Search Results (86)

Addressing the issues of forest resource fragmentation and difficulties in value realization caused by traditional development models, China has explored the Natural Resource Asset Portfolio Supply Model (PSM), offering a new pathway for realizing Forest Ecosystem Service Value (FESV). However, existing studies are mostly descriptive case summaries and have yet to reveal the process mechanisms through which PSM drives forest value enhancement. Accordingly, this study selects five typical cases released by the Ministry of Natural Resources and employs multi-case research and grounded theory to deeply analyze their evolutionary pathways. The findings show that PSM promotes forest value enhancement through a gradient evolutionary pathway of “asset aggregation, functional coupling, and property rights conversion”. Asset aggregation addresses fragmentation through resource integration; functional coupling generates synergies through element combination; and property rights conversion transforms ecosystem services into transferable value carriers through institutional innovation, completing the transition from physical assets to capital. The study further identifies two roles of forest resources in composite asset packages, namely dominant resources and background resources, along with their distinct value enhancement pathways, and reveals how institutional innovation in property rights releases ecosystem services from physical constraints into transferable value carriers. The gradient evolutionary pathway constructed in this paper provides a novel process explanation for theoretical research on ecosystem service value realization, and its cross-context applicability offers a theoretical reference for natural resource management in similar global contexts. Practically, it provides managers with actionable value enhancement pathway choices and institutional design references, while also offering a viable analytical tool for policy optimization of PSM. Full article

Forest Rights Mortgage Loans (FRMLs) have grown quickly in China’s collective forest areas, even though the basic conditions for this type of lending remain far from ideal. In many places, forest holdings are small and scattered, property rights are complex and not fully consolidated, and channels for disposing of collateral are limited. Under these circumstances, the Fulin Loan Model (FLM) in Fujian provides a useful case for understanding how forest-rights lending can still function in practice. Drawing on fieldwork, semi-structured interviews, and process tracing, this study explores both how the model was established and how it has been sustained over time. The analysis suggests that the FLM is neither a straightforward market-based lending tool nor merely a top-down policy arrangement. Rather, it relies on a more mixed form of governance in which local government support, banking procedures, and village-level social relations are brought together through specific organizational arrangements. These arrangements help lower the costs of early institutional experimentation, distribute and manage lending risks, and translate locally rooted trust into a form of credit support that formal financial institutions can recognize. As a single-case study, the FLM points to one possible way in which rural finance can be made workable under conditions of incomplete markets and strong social embeddedness. Full article

Enhancing forestry management efficiency is critical for global sustainable development goals, yet how institutional arrangements can effectively incentivize farmers’ performance requires deeper investigation. This study constructs an integrated framework to examine the effects of well-defined property rights and market certification on the output and technical efficiency of household bamboo management. Utilizing survey data from 1090 households in China, we employ stochastic frontier analysis (SFA), propensity score matching (PSM), and mediation models. The findings reveal a key divergence: (1) Forest tenure certificates significantly increased bamboo output but not technical efficiency. This “quantity-driven” effect stemmed from increased capital and land inputs. (2) Market certification enhanced both output and technical efficiency, operating via a “quality-driven” mechanism of standardized management. (3) Significant technical efficiency losses persist, indicating substantial potential for productivity gains through optimized practices. This study concludes that singular property rights institutions are insufficient to overcome the “output-without-efficiency” bottleneck. Complementary, market-based mechanisms are essential for a dual-pillar policy system. This research offers theoretical support for optimizing forestry policies and provides insights for other developing countries seeking sustainable resource management. Full article

Forest ecological compensation policies (FECPs) are a key institutional arrangement for balancing ecological conservation and farmers’ development needs in national parks. Existing research has often treated such policies as a homogeneous whole, failing to clearly reveal the mechanisms through which different policy types affect farmers’ livelihoods, while also paying insufficient attention to complex property-rights settings. This study takes Wuyi Mountain National Park—a typical representative of collective forest regions in southern China—as a case study. Based on 239 micro-survey datasets from farming households and employing the mprobit model and moderating effect models, it investigates the influence, mechanisms, and heterogeneity of farmers’ livelihood capital in terms of their livelihood strategy choices under the moderating roles of “blood-transfusion” and “blood-making” FECPs. The results show the following: (1) Among the sample farmers, livelihood strategies are distributed as follows: pure agricultural type (31.8%), out-migration for work type (20.5%), and commercial operation type (47.7%). (2) Farmers’ livelihood capital has a significant impact on their livelihood strategy choice, with different dimensions of capital playing distinct roles. (3) FECPs follow differentiated moderating pathways. “Blood-transfusion” policies emphasize compensation and buffering functions, reducing farmers’ livelihood transition pressure through direct cash transfers; “blood-making” policies reflect empowerment and restructuring characteristics, activating physical assets and reshaping the role of social capital through productive investment. Together, they constitute a complementary system of protective security and transformative empowerment. Accordingly, this study proposes policy insights such as building a targeted ecological compensation system that is categorized, dynamically linked, and precise; innovating compensation fund allocation mechanisms that integrate collective coordination with household-level benefits; optimizing policy design oriented toward enhancing productive capital; and establishing robust monitoring, evaluation, and adaptive management mechanisms for dynamic FECPs. Full article

Anthropogenic methane (CH₄) emissions lead to global warming and air pollution. China has recently crafted a bottom-up approach to regulate its anthropogenic CH₄ emissions; however, emissions during and after the COVID-19 lockdown have not been fully investigated using this updated method. In this study, we calculate provincial-level anthropogenic CH₄ emissions in 2022 using this official bottom-up approach, explore feasible mitigation pathways, estimate reduction potentials, evaluate the economic cost of abatement, and assess the social benefits of reductions. The results show that China’s total anthropogenic CH₄ emissions in 2022 were estimated to be 52.6 (49.8–55.6) Tg, approximately 47.6%, 39.5%, and 12.9% of which were from agricultural activities, energy utilization, and waste management, respectively; forest burning contributed 0.35 Gg. Using currently available approaches, China’s total yearly anthropogenic CH₄ emissions can be reduced by around 33%, with an average reduction cost of USD 130.9 million per Tg of CH₄. The social cost of CH₄ was estimated to be USD 231.8 per metric ton, indicating that the negative impact of annual anthropogenic CH₄ emissions was equal to 0.07% of China’s GDP. Despite the consistency between top-down inversions and our bottom-up inventory, we argue that the official guideline may underestimate China’s soil CH₄ emissions due to changes in soil substrate availability, relative humidity, and the active layer of methanogens from global warming. Methods to improve current estimation accuracy are discussed. Owing to the slow international diffusion rate of methane-targeted abatement technologies, China needs to develop relevant technologies with independent intellectual property rights. Full article

Protected areas (PAs) are increasingly exposed to anthropogenic pressures under global change scenarios, with surrounding land subdivision and land use/land cover change (LULCC) dynamics often undermining their conservation goals and intensifying demand for basic services such as water availability. This study analyzed the buffer zone around Cerro Castillo National Park in Chilean Patagonia to assess the evolution of rural private properties, considering their subdivision, LULCC, and legal water demand dynamics. Using cadastral records, Landsat 8 imagery, and official water rights databases, we quantified property subdivision and analyzed LULCC and water rights distribution patterns through spatial overlap analysis. Results indicate a nearly fourfold increase in subdivisions between 2011 and 2023, with 304 properties divided into 3237 units occupying 43.7% of the private land area. LULCC analysis revealed a net recovery of native forest (+10%) alongside notable increases in urban coverage (+152%) and exotic plantations (+245%). Legal water demand almost doubled, with 68% of consumptive rights concentrated in subdivided properties. These findings highlight property subdivision as an important factor influencing socioecological change in the territories that surround PAs. We argue that subdivision dynamics can serve as an early indicator for anticipating land use pressures and can complement integrated landscape-scale planning, consistent with the transformative change approaches advocated by international biodiversity frameworks. Full article

Although forest tenure devolution has been widely implemented, limited research has examined the carbon sequestration effects of property rights, particularly the interactions among rights within the tenure bundle. This research quantifies the structure of forest tenure at the village level over a 20-year period (2000–2019) and links it with village-year satellite observations of forest carbon sequestration. Using two-way fixed effects regression, interaction effect models, and mediation analysis, the research examines the carbon responses to devolved forest tenure, with particular attention to the interactions among tenure rights and the heterogeneity across forest types. Empirical results indicate that the logging right constitutes the core component of the tenure bundle that promotes carbon sequestration in mature forests and shrublands. When the logging right was completely absent, the impact of ownership on carbon sequestration became insignificant. Tenure rights bundles interact significantly in shaping carbon sequestration outcomes in mature forests. Specifically, longer tenure duration reinforces the effects of ownership and logging rights, whereas transferability tends to substitute for their returns. In terms of young plantations, only official certification of ownership would promote their carbon sequestration and there are no interaction impacts between rights. Further analyses combining farmer behavior find that the reduction in logging intensity, rather than frequency, is a significant channel for logging rights to promote carbon sequestration of mature stands. Ownership increases the frequency but the intensity of afforestation/reforestation, which in turn increases carbon sequestration of young plantations. Full article

Although it is generally accepted that economic freedom stimulates economic growth, its effects in transitional economies are still up for debate. More empirical research is needed to examine the long-term effects of economic freedom on growth in the Western Balkans, a region characterised by uneven reform trajectories, fiscal pressures, and institutional fragility. This study examines the effects of seven fundamental factors on real GDP per capita growth (annual percentage change) in six Western Balkan nations between 2013 and 2023. These factors include property rights, government spending, government integrity, business freedom, monetary freedom, trade openness, and education spending. Importantly, in order to better capture macroeconomic constraints, it takes into account two fiscal burden indicators: the public debt and the government budget deficit. A triangulated analytical framework is used: Random Forest regression identifies non-linear patterns and ranks the importance of variables; Bayesian Vector Autoregression (VAR) models dynamic interactions and inertia; and the Generalised Method of Moments (GMM) handles endogeneity and reveals causal relationships. The GMM results show that while government integrity (β = −0.0820, p = 0.0206), government spending (β = −0.0066, p = 0.0312), and public debt (β = −0.0172, p = 0.0456) have negative effects on growth, property rights (β = 0.0367, p = 0.0208), monetary freedom (β = 0.0413, p = 0.0221), and the government budget deficit (β = 0.0498, p = 0.0371) have positive and significant effects on growth. Although the majority of economic freedom indicators are statistically insignificant, Bayesian VAR confirms strong growth persistence (GDP(−1) = 0.7169, SE = 0.0373). On the other hand, the Random Forest model identifies the most significant variables as property rights (3.72), public debt (5.88), business freedom (4.65), and government spending (IncNodePurity = 9.80). These results show that the growth effects of economic freedom depend on the context and are mediated by the state of the economy. Market liberalisation and legal certainty promote growth, but their advantages could be offset by inadequate budgetary restraint and difficulties with transitional governance. A hybrid policy approach, one that blends strategic market reforms with improved institutional quality, prudent debt management, and efficient public spending, is necessary for the region to achieve sustainable development. Full article

Before the development of 3D cadastre, cadastral systems were based on 2D representations, which now require transformation or updating. In this context, the first issue is that existing 2D rights are not aligned with recent 3D data acquired using advanced technologies such as Unmanned Aerial Vehicle–Light Detection and Ranging (UAV-LiDAR). The second issue is that point clouds of objects captured by UAV-LiDAR, such as fences and exterior building walls—are often neglected. However, these point cloud objects can be utilized to adjust 2D rights to correspond with recent 3D data and to update 3D building models with a higher level of detail. This research leverages such point cloud objects to automatically generate 3D rights and building models. By combining several algorithms, such as Iterative Closest Point (ICP), Random Forest (RF), Gaussian Mixture Model (GMM), Region Growing, the Polyfit method, and the orthogonality concept—an automatic workflow for generating 3D cadastral models is developed. The proposed workflow improves the horizontal accuracy of the updated 2D parcels from 1.19 m to 0.612 m. The floor area of the 3D models improves by approximately ±3 m². Furthermore, the resulting 3D building models provide approximately 43% to 57% of the elements required for 3D property valuation. The case study of this research is in Indonesia. Full article

The realization of forest ecological functions value is an important path for implementing the “Two Mountains” theory. Improving the efficiency of forest ecological functions and benefits value realization faces several challenges, such as an underdeveloped value evaluation system that makes it difficult to quantify ecological value, a weak policy system lacking effective incentive mechanisms, and unclear ecological property rights leading to unfair benefits distribution. Forest new quality productive drivers are a key factor in promoting high-quality forestry development, and can effectively address several issues hindering the efficiency of forest ecological functions and benefits value realization. Forest ecological functions and benefits are divided into tangible forest products and intangible ecological services, with the efficiency of realizing their economic and welfare values reflecting the input–output status of forest ecological value. This paper constructs an indicator system for assessing the modern productive capacity in forestry and the efficiency of forest ecological value realization, and uses a two-stage network DEA model and a double fixed effects model for empirical analysis. The study finds that the advanced drivers of forestry productivity significantly enhance the efficiency of forest ecological economic value realization but constrain the efficiency of ecological welfare value realization, with significant regional differences. As a moderating variable, enhancing the resilience of the industry chain can significantly deepen the effect throughout the process, while improving the informatization level of residents can weaken the constraints of forest new quality productive drivers on the efficiency of forest ecological welfare value realization. Therefore, this paper offers targeted recommendations aimed at providing theoretical support and practical guidance for optimizing the efficiency of forest ecological value realization. Full article

Accelerating the recovery of compacted soils caused by logging machinery using bioengineering techniques is a key goal of Sustainable Forest Management. This research was conducted on an abandoned skid trail with a uniform 15% slope and a history of heavy traffic, located in the Nav forest compartment of northern Iran. The main objectives were to assess (a) soil physical properties 35 years after skidding by a tracked bulldozer, (b) the impact of natural alder regeneration on soil recovery, and (c) the contribution of alder fine-root development to the restoration of compacted soils in beech stands. Soil physical properties and fine root biomass were analyzed across three depth classes (0–10 cm, 10–20 cm, 20–30 cm) and five locations (left wheel track (LT), between wheel tracks (BT), right wheel track (RT)) all with alder trees, and additionally control points inside the trail without alder trees (CPWA), as well as outside control points with alder trees (CPA). Sampling points near alder trees (RT, LT, BT) were compared to CPWA and CPA. CPA had the lowest soil bulk density, followed by LT, BT, RT, and CPWA. Bulk density was highest (1.35 ± 0.07 g cm⁻³) at the 0–10 cm depth and lowest (1.08 ± 0.4 g cm⁻³) at 20–30 cm. The fine root biomass at 0–10 cm depth (0.23 ± 0.21 g dm⁻³) was significantly higher than at deeper levels. Skid trail sampling points showed higher fine root biomass than CPWA but lower than CPA, by several orders of magnitude. Alder tree growth significantly reduced soil bulk density, aiding soil recovery in the study area. However, achieving optimal conditions will require additional time. Full article

Amid urbanization, many forest farmers have migrated for work, leading to a shortage of young labor in forestry. Socialized prevention and control (SPC) measures have emerged as a new forestry model. By integrating forestland property rights theory, SPC economic principles, and collaborative disaster governance, this study compares the econometrics methods of seemingly unrelated regression (SUR) and structural equation models (SEMs) to address correlation and endogeneity issues. It aims to understand forest farmers’ willingness to pay for SPC services, purchase forest insurance, and join as forest rangers. The findings offer theoretical and practical insights that address current challenges and rationalize SPC promotion costs, filling gaps in the existing literature. The results indicate that high-quality foresters with more home-planted forests are more inclined to hire SPC companies, while better-educated farmers are less likely to purchase forest insurance. Western forest farmers, highly reliant on forests, show greater willingness to become rangers under village committee organization. Farmers organized by committees or with prevention experience suggest SPC costs around USD $65/ha and forest premiums at USD $5/ha, with high-quality farmers proposing a ranger salary of USD $190/month. Recommendations include collecting SPC funds from farmers and supplementing through local finances; enhancing the forest insurance system; monitoring SPC companies; and recruiting young, skilled rangers. Full article

This study delves into the intricate concept of “carbon rights” and their legal standing, particularly within publicly owned forests, utilizing the “bundle of rights theory” as a framework. The research analyzes Turkish Forest Law, employing the EFLD criterion to evaluate the security of access, extraction, management, exclusion, and alienation rights related to forest carbon. The findings reveal that while Turkish legislation provides robust provisions for access and extraction rights, aspects related to management, exclusion, and alienation exhibit certain limitations. Notably, this study highlights the constrained right of alienation in public forests, impacting the effective utilization of forest carbon rights. The study underscores the need for clear definitions and regulations regarding carbon rights, especially in countries with dominant public forest ownership, to foster sustainable carbon management and equitable participation in international carbon trading mechanisms. Full article

Forest management plans are the bibles of forest management. On the basis of these plans, farmers play essential roles in forest cultivation, protection, and utilization. After the forest tenure reform in the 2000s in China, the status of farmers has changed. For example, collective management has decreased and household management has become a leading structure of operation and management. Farmer’s dependence on income from forests has increased, which is reflected in their increased participation in management. However, insights into farmers’ perceptions of and willingness to participate in the formulation of forest management plans are insufficient. This study analyzes the factors influencing farmers’ participation by using an econometric model based on 1752 samples of farmer households from 10 counties. The empirical results reveal that according to farmers, forest type and property rights influence their willingness to participate in the formulation of forest management plans. In addition, whether there is a village leader, the village distance from town, the circulation of forest land, the area of woodland, timber price, and forestry income have a significant positive impact on farmers’ willingness to participate in forest management plan formulation; the level of education and non-agricultural income have a significant negative impact on farmers’ willingness to participate in forest management program development. Finally, this study proposes to improve and deepen the reform of the forest ownership system, encourage land circulation, and give play to the role of village leaders in promoting the participation of farmers in forest management plans, so as to improve the efficiency of forest management. Full article

This paper proposes a thematic literature review of advances in the literature on forest property rights over the first half of this decade. From a methodological point of view, we exploited a corpus of scientific articles published between 2019 and 2023, extracted from the Scopus and Web of Science databases. We then performed a co-word analysis using the Louvain algorithm to reveal thematic clusters. This approach enabled us to identify seven distinct trends over the past half-decade, each highlighting specific aspects and geographical diversity of forest property rights, which were then evaluated using a thematic map. The main findings revealed that (policies, livelihoods and agroforestry) and (institutions, sustainability and non-timber forest products) stand out as central and influential themes, which have a significant impact and present notable advances that have shaped recent discussions and practices. Furthermore, themes (forest policy and resource management) and (conservation and the rights of indigenous communities) are well developed, which have a solid research base, offering an in-depth understanding of the relevant research questions. Conversely, themes (institutional change and forest conservation) and (deforestation, indigenous rights and community management) represent emerging themes, which are receiving increasing attention and are likely to become major of focus. In contrast, (forest governance, community management and land conflict resolution) which indicates a waning influence in terms of miscellaneous implications. The findings of this thematic literature review will help guide policymakers, researchers, and practitioners based on recent developments in international forest property rights, during a half-decade marked by a break with previous trends, leading to legislative changes and strategic adaptations essential for the sustainable management of forest resources, bolstered by technological advancements and environmental efforts. Full article