Reforestation, livelihoods and income equality

Lessons learned from China's Conversion of Cropland to Forest Program

Bibliographic Data

ID21648745
AuthorsCamilla Moioli (0000-0002-9309-3132, Department of Forest Resources Management, Faculty of Forestry The University of British Columbia Vancouver British Columbia Canada, corresponding author), Anil Shrestha (0000-0001-7709-6344, Department of Forest Resources Management, Faculty of Forestry The University of British Columbia Vancouver British Columbia Canada), Dominik Röeser (0000-0002-8555-0903, Department of Forest Resources Management, Faculty of Forestry The University of British Columbia Vancouver British Columbia Canada), Guangyu Wang (0000-0003-0977-1453, Department of Forest Resources Management, Faculty of Forestry The University of British Columbia Vancouver British Columbia Canada), Terry Sunderland (0000-0002-1985-9849, Department of Forest and Conservation Sciences, Faculty of Forestry Forest Sciences Centre 4623 Vancouver British Columbia Canada), Hisham Zerriffi (0000-0003-4890-2575, Department of Forest Resources Management, Faculty of Forestry The University of British Columbia Vancouver British Columbia Canada)
Year2023
Volume34
Issue10
Pages2838-2848
Publication date2023-06-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueLand Degradation and Development (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1085-3278 • E-ISSN: 1099-145X
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1002/ldr.4651
OpenAlexW4320714821
LanguageEN
Citations received4
References cited44

Despite global momentum in restoration activities, their socio‐economic implications are little studied. Thus far, the limited evidence available tends to overlook equity and equality outcomes. In this work, we aimed at investigating fairness within the Chinese Conversion of Cropland to Forest Program (CCFP), given the relevance of local people's support for the long‐term success of land restoration and for the inherent belief that equity should be pursued also by environmental policies. Additionally, we propose a methodology to investigate equity and equality, from a quantitative perspective. Our results suggested a shift in the overall households' economic structure, with the main changes being a decrease in farming activities (−44 pp) and a sharp increase in out‐migration (+44 pp), with the most significant variation within the lowest income groups (−57 pp and + 75 pp, respectively). We also observed that both equality (the Gini coefficient decreased by 23%) and equity (higher income increase for low‐income groups) improved, and the best enhancement happened in the regions where the CCFP has been implemented for a longer time. Moreover, data showed that the main driver of inequality was households' income deriving from remittances, both before and after the Program implementation (with concentration coefficient equal to 1.1 and 1.0, respectively) but its effect decreased over time suggesting an increase in out‐migration opportunities for lower‐income households. Finally, we found that the level of participation in the Program holds a quite strong explanatory power for both on‐farm and off‐farm income (explaining 19% and 18% of their respective variability)

Agriculture · China · Demographic economics · Economic inequality · Economics · Geography · Gini coefficient · Inequality · Livelihood · Political science · Public economics · Reforestation · Conservation, Biodiversity, and Resource Management · Forest Management and Policy · Rangeland Management and Livestock Ecology · Forestry

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