Rubber Boom, Land Use Change and the Implications for Carbon Balances in Xishuangbanna, Southwest China

Shi Min, Jikun Huang, Hermann Waibel, Xueqing Yang and Georg Cadisch

Ecological Economics, 2019, vol. 156, issue C, 57-67

Abstract: Rubber farming expansion in Xishuangbanna, in the Upper Mekong region of Southwest China, has resulted in profound land use change and led to the severe degradation of the local environment. This study explores the dynamics of land use change as a result of the rubber boom, examines the factors influencing the heterogeneity in farmers' land allocations for rubber farming, and assesses the implications of this change for the local environment in terms of carbon balances. The analyses use a comprehensive household survey data set of 612 smallholder rubber farmers in Xishuangbanna. The historical data illustrate the trajectory of rubber expansion and land use change over the past three decades. The model of smallholder land allocation for rubber farming suggests its determinants include ethnicity, experience in rubber farming, household wealth, elevation, and several explanatory variables at the village level. A net loss in carbon stocks at the aggregate level was found due to the expansion of rubber plantations. The rubber farming expansion of smallholders outside the natural reserves in Xishuangbanna has led to a carbon loss of approximately 21 Mg/ha/year over the past three decades. The findings complement discussions on the future of the rubber-based land use system and its sustainability in Xishuangbanna and other rubber-growing areas in the Mekong region.

Keywords: Rubber farming; Land use change; Carbon sequestration; Xishuangbanna (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921800918301289
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:ecolec:v:156:y:2019:i:c:p:57-67

DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2018.09.009

Access Statistics for this article

Ecological Economics is currently edited by C. J. Cleveland

More articles in Ecological Economics from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().