Does the Policy of Ecological Forest Rangers (EFRs) for the Impoverished Populations Reduce Forest Disasters?—Empirical Evidence from China

Abstract

The effective prevention and control of forest disasters is important for forest resources and the well-being of those living in forested areas. This study evaluates the impact of a policy that employs a rural impoverished population as ecological forest rangers (EFRs) for the incidence of forest disasters. We estimate a generalized difference in differences (DID) model using nationwide provincial-level forest disaster data combined with regional data in all policy pilot areas. There are three primary findings. (1) The implementation of the EFR policy failed to effectively reduce the incidence of forest fires, forest pests, forest diseases, forest rodents and other forest disasters, which shows that the EFR policy has not achieved the goal of “forest protection”. (2) The effect of the EFR policy on forest disaster control is not significantly different among provinces with different forest resource endowments and different levels of social and economic development. This shows that there is no significant difference in the implementation of EFR policies between different forest resource endowments and different socioeconomic development areas. (3) The EFR policy failed to achieve the effective coordination of the dual goals of “poverty reduction” and “ecological protection”; this is the main reason for the failure to reduce the incidence of forest disasters while reducing poverty. The pressure of this policy neglected the “forest management and protection” function of the policy and the corresponding assessment requirements. At the same time, the central government also neglected the assessment of the prevention and control of “forest disasters” by local governments when implementing this policy. Ultimately, the opportunism of local governments and ecological rangers was strengthened. Therefore, the goals of environmental service payment items and the corresponding evaluation index settings need to be matched to truly achieve the established goals.

GIS application in analysis of threat of forest fires and landslides in the Svrljiski Timok basin (Serbia)

“…Циљ рада јесте да обрадом природних и антрпопогених услова прикаже и издвоји подручја у сливу која су врло осетљива на појаву шумских пожара и клизишта. Адекватан приказ угрожених територија омогућио би ефикасније управљање животном средином од стране служби надлежних за управљање ванредним ситуацијама, заштиту природе и др (Yan et al, 2022).…”

“…Adequate representation of endangered territories would enable more efficient environmental management by services responsible for emergency manag ement, nature protection, etc. (Yan et al, 2022).…”

Fuzzy Set Qualitative Comparative Analysis of the Factors Affecting Satisfaction with the Policy of Ecological Forest Rangers

“…The policy of ecological forest rangers is an exploration of ecological poverty alleviation through setting ecological public welfare positions in China, which started in 2016. This refers to the policy of selecting and hiring people involved in forest resource management services by arranging subsidized funds from the central government or provincial governments to purchase labor services within the scope of the documented poor population [9]. This is a product of combining ecological compensation policies with precise poverty alleviation policies in China [10].…”

A Waveform Mapping-Based Approach for Enhancement of Trunk Borers’ Vibration Signals Using Deep Learning Model

“…Different forest disasters, including forest fires, tree pathogens, insect pests, and rodents, severely threaten the health of forest ecosystems. They further impact the stable development of agriculture, forestry, and the livelihood of humans [ 2 ]. Among forest pest species, trunk-boring beetles are particularly difficult to manage.…”