Sustaining Urban Green Growth: Evaluating Ecological Efficiency and Resource-Use Drivers in Beijing’s Plains Afforestation Initiative

Yuanhao Wu (), Jun Jiang and Beibei Chen
Additional contact information
Yuanhao Wu: School of Soil and Water Conservation, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100083, China
Jun Jiang: College of Forestry, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100083, China
Beibei Chen: College of Forestry, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100083, China

Sustainability, 2025, vol. 17, issue 6, 1-14

Abstract: Efficiency assessment is a pivotal instrument in the pursuit of sustainable operations. It is imperative to evaluate government-funded afforestation initiatives to ensure the optimal utilisation of resources, thereby enhancing sustainability. In this study, a framework for measuring afforestation efficiency at the sub-compartment scale was established based on a Bootstrap-modified Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) model. The empirical study included 48 afforestation sub-compartments from six districts involved in the Beijing Plains Afforestation Project. The results of the study indicate that the efficiency of the afforestation sub-compartment has much room for improvement and significant individual differences. The mean scores for comprehensive efficiency, pure technical efficiency, and scale efficiency of the sample sub-compartments were 0.646, 0.664, and 0.973, respectively. Compared to the pure technical efficiency, the scale efficiency is higher. Notably, prioritising native or climate-resilient species, adopting long-term ecological maintenance protocols, and fostering financially self-sustaining mechanisms were identified as key drivers for boosting efficiency. These findings underscore the need to embed sustainability principles—including resource optimisation and economic viability—into afforestation planning and governance to strengthen ecological restoration resilience and long-term project continuity.

Keywords: Beijing plain afforestation project; sustainability; afforestation efficiency; bootstrap–DEA; influence factor (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/6/2722/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/6/2722/ (text/html)

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:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:6:p:2722-:d:1615652

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().