Dilemmas of State-Led Environmental Conservation in China: Environmental Target Enforcement and Public Participation in Minqin County

Mao, KuoRay; Zhang, Qian

doi:10.1080/08941920.2017.1422063

Cited by 24 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…Other studies have indicated that authoritarian fragmentation and complex policy processes at the local level allow considerable space for neoliberal interests (e.g., Lo, 2015) and weaknesses in horizontal coordination (Eaton & Kostka, 2018). As suggested by Beeson (2010Beeson ( , 2018, recent studies may confirm a spiral of authoritarian selfintensification when the AE model is confronted with socioenvironmental emergencies (Ahlers & Shen, 2018;Chen & Lees, 2018;Lo, 2015, p. 158;Mao & Zhang, 2018). 2 The more that is at stake for government in environmental conditions that may foster social destabilization, the harsher and more exclusively authoritarian are the means of government (Ahlers & Shen, 2018, p. 301); presumably, a distinct paradigm of recentralized environmental governance is on the rise under Xi Jinping (Chen & Lees, 2018).…”

Section: Authoritarian Environmentalism: Defining Features and Debatesmentioning

confidence: 94%

Environmental Protection in the Hands of the State: Authoritarian Environmentalism and Popular Perceptions in Vietnam

Bruun

2020

The Journal of Environment & Development

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Vietnam’s uncompromising economic growth priorities under Communist Party leadership have left environmental degradation and loss of biodiversity in its wake, and the country is in many respects at a critical threshold. Even so, recent debate has emphasized that state or “authoritarian” environmentalism may have political advantages in determined and coordinated environmental response, although the downside may be a denial of personal responsibility and low public awareness. Building on a series of field studies in rural and highland Vietnam, this article puts everyday environmental perceptions and practices into the perspective of long-term authoritarian governance. It explores the resulting hierarchization of state–society relations and fragmentation of social forces, in which environmental action, responsibility, and ethics primarily emanate from the state sphere. It argues that authoritarianism has contributed to a critical disjuncture between shared norms and the objective conditions of the biophysical environment, as comprehensive state dominance hampers autonomous value change in society.

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Section: Authoritarian Environmentalism: Defining Features and Debatesmentioning

confidence: 94%

Environmental Protection in the Hands of the State: Authoritarian Environmentalism and Popular Perceptions in Vietnam

Bruun

2020

The Journal of Environment & Development

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“…Eventually, the farmers only blindly "believed in the country" and mechanically obeyed the state's commands, leading to a low degree of real participation. For the same reasons, the environmental conservation projects in Minqin County also lacked enough public participation [34].…”

Section: The Problem Regarding the Farmers' Participation And Correspmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing the Effects of Desertification Control Projects from the Farmers’ Perspective: A Case Study of Yanchi County, Northern China

Wang

Zhou

Yang

et al. 2020

IJERPH

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Desertification has inflicted severe damage on the natural environment and social economy for decades, particularly in the arid and semi-arid regions of northern China. In Yanchi County, a series of projects were implemented to combat desertification after 2000. To assess the effects of these Desertification Control Projects from the farmers’ perspective, we divided Yanchi County into two regions (the northern and southern regions) according to their different environmental conditions. We collected data including basic family information, farmers’ perceptions and attitudes, and farmers’ suggestions, in a questionnaire investigation following the Participatory Rural Appraisal approach. Data analysis using the Mann–Whitney U test and Fisher’s exact test revealed that the Desertification Control Projects were generally successful, as the local environment and farmers’ incomes were both improved. Farmers were all satisfied with the effects of the projects, but the farmers in the southern region had a higher acceptance of the projects than those in the northern region. In addition, three problems with the Desertification Control Projects were noted: the farmers had a low degree of participation in the projects, the farmer’s low incomes affected the sustainability of the projects, and the implementation of the complete grazing ban had several adverse effects. We provided suggestions for solving these problems. Our findings have important implications for assessing the effects of environmental conservation projects, especially from a participant’s perspective.

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“…Overall, national-level government was perceived to be more responsible than provincial-level or village-level government. The increased likelihood of older people to have this view may reflect the last few decades of state-led environmental management directives in recent Chinese history (Marks, 2017;Mao and Zhang, 2018). In contrast, younger people and those with higher education levels were more likely to think everyone is responsible, suggesting a potential shift toward the belief that conservation should involve all members of society.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Local Awareness and Interpretations of Species Extinction in a Rural Chinese Biodiversity Hotspot

Papworth

et al. 2021

Front. Conserv. Sci.

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Incorporating local perspectives is fundamental to evidence-based conservation, for both understanding complex socio-ecological systems and implementing appropriate management interventions. How local communities understand extinction, and whether these views affect perceptions of biodiversity loss and the effect of anthropogenic activities, has rarely been evaluated explicitly in conservation projects. To target this data gap, we conducted 185 interviews to assess levels and patterns of understanding about wildlife decline and extinction in rural communities around Bawangling National Nature Reserve, Hainan, China, a priority conservation site that has experienced recent species losses. Interviewees showed varying awareness of declines and extirpation of local wildlife species. Two-thirds did not consider the permanent disappearance of wildlife to be possible; among those who did, only one-third could comprehend the scientific term “extinction.” Thinking extinction is possible was associated with identifying declined and extirpated species, but not with perceiving locally-driven human activities, such as hunting, as the reason for wildlife loss. The government was seen as the entity most responsible for conservation. Variation found around local perceptions of extinction, its drivers, and conservation responsibility demonstrates that comprehension of key conservation concepts should not be assumed to be homogenous, highlighting the challenge of transposing scientific concepts between different social and cultural settings. Proactively incorporating local perspectives and worldviews, especially by obtaining context-specific baseline understandings, has major implications for other contexts worldwide and should inform conservation planning and management.

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Dilemmas of State-Led Environmental Conservation in China: Environmental Target Enforcement and Public Participation in Minqin County

Cited by 24 publications

References 21 publications

Environmental Protection in the Hands of the State: Authoritarian Environmentalism and Popular Perceptions in Vietnam

Environmental Protection in the Hands of the State: Authoritarian Environmentalism and Popular Perceptions in Vietnam

Assessing the Effects of Desertification Control Projects from the Farmers’ Perspective: A Case Study of Yanchi County, Northern China

Local Awareness and Interpretations of Species Extinction in a Rural Chinese Biodiversity Hotspot

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