Claudio O . Delang
University of Cambridge, Department of Geography, Department Member
- I am a human geographer specializing in nature-society relations, especially the use of - and conflicts over - natura... moreI am a human geographer specializing in nature-society relations, especially the use of - and conflicts over - natural resources in East and Southeast Asia, in the context of environmental change, local-global articulations of power and land use policies, and social and economic transformations.
In my research I endeavour to bring together principles and methods of environmental economics and political ecology to discuss the effects that national and supranational policies have on local livelihoods.
My recent research has focused on:
- The political ecology of land use change in China, Thailand, Laos;
- The socio-economic consequences of deforestation and reforestation programs in China, with particular emphasis to Yunnan;
- The economic value of environmental amenities in Hong Kong, and of forest products in Thailand, Laos, and Vietnam;
- The role of forest products in the livelihood of rural communities in Thailand, Laos and Vietnam.edit
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A great deal of attention has been directed to the toxicity, enrichment, and accumulation of urban river sediment pollution. To understand the spatial-temporal variation, ecological risk and source of nutrients, and heavy metals in... more
A great deal of attention has been directed to the toxicity, enrichment, and accumulation of urban river sediment pollution. To understand the spatial-temporal variation, ecological risk and source of nutrients, and heavy metals in sediments from the Weihe River, the concentrations of total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP), organic matter (OM), and 10 heavy metals (Cd, Sb, As, Co, Cu, Pb, Ni, Cr, Zn, and Mn) in sediments at 14 sampling sites along the river were investigated. The results showed that nutrients and heavy metals had an interannual decreasing trend, and that the high-value regions were concentrated in urban locations within the study area. Ecological risk assessment results showed that TN was between the security level (no toxic effect) and the lowest level (tolerable for organisms), TP was at the lowest level, and OM was within the security level, all mainly from external sources. The geoaccumulation index (Igeo) and enrichment factor (EF) of 10 heavy metals were all within the unpolluted level, while the pollution load index (PLI) of 12 sampling sites had reached the moderate pollution level. The results of Pearson correlation, principal component analysis, and cluster analysis showed that heavy metals originated mainly from industrial and domestic sources, geochemical environments, and agricultural activities, indicating that heavy metals in the Weihe River sediments were influenced significantly by anthropogenic activities. The results are expected to provide a scientific basis for the development and utilization of the Weihe River water resources.
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<p><em>Aims</em>  With the wide application of <sup>7</sup>Be (Beryllium-7) in soil erosion investigations, absorption and interception of... more
<p><em>Aims</em>  With the wide application of <sup>7</sup>Be (Beryllium-7) in soil erosion investigations, absorption and interception of <sup>7</sup>Be by vegetation play an important role in documenting soil <sup>7</sup>Be redistribution, with a large impact on the precision of <sup>7</sup>Be measurements. However, the dynamic changes in plants and the relationship with soil <sup>7</sup>Be concentration remain unclear, and the significance of dead plants in <sup>7</sup>Be interception is under-researched.</p><p><em>Methods</em>  The samples of 6 plant species, multi-plants (including living, dead and both mixed) and soil reference on the Loess Plateau were collected to analyze the variations of <sup>7</sup>Be content during the growth period from 2010 to 2012.</p><p><em>Results</em><em> </em> The accumulation of <sup>7</sup>Be concentration is significantly higher in leaves than stems. The <sup>7</sup>Be mass and areal activity concentrations in multi-plants with seasonal trends ranged from 173.9 to 964.5 Bq kg<sup>–1</sup> and 21.5 to 440.1 Bq m<sup>–2</sup>. Precipitation accounted for the largest contribution to the accumulation of <sup>7</sup>Be in plants, followed by plant growth, species and parts. Plants accounted for <sup>7</sup>Be interception on slope up to 66% (living plants accounted for 7%~31% and dead accounted for 6%~44%). The interception of living plants is low at first, then increases with biomass accumulated.</p><p><em>Conclusions</em>  Our results highlight that <sup>7</sup>Be concentration in plants has great implications for <sup>7</sup>Be in soil, and is subject to precipitation, growth status and plant characteristics. The reference information obtained in this work will contribute to improving the accuracy of <sup>7</sup>Be tracer technology, and broadening the application scope and scale of <sup>7</sup>Be tracer technology.</p><p><strong>Keywords </strong> Beryllium-7 · Loess Plateau · Precipitation · Plant · Activity concentration</p>
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<p><em>Aims</em>  With the wide application of <sup>7</sup>Be (Beryllium-7) in soil erosion investigations, absorption and interception of... more
<p><em>Aims</em>  With the wide application of <sup>7</sup>Be (Beryllium-7) in soil erosion investigations, absorption and interception of <sup>7</sup>Be by vegetation play an important role in documenting soil <sup>7</sup>Be redistribution, with a large impact on the precision of <sup>7</sup>Be measurements. However, the dynamic changes in plants and the relationship with soil <sup>7</sup>Be concentration remain unclear, and the significance of dead plants in <sup>7</sup>Be interception is under-researched.</p><p><em>Methods</em>  The samples of 6 plant species, multi-plants (including living, dead and both mixed) and soil reference on the Loess Plateau were collected to analyze the variations of <sup>7</sup>Be content during the growth period from 2010 to 2012.</p><p><em>Results</em><em> </em> The accumulation of <sup>7</sup>Be concentration is significantly higher in leaves than stems. The <sup>7</sup>Be mass and areal activity concentrations in multi-plants with seasonal trends ranged from 173.9 to 964.5 Bq kg<sup>–1</sup> and 21.5 to 440.1 Bq m<sup>–2</sup>. Precipitation accounted for the largest contribution to the accumulation of <sup>7</sup>Be in plants, followed by plant growth, species and parts. Plants accounted for <sup>7</sup>Be interception on slope up to 66% (living plants accounted for 7%~31% and dead accounted for 6%~44%). The interception of living plants is low at first, then increases with biomass accumulated.</p><p><em>Conclusions</em>  Our results highlight that <sup>7</sup>Be concentration in plants has great implications for <sup>7</sup>Be in soil, and is subject to precipitation, growth status and plant characteristics. The reference information obtained in this work will contribute to improving the accuracy of <sup>7</sup>Be tracer technology, and broadening the application scope and scale of <sup>7</sup>Be tracer technology.</p><p><strong>Keywords </strong> Beryllium-7 · Loess Plateau · Precipitation · Plant · Activity concentration</p>
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ABSTRACT The period between 1978 and 1997 saw the slow introduction of a series of market reforms that would gradually redefine the organisation of the national economy. This was accompanied by reforms that addressed the problems of the... more
ABSTRACT The period between 1978 and 1997 saw the slow introduction of a series of market reforms that would gradually redefine the organisation of the national economy. This was accompanied by reforms that addressed the problems of the forestry sector, both in the collective (privately owned) forests in the Southeast, and in the state-owned forests in the Northeast. In the more densely inhabited Southeast, the government distributed forestland to households, which were now allowed to invest and obtain incomes from the sale of forest products, while being responsible for their conservation. In the more sparsely inhabited Northeast, the government undertook financial reforms to attempt to address the indebtedness and mismanagement of the state-owned forest enterprises and state linchang. These reforms were accompanied with the slow introduction of a price of timber that would be market-determined, but were gradual and partial, the government maintaining strict controls in particular over the amount of timber harvested.
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AbstractSoil erosion can lead to an increase in the concentration of sediment in the runoff and the surplus floodwater during flood season, which increases the likelihood of a flood disaster. To analyze the relationship between the risk... more
AbstractSoil erosion can lead to an increase in the concentration of sediment in the runoff and the surplus floodwater during flood season, which increases the likelihood of a flood disaster. To analyze the relationship between the risk of soil erosion and the surplus floodwater during flood season, a case study of the Jinghe River Basin located in the middle Loess Plateau of China was performed. A measure of the soil erosion risk Re was presented, which combined the five factors in universal soil loss equation (USLE) with information entropy theory. The results show that the northern watershed features both high and severe levels of soil erosion risk, especially the watershed controlled by the Qingyang (QY) station, whereas the risk level is low or slight in the southern Jinghe basin, the Ziwuling Mountains in the east, and the Liupanshan Mountains in the west. Compared with the USLE, the Re measure can better reflect the spatial distribution of soil erosion risk and identify the areas corresponding to d...
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Afforestation programs have huge potential to store carbon, thereby contributing to mitigate climate change. However, the voluntary acceptance by landowners crucially depends on their economic outcome. We (i) assess the carbon... more
Afforestation programs have huge potential to store carbon, thereby contributing to mitigate climate change. However, the voluntary acceptance by landowners crucially depends on their economic outcome. We (i) assess the carbon sequestration potential of afforestation projects in various Chinese regions by comparing different tree species, project durations and regional particularities, (ii) analyze the costs and benefits of tree species used for timber and fruit production as well as bamboo, and (iii) compare them with alternative crops under different climatic and economic conditions. Finally, we calculate the minimum compensation required by farmers to convert cropland to forests assuming a joint production of timber or fruits and carbon sequestration. No compensation is needed when cropland with relatively low revenues is to be converted. In contrast, compensation payments must be high for converting land used for cash crops, such as sugarcane. For fruit trees, the amount of carb...
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Abstract Habitat fragmentation is a critical contributor to biodiversity degradation and species extinction, as illustrated by the severely fragmented habitat of the western black-crested gibbon (Nomascus concolor), a critically... more
Abstract Habitat fragmentation is a critical contributor to biodiversity degradation and species extinction, as illustrated by the severely fragmented habitat of the western black-crested gibbon (Nomascus concolor), a critically endangered species in the Hengduan Mountains, China. An integrated simulation model, including the random forest algorithm (RFA), empirical bayesian kriging regression (EBKR), and the least-cost path model (LCP), is introduced to determine ecological corridors for western black-crested gibbons in the Hengduan Mountains. In this study, we identified habitat variables and movement behaviors of western black-crested gibbons through RFA and then proposed EBKR, which is combined with LCP to determine potential corridors. Model simulation results suggest that the western black-crested gibbons' habitat is mostly dependent on forests with an altitude of about 2,000 m and a 20° slope, areas undisturbed by human activities. Two land use and cover classes predominate inside the corridors, tree cover and mostly natural vegetation, corresponding to 67.55% and 18.54% of total land use, respectively. A total of nine corridors were planned in Hengduan Mountains via LCP. The shortest corridor, which has recently been incorporated into national park planning, is 7.40 km, and is a route that has no need for bridge construction. The longest corridor is 95.74 km and would require construction of three bridges. Mobility of western black-crested gibbons can increase by 39.49% using our simulated corridors. The planned corridor is an optimized route for western black-crested gibbons in the Hengduan Mountains, and provides the best opportunities for security, food, and survival. The proposed integrated model is an efficient method for designing and estimating habitat suitability using competitively predictive performance and simultaneously quantifying model uncertainties.
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Climate change and human activities have been an important part of studies regarding historical environmental changes in China over the past 2000 years. In this study, we focused on environmental changes, that is, natural disasters and... more
Climate change and human activities have been an important part of studies regarding historical environmental changes in China over the past 2000 years. In this study, we focused on environmental changes, that is, natural disasters and human activities, in the Poyang Lake Basin over the past 2000 years, to analyze interactions between land use cover changes and human activities from the perspective of regional sustainable development. We collected historical records of climate and hydrology, floods and droughts, and rivers and lakes in the Poyang Lake area, and established time sequences for the floods and droughts, lake water level and lake area, amount of farming land, and population, in order to discuss interactions between changes in the environment and the climate, with emphasis on the impacts of extreme events on lake and river basin environment changes. The following results were obtained. First, climate changes in historical periods had wide-ranging and far-reaching impacts ...
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1. Problems with the GDP 2. Alternatives to GDP 3. The GPI as an alternative indicator of welfare 4. Items used to calculate the GPI 5. The GPI of Hong Kong: results 6. The GPI of Singapore: results 7. The "threshold hypothesis"... more
1. Problems with the GDP 2. Alternatives to GDP 3. The GPI as an alternative indicator of welfare 4. Items used to calculate the GPI 5. The GPI of Hong Kong: results 6. The GPI of Singapore: results 7. The "threshold hypothesis" and the two city states 8. Towards a Steady State Economy
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Abstract The loess region of China is one of the most heavily eroded areas in the world. Soil detachment capacity by rill flow (Dc) is a key parameter for quantifying intensity of rill erosion in many process-based erosion models.... more
Abstract The loess region of China is one of the most heavily eroded areas in the world. Soil detachment capacity by rill flow (Dc) is a key parameter for quantifying intensity of rill erosion in many process-based erosion models. However, only a limited number of studies have been devoted to soil detachment capacity for the various types of loess soil such as is found on the Loess Plateau, where there is variation from south to north and in terms of soil particle size composition. The objectives of this study were (1) to discriminate differences in soil detachment capacity by rill flow (Dc) among five loess soils, (2) to investigate the relationship between Dc and hydrodynamic parameters, and the relationship between Dc and soil properties, and (3) to establish an equation to model soil detachment capacity by rill flow for the loess region. Soil detachment capacity by rill flow for five typical loess soils found on the Loess Plateau of China was investigated through a flume experiment by varying five flow discharges and five slope gradients. The results show that Dc of SM sandy loess is the largest with a mean of 2.2145 kg m−2 s−1, followed by YL clay loess, DB sandy loess, AS loess, and CW loess. Stream power is the best hydrodynamic parameter to describe the dynamic process of soil detachment capacity by rill flow for these five loess soils. Soil detachment capacity by rill flow was negatively correlated with soil cohesion and effective silt content (P
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This study identifies historical extreme events and analyzes their impacts on social vulnerability, stability, and resilience in ancient China. We reconstructed extreme event sequences, simulated social resilience response using our... more
This study identifies historical extreme events and analyzes their impacts on social vulnerability, stability, and resilience in ancient China. We reconstructed extreme event sequences, simulated social resilience response using our proposed Cascade Catastrophe-Resilience Dynamic Model, and discussed interaction of social vulnerability and stability. We found the following conclusions. First, historical extreme events had cyclic and periodic fluctuations, and usually led to cascade disasters. Cascade disasters enhanced risk and greatly reduced societal stability, while three types of disaster chains were observed: climatic extremes (flood/drought)-famines-wars (uprising/invasions)-epidemic plagues; climatic extremes (flood/drought)-famines -migrations; and droughts-locust plagues-famines. A climate extreme-earthquake chain was also recorded although the mechanism remains unknown. Second, extreme events were synchronous with dynastic changes, although strong social resilience enhance...
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This article reviews the conditions of heavy metal contamination of China’s soils. The article starts with a discussion of the official environmental standards of soils in China, in terms of heavy metal contamination, and the extent of... more
This article reviews the conditions of heavy metal contamination of China’s soils. The article starts with a discussion of the official environmental standards of soils in China, in terms of heavy metal contamination, and the extent of that contamination. Then, the article discusses the geographic distribution of soil contamination, and the food safety impact. The problem in China is that the provinces with the highest rates of soil contamination are also provinces with the largest amount of food production. This results in high contamination of food, with 13.86 % of grain produced in China being affected by heavy metal contamination. Hunan Province represents the worst conditions: it is responsible for 32.1 % of China’s cadmium (Cd) emissions, 20.6 % of its arsenic (As) emissions, 58.7 % of its mercury (Hg) emissions, and 24.6 % of its lead (Pb) emissions. While Hunan Province produces about 15 % of the total rice output of the country, according to official data, 13 % ofthe total ...
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This paper looks at the changes that occurred in the rural area of the Sai Kung Peninsula in Hong Kong’s New Territories from the 16th century, and uses it as a case-study to show the complex range of forces that can act on a locale.... more
This paper looks at the changes that occurred in the rural area of the Sai Kung Peninsula in Hong Kong’s New Territories from the 16th century, and uses it as a case-study to show the complex range of forces that can act on a locale. Throughout its history, land use and economic activities on the Sai Kung Peninsula have been driven to a great extent by non-local factors, including distant warfare leading to mass immigration and political decisions leading to mass emigration. However, once Hong Kong became an important outpost of Britain’s colonial empire it became integrated into a global trade network and thus became sensitive to economic and technological changes taking place thousands of miles away. In the 20th century, the Sai Kung Peninsula developed in response to Hong Kong’s growth as an international trade hub, finding its agricultural output overwhelmed by cheap foreign products, and its industry challenged by foreign technological advances.
Research Interests: Geography, Rural Development, Sustainable Rural Development, Hong Kong, Livelihood, and 14 moreRural Planning and Development, Rural livelihoods and economy, Rural Livelihoods and Agricultural Systems, Causes of Land Use Cover Changes and It Effects on Rural Livelihoods, Rural-urban linkages, Rural Livelihoods, Food security and rural livelihood support, Food security and rural livelihoods, Rural Livelihoods and Poverty alleviation, Anthropology of Natural Resource Management and Sustainable Rural Livelihoods, Rural Livelihood Strategies, Rural urban linkages, Agriculture and Rural Livelihood, and Sustainable Rural Livelihood
China is the most populated country in the world, but has relatively little fertile land, and even less water. Maintaining the quality of its agricultural land is of paramount importance if China wants to feed its very large and growing... more
China is the most populated country in the world, but has relatively little fertile land, and even less water. Maintaining the quality of its agricultural land is of paramount importance if China wants to feed its very large and growing population. Yet, China is one of the countries with the largest amount of polluted soil. This paper looks at the causes and distribution of soil pollution in China. It first looks at the amount of organic and inorganic soil pollutants and their geographic distribution. It then looks at the causes of soil pollution, making the distinction between agricultural activities, industrial activities, and urbanization. Pollution from agricultural activities stems primarily from the excessive amounts of pesticides and fertilizers used on farmland, and is mainly located in the south, where most of the food is produced. Pollution from industrial activities is due to airborne industrial pollutants that fall on to the land, and is mainly located in the west of the...
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In 1997 and 1998, China experienced a series of droughts and floods on its largest river basins, the Yellow and the Yangtze Rivers. These environmental disasters were blamed on the deforestation that had taken place in the two rivers'... more
In 1997 and 1998, China experienced a series of droughts and floods on its largest river basins, the Yellow and the Yangtze Rivers. These environmental disasters were blamed on the deforestation that had taken place in the two rivers' watersheds during the previous decades, and prompted the introduction of nation-wide forest conservation and reforestation programs. This paper reviews: 1) the six Key Forestry Programs (KFPs) undertaken, which together cover almost three million km² and cost some CNY 900 billion; 2) the reasons for the government to start these programs. I argue that while in the late 1990s the government had the budget surplus to undertake these programs, the KFPs addressed a number of problems which were becoming increasingly important, including increasing inequality between urban and rural areas; growing downstream costs of upstream environmental degradation; excessive production of rice which was depressing farmers' incomes; and a growing scarcity of timber.
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ABSTRACT During the last decades, neoliberal economic reforms aiming at facilitating trade and cross-boundary investment have encouraged transnational and national economic actors to search for 'empty' land to grow... more
ABSTRACT During the last decades, neoliberal economic reforms aiming at facilitating trade and cross-boundary investment have encouraged transnational and national economic actors to search for 'empty' land to grow export crops, to mine, or to develop hydroelectric dams. Mainland Southeast Asia is one of the regions where such investment has been taking place as it contains resource-hungry countries (Thailand and in particular neighbouring China), and countries with 'empty' land and the willingness to use such land to foster economic growth (Laos, Cambodia and Burma). This beset the question as to what happens to the people who inhabit the land that is supposed to be 'empty', and the relationship between the different land uses that takes over that 'empty' land. This paper describes the land conflicts in one area in southern Laos, the Bolaven Plateau, where national and international capital backing large-scale coffee plantation, bauxite mining and dam construc-tion is displacing smallholding coffee farmers – the 'traditional' land users – within a political environment of poorly enforced property rights and endemic corruption. We describe how the smallholding coffee farmers are relocated to make way for the new economic activities supported by considerable amounts of foreign capital, and how the land grabbing results in lower standards of living for the smallholding coffee farmers, with few benefits to the country as a whole.
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This paper investigates carbon productivity (CP) from the perspectives of industrial development and urbanization to mitigate carbon emissions. We propose a hybrid model that includes a spatial lag model (SLM) and a fixed regional panel... more
This paper investigates carbon productivity (CP) from the perspectives of industrial development and urbanization to mitigate carbon emissions. We propose a hybrid model that includes a spatial lag model (SLM) and a fixed regional panel model using data from the 17 provinces in the central and western regions of China from 2000 to 2018. The results show that the slowly increasing CP has significant spatial spillover effects, with High–High (H–H) and Low–Low (L–L) spatial distributions in the central and western regions of China. In addition, industrial development and urbanization in the study area play different roles in CP, while economic urbanization and industrial fixed investment negatively affect CP, and population urbanization affects CP along a U-shape curve. Importantly, the results show that the patterns of industrial development and urbanization that influence CP are homogenous and mutually imitated in the 17 studied provinces. Furthermore, disparities in CP between regio...
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Research Interests: Political Science and iOS
The Lao People’ Democratic Republic is one of the poorest countries in the world, with an income per capita of less than US$2 a day. The provision of health care is severely underfunded, and outside the largest cities often provided by... more
The Lao People’ Democratic Republic is one of the poorest countries in the world, with an income per capita of less than US$2 a day. The provision of health care is severely underfunded, and outside the largest cities often provided by poorly qualified health workers. Under these circumstances, most people – both in the capital and the rural areas – prefer to use traditional medicine rather than synthetic drugs. Medicinal plants form a central tenet of Lao traditional medicine, and are believed to be more efficient than synthetic drugs, since synthetic drugs are thought to address the symptoms of the illness, while medicinal plants its causes. This article presents the result of a survey of the medicinal plants on sale in the capital city – Vientiane – in August 2006. A total number of 61 medicinal plants were on sale, of which 52 were identified and their use, mode of preparation, price, and province of origin recorded.
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Dissatisfaction with the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as an indicator of a country’s development or a population’s wellbeing led to the development of the Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI). The GPI is an aggregate index of over 20... more
Dissatisfaction with the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as an indicator of a country’s development or a population’s wellbeing led to the development of the Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI). The GPI is an aggregate index of over 20 economic, social and environmental indicators, and accounts for both the welfare benefits of economic growth, and the social and environmental costs which accompany that economic growth. The result is better information about the level of welfare or well-being of a country’s population.
This book measures the GPI of Hong Kong and Singapore from 1968 to 2010. It finds that for both countries, economic output (as measured by the GDP) has grown more than welfare (as measured by the GPI), but important differences are also found. In Hong Kong, the GPI has grown for the whole period under consideration, while in Singapore the GPI has stalled from 1993. This is in line with most countries and is explained by the "threshold hypothesis" which states that beyond a certain level of economic development the benefits of further economic growth are outweighed by even higher environmental and social costs. The book argues that the growth of Hong Kong’s GPI is due to its favourable relationship with China and in particular its ability to export low-wage jobs and polluting industries, rather than successful domestic policies. A stalling or shrinking GPI calls for alternative policies than the growth economy promoted by neoclassical economists, and the book explores an alternative model, that of the Steady State Economy (SSE).
This book measures the GPI of Hong Kong and Singapore from 1968 to 2010. It finds that for both countries, economic output (as measured by the GDP) has grown more than welfare (as measured by the GPI), but important differences are also found. In Hong Kong, the GPI has grown for the whole period under consideration, while in Singapore the GPI has stalled from 1993. This is in line with most countries and is explained by the "threshold hypothesis" which states that beyond a certain level of economic development the benefits of further economic growth are outweighed by even higher environmental and social costs. The book argues that the growth of Hong Kong’s GPI is due to its favourable relationship with China and in particular its ability to export low-wage jobs and polluting industries, rather than successful domestic policies. A stalling or shrinking GPI calls for alternative policies than the growth economy promoted by neoclassical economists, and the book explores an alternative model, that of the Steady State Economy (SSE).
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The Karen are one of the major ethnic minority groups in the Himalayan highlands, living predominantly in the border area between Thailand and Burma. As the largest ethnic minority in Thailand, they have often been in conflict with the... more
The Karen are one of the major ethnic minority groups in the Himalayan highlands, living predominantly in the border area between Thailand and Burma. As the largest ethnic minority in Thailand, they have often been in conflict with the Thai majority. This book is the first major ethnographic and anthropological study of the Karen for over a decade and looks at such key issues as history, ethnic identity, religious change, the impact of government intervention, education land management and gender relations.
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This book provides a comprehensive review of Grain for Green, China’s nationwide program which pays farmers to revert sloping or marginal farm land to trees or grass. The program aims to improve the ecological conditions of much of China,... more
This book provides a comprehensive review of Grain for Green, China’s nationwide program which pays farmers to revert sloping or marginal farm land to trees or grass. The program aims to improve the ecological conditions of much of China, and the socioeconomic circumstances of hundreds of millions of people. GfG is the largest reforestation, ecological restoration, and rural development initiative in history, combining the biggest investment, the greatest involvement, and the broadest degree of public participation ever.
The book is organised in three sections. Part One reviews the history of land management in China from 1949 to 1998, exploring the conditions that led to the introduction of GfG, and comparing it to other reforestation programs. Part Two offers an overview of GfG, describing the timeline of the program, compensation paid to farmers, the rules concerning land and plant selection, the extent to which these rules were followed, the attitudes of farmers towards the program, and the way in which the program is organized and implemented by various state actors. Part Three discusses the impact of the GfG, from both ecological and socio-economic standpoints, looking at the economic benefits that result from participating in the GfG, the impact of the GfG across local economies, the redistribution of the labor force and the sustainability of the program, in particular the question of what will happen to the converted land when payments to farmers end.
The book is organised in three sections. Part One reviews the history of land management in China from 1949 to 1998, exploring the conditions that led to the introduction of GfG, and comparing it to other reforestation programs. Part Two offers an overview of GfG, describing the timeline of the program, compensation paid to farmers, the rules concerning land and plant selection, the extent to which these rules were followed, the attitudes of farmers towards the program, and the way in which the program is organized and implemented by various state actors. Part Three discusses the impact of the GfG, from both ecological and socio-economic standpoints, looking at the economic benefits that result from participating in the GfG, the impact of the GfG across local economies, the redistribution of the labor force and the sustainability of the program, in particular the question of what will happen to the converted land when payments to farmers end.