A review and prospect of grassland ecological compensation and its impact on herders’ behavior

Abstract

This study mainly reviewed the relevant literature on payment for environmental services (PES) policies, especially China’s grassland ecological compensation policy, and the intervention mechanism of ecological compensation policies on the behavior of herders, as well as their interactive impacts. We used the Web of Science (WoS) and China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) databases as data sources to examine relevant research trends. This study found that: (1) China’s grassland ecological compensation is different from the PES projects commonly implemented internationally. It is a top-down policy tool with an environmental control method, under a strong government leadership. (2) Grassland ecological compensation does affect the grassland management behavior of farmers and herders. It basically follows the path of ecological policy-behavioral intervention-governance effectiveness to regulate the behavior of farmers and herders and achieve positive governance results. However, due to the institutional context and the heterogeneity of farmers and herders, there are differences in governance results. (3) China’s grassland ecological compensation has achieved good ecological results. Herders have adjusted their grazing and management behaviors to adapt to the policy, such as by reducing stocking rate, transferring grassland use rights, supplementing animal feed for breeding, engaging in non-agricultural employment, and so on. However, due to livelihood limitations and lack of awareness of the necessity of such policies on the part of herders, incentive-compatible policies are yet to be developed. This article proposed possible future research directions from three aspects. First, research on alternative behaviors for destocking. It must be made clear that the core goal of the compensation policy is not to reduce livestock numbers, but to reduce grazing intensity in order to achieve a balance between grass and livestock; Second, research on the intervention mechanism of the compensation system. It is necessary to deconstruct policies, reveal the influence of individual policy means on behavior, and then analyze the interactions between policy and behavior; Third, integration into the strategic background of rural revitalization and improvement of future policies, especially the fourth round of grassland ecological compensation policies.

Keywords

• ecological compensation|grassland ecological subsidy policy|herders’ behavior|livestock reduction|policy effects