Replacing rubber plantations by rain forest in Southwest China—who would gain and how much?

Abstract

The cultivation of rubber trees in Xishuangbanna Prefecture in China's Yunnan Province has triggered an unprecedented economic development but it is also associated with severe environmental problems. Rubber plantations are encroaching the indigenous rain forests at a large scale and a high speed in Xishuangbanna. Many rare plant and animal species are endangered by this development, the natural water management is disturbed, and even the microclimate in this region has changed over the past years. The present study aims at an assessment of the environmental benefits accruing from a reforestation project partly reversing the deforestation that has taken place over the past years. To this end, a Contingent Valuation survey has been conducted in Xishuangbanna to elicit local residents' willingness to pay for this reforestation program that converts existing rubber plantations back into forest. It is shown that local people's awareness of the environmental problems caused by increasing rubber plantation is quite high and that in spite of the economic advantages of rubber plantation there is a positive willingness among the local population to contribute financially to a reduction of existing rubber plantations for the sake of a partial restoration of the local rain forest. These results could be used for the practical implementation of a Payments for Eco-System Services system for reforestation in Xishuangbanna.

The Social Value of Environmental Improvements in the Tarim Basin – toward a Comprehensive Assessment in a Heterogeneous Setting

“…Wang et al, 2013, Day & Mourato, 2002. In line with the results of the present study, Ahlheim et al (2015) identified being male and a respondent's education level as predictor variables for WTP. The results of the second regression model provide further evidence for the WTP estimate's plausibility.…”

Towards a Comprehensive Valuation of Water Management Projects When Data Availability Is Incomplete—The Use of Benefit Transfer Techniques

“…Men have a higher WTP than women; as the education level increases so increases WTP; and respondents with larger households have a higher WTP than others, ceteris paribus. The positive relationship between education and WTP has been reported in other environmental valuation studies, including some CVM surveys in China [35]. Hence, we conclude that a more sustainable water management in the Tarim Basin would be particularly beneficial for people with a relatively high education level.…”

Urban Expansion and Its Impact on the Land Use Pattern in Xishuangbanna since the Reform and Opening up of China

“…This is a good occasion to effectively control rubber plantation and restore natural forest for sustainable development. Local government and policy makers need to find market-based solutions and eco-compensation mechanisms for forest restoration, rather than direct governmental subsidies [41,62]. Recently, the rethinking of ecological governance based on indigenous land use experiences and knowledge is addressed to promote the local sustainability of rubber plantations [55,63].…”