[Grain for Green Project: willingness evaluation of the farmers in northern Shaanxi Province of China].
To understand the social-economic effects of the policies about ecological restoration in northern Shaanxi Province of China, an investigation to the farmers was made in 2007 about the effects of Grain for Green Project (GGP) on their livelihoods, and the concerns raised by this Project. Most farmers appreciated the compensation policy of GGP, but a few of them (8.9% and 2.2%, respectively) considered the planting of trees and of forage species to be a priority. Although only 19.1% of the farmers felt that their livelihoods were adversely affected by the GGP and 63.8% of the farmers supported the project, a large proportion (37.2%) still planned to return to cultivating forested areas and grassland, once the project was over. Therefore, the vegetations restored by the Project were at the risk of being converted once more into farmland and rangeland when the Project's subsidies ended, compromising the sustainability of the Project's environmental achievements. For the success of the programs about environmental restoration, the GGP should give rational compensation to the farmers for their costs, make technical progress to increase the output of per unit land, and create jobs and training programs to transfer the rural surplus labor.
Cao
Shi-Xiong
SX
College of Soil and Water Conservation, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100083, China. shixiongcao@126.com
Chen
Li
L
Yu
Xin-Xiao
XX
D002681:China; D003256:Community Participation; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources; D018556:Crops, Agricultural / Q000254:growth & development*; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D006078:Government Programs; D006801:Humans; D012424:Rural Population; D014197:Trees / Q000254:growth & development*