Determination of the Agricultural Eco-Compensation Standards in Ecological Fragile Poverty Areas Based on Emergy Synthesis

Abstract

Eco-compensation is an important mechanism when applying the theory of ecosystem services to practical development, which translates the external and non-market value of the environment into real financial incentives for local actors. Scientifically formulating feasible and credible compensation standards is the most critical and key step to adjusting the benefits received by environment protectors and beneficiaries. The Inner Mongolia agro-pastoral zone is an important ecological area with an undeveloped economy in Northern China. The implementation of eco-compensation policies contributes to ecological restoration and poverty alleviation. Taking Horqin Left Back Banner, Inner Mongolia, China as a study case, a quantitative model of a non-point source pollution eco-compensation program was established by using emergy synthesis—a thermodynamics-based method in ecological economic systems—to create a comprehensive eco-compensation standard. The results showed that the eco-compensation amounts for non-point source pollution were generally below 10% of the regional gross domestic product (GDP). A 11–20% reduction in fertilizer would be accepted according to the field investigation and the optimal eco-compensation strategy reduced the phosphate fertilizer application by 20% with a compensation standard of $379.63/ha/year, which was similar to the farmers’ willingness to accept compensation. For the accurate creation of a non-point source pollution eco-compensation program, the emergy synthesis overcomes the inconsistency in the quantification of the material flow, ecological flow, and economic flow, guaranteeing the sustainable implementation of non-point source pollution eco-compensation projects.

Knowledge structure of emergy theory in the field of eco‐compensation research: A grounded theory approach

“…First, the monetary value of the emergy required for the compensation target is quantified, and then adjusting factors are used to make the results more accurate. The investigated studies included three such cases, including “reduction of the maximum value” (Fu et al, 2017; Zhao et al, 2021), “increasing for the minimum value” (Gao, Han, et al, 2019; Gao, Shen, et al, 2019), and “accuracy of the range” (Gao, Han, et al, 2019; Gao, Shen, et al, 2019). In contrast, calculations of static criteria do not involve the accurate processing step of the emergy‐based results.…”

“…The scrutiny of research methods revealed that the emergy (EmA) and life cycle analyses (C. Chen et al, 2020), water footprint (Li et al, 2021), emergetic ternary diagrams (Fu et al, 2017; Giannetti et al, 2011), willingness to pay (Gao, Han, et al, 2019; Gao, Shen, et al, 2019), and geographic information systems (Zhong et al, 2020) have been widely integrated into cross‐field applications over the past decade. The broad applicability of emergy theory demonstrates its validity in eco‐compensation studies.…”

A County-Scale Spillover Ecological Value Compensation Standard of Ecological Barrier Area in China: Based on an Extended Emergy Analysis

“…The compensation standard is either too low for the various costs of the conservationist; or too high to increase the government's financial pressure, and stagnate the ecological and environmental protection projects. To date, there is considerable debate regarding the effectiveness of EC programs for alleviating the poverty of protectors and enhancing conservation [27][28][29]. Analyzing and comparing the existing EC schemes, it can be found that the uncertainty of the scope and standard of EC is the biggest reason for the continuous intensification of conflicts among stakeholders and the difficulty in reaching consensus on compensation cost negotiation [30].…”