Ecosystem Services - Ecological Systems - page 90

conservation initiatives, into which investments exceeded 700 billion yuan
(ca. USD100 billion) over 2000-2010 [ 37 , 70 ]. The larger and older of these
initiatives are being rigorously evaluated to determine their biophysical and socio-
economic impacts, to improve their design and efficacy.
These initiatives have dual goals: to secure critical natural capital through
targeted investments across landscapes and regions, and to alleviate poverty
through targeted wealth transfers from coastal provinces to inland regions where
many ES originate. The Chinese government aims to reduce the loss of soil,
improve water retention, reduce desertification, and generally protect biodiver-
sity and ecosystems in the west of the country for flood control, hydropower
production efficiency, irrigation supply, more productive agriculture, and
ecotourism. In addition, it wants to change the economic structure in rural
areas to increase local household income while simultaneously making local
households' patterns of land utilization and agricultural production more
sustainable [ 36 , 37 ].
The initiatives include two national PES programs, the Natural Forest Conser-
vation Program (NFCP) and the Sloping Land Conversion Program (SLCP),
established in 1998 and 1999 respectively. Implementation was tested in a few
provinces, and then rapidly scaled to the whole country. Evaluation of the
programs shows significant achievement of the biophysical goals, with remarkably
rapid land conversion in the desired directions. For example, by the end of 2006,
the SLCP had converted ca. 9 million hectares of cropland into forest/grassland and
had afforested ca. 12 million hectares of barren land. Village-level field
measurements have shown not only that the payments for ES have altered land
use patterns, but in turn soil erosion has been decreased in some areas by as
much as 68% [ 9 ].
Overall social impacts of the programs are mixed. In some places, payment
levels and types are leading to improvements in economic measures of well-being,
whereas in others payments were not sufficient to compensate for loss of income
from shifting livelihoods [ 37 ]. In addition, in some places where participation in the
SLCP has significant positive impacts upon household income, it has not yet
transferred labor toward non-farming activities as the government wished [ 36 ].
Payments are now being adjusted to improve success in achieving goals of poverty
alleviation and growth of new economic sectors in rural areas.
China is also now establishing a new network of Ecosystem Function Conserva-
tion Areas (EFCAs), specifically for ES provision. Their exact delineation is now
being determined through quantitative ecosystem service mapping and valuation.
They are expected to span ca. 25% of the country.
The current and potential future impacts of ES investments in China are enor-
mous, certainly within the country - and also globally, in the form of enhanced
carbon sequestration and reduced dust export, and perhaps most importantly in
lessons on making the investments needed in natural capital and human well-being
everywhere.