Ecosystem Services and Their Relationships in the Grain-for-Green Programme—A Case Study of Duolun County in Inner Mongolia, China

Dongliang Dang, Xiaobing Li, Shengkun Li and Huashun Dou
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Dongliang Dang: Faculty of Geographical Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
Xiaobing Li: Faculty of Geographical Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
Shengkun Li: Faculty of Geographical Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
Huashun Dou: Faculty of Geographical Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China

Sustainability, 2018, vol. 10, issue 11, 1-20

Abstract: Grassland restoration projects are currently being implemented to mitigate human disturbance to the natural environment and reduce grassland degradation. China’s Grain-for-Green Programme (GFGP), including one project implemented in Duolun County, China, in 2000, has significantly improved the overall ecological health of this region. Using a modeling approach, this study quantified changes in four ecosystem services (ESs), including Net Primary Production (NPP), soil conservation (SC), water yield (WY), and sandstorm prevention (SP), in Duolun County between 2000 and 2016. We found the total NPP , water yield, and soil conservation increased by 80.44%, 248.2%, and 12.2%, respectively, during this period, while the sandstorm prevention decreased by 55.9%. Unlike other areas of GFGP implementation, the improvement of the ecological environment in Duolun County is largely attributed to the increased of vegetation coverage (88%) instead of land use circulation (12%). We found the grassland is a factor that reduces the trade-off while this effect was related with the grassland coverage. Future policies should be based on the mechanisms of vegetation underlying the ESs change and the relationships of ESs in order to achieve sustainable provision of ESs.

Keywords: ecosystem services; Grain-for-Green Programme; trade-offs; Duolun County (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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