How Has China Structured Its Ecological Governance Policy System?—A Case from Fujian Province

Abstract

Ecological civilization (EC) has been seen as the final goal of social and environmental reform within a given society. Much attention has been paid to the national governmental level in previous studies, and district- and local-level government actions have been a lower priority, which may have led to overlooking key details of management institutions and policy systems in relation to EC. In this research, we aimed to make a significant contribution to the literature by tracing the EC trajectory and policy transitions. Through bibliometric analysis of policy documents, we reviewed the EC construction system for Fujian Province from 2004 to 2020. The policy priorities, organization-functional network, and contributing factors to policy changes in each of the three phases are discussed in depth. Target setting, actors’ functions, and institutional guarantees are the core elements of EC construction. This research provides a quantitative foundation for understanding policy reform and transition with regards to Chinese local governments’ EC actions. The experience of Fujian Province shows trends toward legalization, multi-actor linkage, and issue refinement that may serve as a basis for other countries and regions in order to explore the promotion of sustainable development and environmental governance as pathways to EC.

Evaluation of the Degree of the Value Realization of Ecological Products of the Forest Ecological Bank in Shunchang County

“…And with the help of the state-owned forest farm escrow for forest quality precision improvement, its forest quality, ecological benefits, timber output, and other situations are much higher than the non-state-owned forest land foresters' independent management. In this appraisal, the difference in land value between state-owned forest land and non-state-owned forest land in Shunchang County is taken as the premium to the local forest land value in Shunchang County after the forest eco-banking work was carried out in Shunchang County [26].…”