural land use function through rural land consolidation, so as to promote rural revitalization.

Identifying the structure of rural regional system and implications for rural revitalization: A case study of Yanchi County in northern China

Rural regional system is a geographical perspective to understand rural development and land use change. Identifying the structure of rural regional system has been the key issue in rural geography. This paper proposed a multi-dimension analysis framework and developed "Pole–Field–Zone–Network" (PFZN) to identify the structure of rural regional system. Taking Yanchi County as a case, which is in farming pastoral ecotone northern China, we integrate geospatial analysis methods to identify the structure. The results show that the structure of Yanchi’ rural regional system can be identified and divided into 23 rural revitalization poles, eight village-town spatial fields, and five rural development zones. This paper analyzes the PFZN structure of rural regional system, which cascade connects taking the development poles as the nodes, fields as the influence domain, and zones as the type of control area, and according to the regionalization results for the rural development zone, the corresponding implications of revitalization are given. It is proposed to promote the construction of central villages and towns with revitalization as the core, optimize the spatial structure and layout based on filed and zone, and build a multi-functional network structure. Then, the main function-oriented zoning for the rural areas, as well as dominant type classification and principal purpose classification of the rural regional system should also be feasible strategies for policymakers and rural revitalization planners to achieve sustainable rural development. We try to fill the gap in quantitative identification on the structure of rural regional system to enrich the research regarding the theoretical model by exploring the interaction of human-environment relationship, which has significance for the rural revitalization and sustainable development.

Simulation analysis of rural land use using rate of change driven by population and economic dynamics - A case study of Huangguashan village in Chongqing, China

The conflicts between various types of land use in rural areas of China are becoming more and more obvious, therefore, how to more accurately simulate and predict the future land cover changes in rural areas has become an important topic of current academic research. In this research, the dynamic multi-year data was used to replace the static one-year data and brought into the future land use simulation (FLUS) model for the simulation of land use in Huangguashan village, Chongqing, China. The accuracy results of the two sets of simulations are compared in terms of accuracy kappa coefficient and Overall Accuracy (OA). Next, using the improved FLUS model, four different future development scenarios of priority ecological conservation, priority economic development, priority farmland conservation and priority integrated development were set up to simulate the land use data of Huangguashan village in 2030. The results of the research found that (1) the kappa coefficient and OA values were higher for the simulation of FLUS model using dynamic multi-year data. The simulation results are closer to the actual situation, especially the simulation enhancement effect is more obvious for the long-term; (2) by comparing the land use types of four different future development scenarios, it is suggested that Huangguashan village should adopt the integrated development priority scenario as the direction of future policy formulation and planning development in the future. This research can provide more effective scientific decision support and significance for governments to formulate multi-scheme rural land use development policies.

SPATIAL AND TEMPORAL VARIABILITY OF ECOSYSTEM SUPPORT SERVICES AND DRIVERS IN METROPOLITAN AREAS BASED ON THE INVEST MODEL

Abstract. With the rapid economic growth since the turn of the 21st century, the fast-degrading environment has emerged as a significant factor limiting the continued development of megacities such as Beijing and Shanghai. It has also placed unprecedented pressure on ecosystem services. Therefore, the present study uses the morphological spatial pattern analysis model and the index of connectivity (IIC) and possible connectivity (PC) indices to analyse changes in the spatial pattern of Beijing and combines the carbon sequestration module and habitat quality module of the InVEST model to evaluate the supporting functions of Beijing’s ecosystems from 2000 to 2020, to investigate the characteristics of spatial and temporal changes and the drivers of these changes, and to provide a scientific basis for urban ecosystem management. The results show that between 2000 and 2020, the overall area of green space in Beijing decreased, and the IIC and the index of PC decreased, indicating that the overall spatial connectivity of green space decreased and fragmentation increased. During this period, the carbon stock within the Beijing city area decreased by a total of about 2.94 Tg, and the habitat quality index decreased from 0.71 to 0.67, indicating a trend of degradation. This paper suggests that the expansion of urban and rural land use is a major factor in the decline of ecosystem support services, while the spatial pattern of the landscape also has an impact on habitat quality, which is generally higher in areas with better landscape connectivity.

How Urban Expansion Triggers Spatio-Temporal Differentiation of Systemic Risk in Suburban Rural Areas: A Case Study of Tianjin, China

Rapid urban expansion has strongly impacted rural development in China’s suburbs. The increasing probability of socio-ecosystem hazards, such as the shrinking and fragmentation of ecological space, the outflow of labor force, the disintegration of traditional society, and the decline in collective economy has become a systemic risk restricting the sustainable development of rural areas in the suburbs. At present, the influence of urban expansion on rural systemic risk in the suburbs is not clear, which is not conducive to putting forward differentiated and targeted strategies for rural revitalization. Therefore, in this study, we propose the ecological, industrial, social, and livelihood elements of rural systemic risk in the suburbs and construct a multi-dimensional risk resistance analysis framework involving functionality, stability, and sustainability. Taking 93 villages in the western suburbs of Tianjin as an example, and using spatial econometric methods such as remote sensing interpretation, GIS analysis, multiple linear regression, and random forest model testing, we analyze the relationship between external transportation construction, urban employment attraction, construction of land growth, rural risk factors, and the dimension of risk resistance. Finally, the influence of urban expansion on the spatial–temporal differentiation of rural systemic risk and the risk management strategy are discussed. The results show that the difference in the urban expansion intensities is the main factor of the spatial differentiation of rural systemic risk in the suburbs. With the acceleration of the land replacement rate between urban and rural areas, the proportion of urban construction of land is increasing, leading to various degrees of change in the rural land use pattern and the ecological security pattern. Meanwhile, because of the urban employment attraction, part of the rural labor force continues to decrease, leading to the spatial differentiation of rural industrial risks and social risks aggravated. Precise risk management strategies are put forward according to the systemic risks in different types of villages. In villages with a high proportion of urban construction land and inefficient land consolidation, ecological restoration projects should be carried out. For villages severely divided by transit roads, internal spatial connections should be strengthened by constructing public transport. For villages with good accessibility, the allocation of rural non-agricultural industries and service facilities should be strengthened to mitigate the impact of urban expansion on the rural social structure. From the perspective of risk management, the research results will provide a basis for making decisions regarding rural public policymaking and spatial resource allocation in the suburbs of developing countries.

The factors influencing the supply of rural elderly services in China based on CHARLS data: Evidence from rural land use and management

The problem of elderly service supply is a important issue that must be solved for the development of an aging society. This study uses microdata from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study that were published in 2017 and from a regression analysis using a dichotomous logistic model. Finally, the article examines the factors that affect the supply of elderly services and land use in rural China. The results show that 1) the health level is the most direct influencing factor on whether rural elderly people in rural land can obtain elderly services; 2) the family characteristics that affects the supply of elderly services in rural land is the relationship of living with children rather than the number of children; 3) socio-economic status has an impact on the supply of elderly services, but this impact is limited; and 4) the factors affecting the supply of family elderly services and social elderly services for the rural elderly are basically the same, with the fundamental difference between the two being that the service targets are different, which reflects typological characteristics.

Decreasing land use and increasing information infrastructure: Big data analytics driven integrated online learning framework in rural education

Nowadays, Big Data Analytics (BDA) attracted considerable interest due to its tremendous social and scientific value. The use of traditional rural education land is being replaced by the emerging network classroom. With the fast-growing data and information numbers at present, the IT world’s educational system are changing rapidly. The performance of rural school students is less satisfactory, and many rural schools have disadvantageous of having distanced from a nearby university. The schools in the countryside are located in the remote land. Rural schools are smaller and costlier to operate and likely to have a teacher shortage. These problems are all expected to be solved by the application of big data. In this paper, Big Data Analytics driven Integrated Online Learning Framework (BDAIOLF) has been proposed for rural education. The study showed that the conditions, social impact, performance, and effort expectations facilitating behavioral intentions have been essential determinants for the use of ICT for educational purposes. Data have been collected through a literature study, interviews between individuals and focus groups. Key findings indicated that rural school success is influenced by a number of factors relating to the core values of education, the teacher-learner relationship, the proficiency of English, and parental participation in teaching and learning. In rural schools, however, teaching and learning are influenced by factors such as topics, the work environment, genetic characteristics, and environmental conditions. The construction of information infrastructure is an important reason for the reduction of rural education land.

The Evolution Mode and Driving Mechanisms of the Relationship between Construction Land Use and Permanent Population in Urban and Rural Contexts: Evidence from China’s Land Survey

(1) Background: Achieving harmonious human–land relations is one of the key objectives of sustainable urban–rural development, and the degree of decoupling of permanent population levels from changes in construction land use is an important factor in related analyses. Due to the existence of huge urban–rural differences, rethinking China’s human–land relations from the perspective of integrating urban and rural areas is of great value for the advancement of high-quality urban–rural development. (2) Methods: By studying the lower reaches of the Yangtze and Yellow Rivers of China, and based on data from the second and third national land surveys of China, this paper analyzes the spatio-temporal evolution of urban and rural population, construction land use, and human–land relations from 2009 to 2019 using exploratory spatial data analysis (ESDA) and a decoupling model; in addition, this paper proposes a differentiated zoning management strategy and establishes a new framework that integrates evolutionary patterns, human–land relations, spatial effects, and policy design. (3) Results: The geographic distribution patterns of urban and rural population and construction land use remained stable over time, with high levels of spatial heterogeneity, agglomeration, and correlation. Changes in urban and rural population levels and construction land use are becoming increasingly diversified and complex, with both increases and reductions existing side by side. Based on a Boston Consulting Group matrix, the evolution patterns of urban and rural population and construction land use are divided into four types, referred to as star-cities, cow-cities, question-cities, and dog-cities. Over the time period examined in this paper, the spatial autocorrelation of urban land evolution patterns turned from negative to positive; however, that of rural land, as well as those of urban and rural population evolution patterns, were statistically insignificant. Urban human–land relations are coordinated, in general, and are mostly in a state of either weak decoupling or expansive coupling. In contrast, rural human–land relations are seriously imbalanced, and most of them are in a state of strong negative decoupling. Human–land relations are dominated by regressive changes in urban areas but remain unchanged in rural areas. Cold- and hot-spot cities are concentrated in clusters or in bands, forming a core-periphery structure. The formation and evolution of the decoupling relationship between construction land use and permanent population are the results of multiple factors, including urbanization, industrialization, globalization, and government demand and policy intervention. The interaction effects between different factors show bifactor enhancement and nonlinear enhancement, with complex driving mechanisms and large urban–rural differences. It should be highlighted that the influence intensity, operation mechanism, and changes in the trends for different factors vary greatly. Urbanization rate, gross domestic product, and government revenue are key factors that exert a strong direct driving force; international trade, foreign direct investment, and per capita GDP are important factors, while the remaining factors are auxiliary factors that remain heavily dependent on interaction effects. (4) Conclusions: To further transform human–land relations from imbalanced to coordinated, we divide the study area into four area types based on the concept of urban–rural community: urban and rural intensive policy areas, urban intensive policy areas, rural intensive policy areas, and urban and rural controlled policy areas. Furthermore, we put forward suggestions on the differentiated management of land use for the four types of policy areas.

Construct the Framework for the Allocation of Resources Invested in Ecological Governance from the Urban–Rural Land Use Coupling

With the rapid development of urbanization, cities need more external resources to meet their ultimate demand, which leads to the transfer of land use function between urban and rural areas. How to measure the urban–rural land use coupling remains to be studied. In addition, due to the difficulty in evaluating the unequal development and coupling between urban and rural areas, resource-consuming regions often evade their responsibility for environmental pollution, resulting in unfair allocation of invested resources. Therefore, a framework for the allocation of resources invested in ecological governance was built from the perspective of urban–rural land use coupling. This framework made clear the urban–rural coupling and applied Gini coefficient to judge the overall imbalance in the region. According to the unbalanced structure of the region, the allocation framework based on the location quotient was used to redistribute the resources invested in ecological governance, and the attribution of responsibility was made clear, which can promote regional fairness. The main conclusions are: (I) Taiwan’s overall urban–rural coupling is 8.3, that is, every hectare of land development in Taiwan requires 8.30 hectares of ecological land to meet development needs. The urban area needs to rely heavily on the ecological resources provided by the rural area. (II) The environmental problems of the urban area need to be solved by the urban area itself, while the rural area requires the urban area to be responsible for its ecological governance, and it needs to be responsible for the resource consumption of the external systems. This research provides a new perspective for the research on urban–rural coupling and resource allocation.

Analysis of Vegetation Density and Surface Temperature in Buahbatu District, Bandung using Landsat 8 Oli/Tirs Satellite Images

Urban Heat Island is a phenomenon of increasing temperature that occurs in the city area compared to the surrounding area. Urban Heat Island is caused by reduced vegetation due to changes in rural land use to urban areas. This study was conducted to analysis the relation between vegetation density (NDVI) and surface temperature (LST) in Buahbatu District as an effort to control the impact of the Urban Heat Island phenomenon. This research was conducted by processing data from Landsat 8 OLI/TIRS satellite images in 2019-2020, namely from May to October 2019 and May to October 2020. Data collection was carried out through Google Earth Engine to retrieve geospatial data visualization (satellite imagery) and USGS to download Landsat 8 satellite imagery on Bands 4 and 5, then the data is processed using Arcmap, and Pearson correlation test is performed on SPSS. The results obtained are a correlation between vegetation density and surface temperature. In Buahbatu District, the correlation between vegetation density and surface temperature shows a value of (-.403*) in 2019 and (-.386*) in 2020. Both show a negative correlation, which means that if an area has high vegetation density, the surface temperature will decrease, and vice versa. In addition, Buahbatu District gets a good UHI with an NDVI above 0.25, and an LST below 30 but not less than 25.

A multi-perspective study of atmospheric urban heat island effect in China based on national meteorological observations: Facts and uncertainties

The atmospheric urban heat island (AUHI) effect, traditionally measured by in-situ sensors mounted on fixed meteorological stations, has been extensively studied by different and imperfect methods. However, facts and uncertainties of the AUHI estimates revealed by the different methods are not well understood at a large scale. Here we examined the spatial-temporal variations of the AUHI effects from multiple perspectives in China's 86 large cities as revealed by national-level meteorological observations at 2-m height from 1981 to 2017. We find relatively consistent patterns of larger urban heating effects in daily minimum temperature, winter, and Northeast China than their counterparts in terms of multiyear mean intensity (AUHII), long-term trend (△AUHII), and contribution to local warming (according to the CTRUMR “urban minus rural” and CTROMR “observation minus reanalysis” methods). Concurrently, a cooling impact or a reduction in the heating effect has been observed in some cities randomly, especially in daily maximum temperature. On average across cities, the AUHII, △AUHI, CTRUMR, and CTROMR for the daily mean temperature amount to 0.33 °C, 0.013 °C 10a−1, 53 %, and 23 % at an annual mean time scale, respectively. Nevertheless, the poor representativeness of weather stations, discrepancies among the quantification methods, nonlinearity of the long-term tendencies, and coupling effects with rural crop land use activities lead to large uncertainties of the AUHI estimates. Our results emphasize the limitations of national-level meteorological stations in characterizing AUHI in China and suggest that the urban heat island remains a “well described but rather poorly understood” phenomenon warranting further investigation by a combined uses of multiple techniques like high-density sensor networks, remote sensing techniques, and high-resolution numerical models.

Land Management and Rural Development in Northwest China

In order to break away from the overreliance on a single industry and the simple supply of agricultural products, rural multifunctional research has gradually received public attention. To a certain extent, multifunctional classification governance paths can enhance rural competitiveness and land use efficiency and alleviate the problems of local poverty and unbalanced development in rural regions. Based on the theory of rural multifunctionality, this paper reveals the spatial characteristics and coordination of rural multifunctionality at the township scale, analyzes the barrier functions of different regions, and clarifies the direction of rural development using the rural assessment method, the trade-off synergy model, and the dysfunctional diagnostic model, taking Yongchang County in the western corridor of China as an example. On this basis, we further discuss the path selection of rural governance in northwest China. The results show that: (1) The spatial distribution of rural functions has pronounced heterogeneity, with better life security functions and ecological background functions, and similar spatial patterns; economic development functions are on the low side, showing the divergent characteristics of enhancement from the township center to the surrounding area. The functions of agricultural production are low, and the spatial distribution is similar to that for the living guarantee function. (2) The living guarantee function has a strong trade-off effect on the ecological background function, and the living guarantee and ecological background functions have a synergistic effect on the agricultural development function. (3) We classified types of villages according to the intensity index of village function trade-offs and clarified the functional development characteristics of each administrative village. The incompatibility of village functions caused by different demands is the root hinderance to the development of villages.

Gender norms, landholdership, and rural land use fee and agricultural income tax in Ethiopia

Area-based land taxes – a form of property tax – exist where rural land markets do not exist or do not function well. Understanding how these taxes affect different groups of landholders, including by men and women, is important since a tax based on the land size is likely to have an outsized effect on smaller landholders. However, survey data allowing for an individual- and household-disaggregated analysis has been scarce. Using newly available data on tax payments and self-reported individual land ownership from the Ethiopian Socioeconomic Survey 2018/2019, this paper assessed the gender implications of an area-based rural land use fee and agricultural income tax in Ethiopia. We found that female adult-only households were more likely than dual adult households to be smallholders with less than 0.5 hectare of land, and these smallholders faced the largest per-hectare tax rates. Female-headed- and female adult-only households faced a tax incidence that was 37 % higher than it was for male-headed and dual-adult households. The gender land ownership patterns, norms limiting women’s role in agriculture, household structures, and gender agricultural productivity gaps are likely to result in lower consumption, and consequently, a higher tax burden for women. Finally, we simulated the effect of a hypothetical tax schedule with progressive per-hectare tax rates and exemptions for smallholders, and found that while this would reduce women’s tax burdens, the tax remained to be regressive because of the prevalence of landholdership among poor households. Our study highlights the difficulty of area-based land taxes to be progressive.

An Analysis on the Determining Factors of Farmers’ Land-Scale Management: Empirical Analysis Based on the Micro-Perspective of Farmers in China

In the context of continuous improvement in China’s land system, the development of the rural economy is insufficient, and the growth of farmers’ income lacks sustainable momentum. The development of the internet and agricultural socialization services has had a huge impact on farmers’ land-scale management. In particular, the proliferation of internet technology in rural areas could affect farmers’ use of agricultural socialization services and increase farmers’ willingness to operate their land on a large scale. However, there is a lack of empirical evidence on the impact of the internet and agricultural socialization services on farmers’ land-scale management decisions. This study constructs a probit model using the cross-sectional data of the nationally representative CFPS2018, and empirically tests the influencing factors of farmers’ land-scale management decisions and the mechanism of heterogeneity. The research results show that, first, the popularity of the internet significantly promoted farmers’ decisions towards land rented-out, but has no significant impact on land rented-in; second, agricultural socialization services are significantly negatively correlated with farmers’ decisions towards land rented-out, but the internet may moderate this inhibitory effect and has an incentive effect on farmers’ land rented-in; third, the results of heterogeneity analysis show that the impact of the internet and agricultural socialization services on farmers’ land-scale management decisions vary with income levels and regions. Therefore, the policy direction should focus on making “internet + agriculture” and agricultural socialization services benefit all farmers, to more effectively improve the efficiency of rural land use and promote the optimal allocation of rural resources.

Impacts of COVID-19 pandemic on the livelihoods of rural households in the community forestry landscape in the Middle Hills of Nepal

The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has severely affected all sectors of the economy, and the impacts are expected to last-long. One major impact is that migrants return to their original households in rural communities due to loss of jobs. Since rural communities are highly dependent on forest and agriculture for livelihoods, an influx of return migrants likely increases the consumption of forest products and intensifies the agriculture practices, increasing the pressure on forest resources. Based on in-person interview of 215 in 2018 before the pandemic and a phone interview of the same 215 rural households in 2021 at the peak of the pandemic in Kavrepalanchowk district in Nepal, this study addresses the following research questions: (1) Does COVID-19 exert differential impacts among the socio-economic groups? (2) How do return migrants affect the rural land use? (3) Do return migrants put additional pressure on forests resources? The rare before-and-after dataset provide a precious opportunity to assess the COVID-19 impacts on the livelihoods of rural households in the community forestry landscape in the Middle Hills of Nepal. We found that the impacts of COVID-19 were severe on the households with larger family size, those belonging to the marginalized caste groups, having lower number of livestock, low wellbeing index, those who rely on daily wage-based occupation, with low level of education, and the households with return migrants. A significant number of migrants were found to return to their village of origin. As a result, there was a decrease in abandoned land and an increase in the livestock number and forest product use. These findings provide timely insights for the post-pandemic recovery efforts in better targeting needy household with limited resource in the community forestry landscape in the Middle Hills of Nepal.

Measuring the conservation attitudes of local farmers towards conservation easements in the Qianjiangyuan National Park

Perceptions and attitudes provide an important means of assessing the performance of conservation practices so that policies can be improved and developed for better biodiversity protection and the wellbeing of people subject to protected area management. Conservation easements (CEs) was introduced in the Chinese context to resolve the conflict between rural land use and area-based conservation measures. In this study, conservation attitude indices were developed and validated to measure attitude towards conservation easements that were placed in the collectively-owned forestland and its implementation institutional background, the Qianjiangyuan National Park pilot (QNP) in Zhejiang Province of China. Conservation easement Attitude Index (CEAI) and QNP Attitude Index (NPAI) were calculated based on a random sample of 241 respondents in three towns concerning their perceptions of specific statements. Demographic characteristics and livelihood capital factors were introduced to predict the attitudes to improve CE and QNP management in a more socially acceptable manner. Results revealed that basic infrastructure, land status, education and information were the main determinants of CEAI and QNP with differences in the three towns. There was a dichotomy of perceptions of the ecological meaning (public welfare) and the economic meaning (local livelihoods) and a mismatch of perceptions of the content and the procedure of the CE agreement. The perceptions and attitude index can assist conservation practitioners and decision-makers to improve CE to a more efficient conservation tool, by making it more context-specific for different communities considering the historical process of protected area development, to demonstrate the linkage between national park management and local livelihood, and promote proactive involvement of the village committee.