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To protect forest land from loss and mitigate the global climate crisis, China has proposed a stringent natural forest protection plan, known as China's natural forest logging ban (NFLB). This policy aims to halt the over-exploitation of natural forests, restore forest ecosystem functions, and promote regional green economic development. This study uses a regression discontinuity design (RDD) model to quantitatively and comprehensively assess the effectiveness of this policy in the key state-owned forest regions in Northeast China. Additionally, it analyzes the heterogeneity and structural characteristics of the policy's effects on the internal composition of ecological and economic systems. The empirical results are as follows: (1) Ecological and economic impacts: The policy has successfully achieved its ecological objectives by significantly enhancing the quality and value of ecosystem services. However, it has also had a notable adverse impact on economic development, particularly in the timber supply sector, reducing the conversion efficiency of ecosystem service values into economic benefits. (2) Structural analysis: The logging ban effectively promoted the value of various ecosystem services, particularly enhancing regulatory and support functions, with a LATE estimate of approximately 8.47 units. The implementation of the policy caused a negative growth in the output value of supply-oriented ecological products, and the significance level was lower than 0.1. Conversely, the LATE estimates for different types of GDP indicate a negative growth in supply-type GDP due to the policy, with p < 0.1. (3) Heterogeneity: On the one hand, a simplistic and singular approach to logging prohibition may constrain the efficiency of enhancing ecosystem service values. On the other hand, although the policy disrupted the majority of traditional forest enterprise operations, business models focusing on quality and technology improvements were able to mitigate this impact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To achieve a sustainable development path that harmonizes ecological and economic considerations, China has advocated the "two mountains" concept: "lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets". This idea posits that those who protect the environment can economically benefit by selling pristine landscapes and utilizing rich ecological resources. This paper use "the equivalence factor method" to calculate ecological benefits, introduces a technical measure—the conversion rate of ecosystem service value—and analyzes its temporal and spatial evolution from 2003 to 2020 in the operational areas of 87 state-owned forestry enterprises in Northeast China. The findings show: (1) a significant improvement in ecosystem-service quality, with its value increasing from 404.7 to 850.2 billion CNY between 2003 and 2020. The restoration of the ecological environment in China's KSFR provides a foundation for economic and social development. (2) A decrease in the economic gains derived by operators from developing protected ecosystems, with the most significant decline observed in economic benefits generated from the supply product, including timber harvesting. However, the industrial structure in KSFR shifted from being dominated by timber production to diversified development, with non-timber forest resources becoming an important part of regional economic growth. (3) Significant potential for realizing the value of ecosystem services, evidenced by an increasing trend in the conversion rates of cultural, regulatory, and supporting services. These findings underscore the effectiveness of China's natural forest protection and restoration policies in optimizing forest ecology and realizing the "two mountains" concept through appropriate market transactions and ecological compensation mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

(1) Background--Global land use changes from 1960 to 2019 have affected nearly 32% of the earth's land area and these changes have obscured different trajectories of policy responses in many regions. Assessing the dynamic changes of land use types in 40 state-owned forest industry enterprises in Heilongjiang Province in different periods is helpful to understand the logical law between land use dynamics and economic and social policy development of state-owned forest industry enterprises, and is helpful to rationally adjust the ecological land layout based on the ecological and resource advantages of state-owned forest areas. (2) Methods--The land cover data of 40 state-owned forest industry enterprises affiliated to China Longjiang Forestry Industry Group Co., Ltd. and Heilongjiang Yichun Forestry Industry Group Co., Ltd. from 2006 to 2020 used in this paper came from European Space Agency Climate Change Institute (ESACCI). Six main types of land use were identified and their respective areas were extracted by using ArcGIS tool for supervision classification and visual interpretation. On this basis, the land use transfer matrix was used to calculate the area change of land use type conversion of the state-owned forest industry enterprises from 2006 to 2020, and the current situation of land use in the state-owned forest areas was analyzed according to the spatial and temporal differences of the scale and direction of land use transfer change in different regions. (3) Results--Forest resources in the state-owned forest areas have been effectively protected under the background of ecological civilization construction. From 2006 to 2019, the ecological protection and restoration of natural forests in the state-owned forest areas in Heilongjiang Province have achieved remarkable results. The area of forestland increased by 33 791'85hm², and the proportion of new dynamic forestland area reached 29'48%. However, the area transferred from ecological land to construction land from 2006 to 2020 was about 2'10 times that of construction land to ecological land. Especially from 2014 to 2018, the transfer between various land use types was the most frequent, and the policy of completely stopping commercial logging in natural forests had a direct impact on the change of land use structure in the state-owned forest areas. In addition, there were significant differences in land use competition and tradeoff between Longjiang forest industry and Yichun forest industry. The degree of land use transfer change of the state-owned forest industry enterprises affiliated to Yichun forest industry was relatively stable, while the transfer and change of land use types of Longjiang forest industry were more frequent. There were great differences in the direction and quantity of land use transfer in different regions. The total output value of the state-owned forest industry enterprises with a higher proportion of ecological land use was relatively high. (4) Conclusions and Discussions--First, clarify the function of land use through detailed spatial and temporal layout in the planning, improve the efficiency of land use and the quality of land use system through policy guidance. Second, fully consider the transition stage of land use in the regions where the forest industry enterprises are located, and strengthen and highlight the integration relationship between the main land use types and the regional ecosystems. Third, pay high attention to the land use types represented by grasslands that are significantly reduced in the short term, and take reasonable measures to protect and restore them. Fourth, ecological land should not be excessively occupied, and the governance and distribution efficiency of all land use factors should be considered as a whole to maximize the overall and long-term interests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

(1) Background--In 2021, the forest chief system was fully implemented nationwide. Under this background, how to embed the forest-chief system into the forest resources management system in the state-owned forest areas and fully realize the comprehensive efficiency of forest supervision and protection policies has become an important issue in the forest areas at present. (2) Methods--Based on the field investigation of some typical forestry enterprises in the key state-owned forest areas, this paper systematically analyzed the forest resources management practice after the reform in the key state-owned forest areas at the present stage, summarized the new challenges faced by the forest resources management mechanism after the implementation of the forest chief system, and on this basis, put forward policy suggestions to help the forest chief system to be embedded in the forest resources management system in the key state-owned forest areas. (3) Results--First, the forest chief system was carried out in the key state-owned forest areas, and the state-owned forest industry enterprises were incorporated into the local forest chief system through the organization of personnel. Second, the managers in different state-owned forest industry enterprises served as forest chiefs in different forms. Among them, the enterprise managers of China Longjiang Forest Industry Group Co., Ltd., Yichun Forest Industry Group and Daxing' anling Forestry Group participated in the forest chief system by serving as deputy forest chief of their respective counties (cities or districts). The managers of Jilin Forest Industry Group Co., Ltd.and Changbai Mountain Forest Industry Group served as the general forest chief of their respective forestry bureaus in accordance with the county-level forest chief system. As one of the six major areas of responsibility under the forest chief system in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Inner Mongolia Forest Industry Group appointed deputy forest chief to manage forest resources. (4) Conclusions and Discussions--The implementation of forest chief system in the key state-owned forest areas faces a series of challenges. First, in the process of realizing the policy goal of forest chief system in the key state-owned forest areas, the forest resources management in the forest areas needs to be systematically integrated in the goal setting. Second, under the background of the overall implementation of forest chief system, the forest resources management in the key state-owned forest areas has a pattern of "dual-track and parallel". Third, the coordination mechanism of forest resources management under the forest chief system in the key state-owned forest areas is not perfect, including the government-enterprises coordination mechanism and the social participation mechanism. Based on the above analysis, the following policy suggestions are put forward. First, promote the integration of forest resources management objectives based on the reality of the key state-owned forest areas. Second, develop a list of forest chief powers to clarify the boundaries of responsibilities and powers of forest resources management under the forest chief system. Third, accelerate the establishment of the working mechanism of forest resources management under the forest chief system. In short, when promoting the forest resources management under the forest chief system in the key state-owned forest areas, the appeals of the central government, local governments, forest industry enterprises, forest residents and other parties must be comprehensively considered, the work objectives of the forest chief system must be clearly defined, the work content of the forest chief system must be enriched, and the objectives of integrating ecological benefits, social benefits and economic benefits must be formulated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

(1) Background--Improving the realization level of the ecological products value is the only way to deepen the reform of separating government from enterprises and to continuously protect and restore the ecosystems in the key state-owned forest areas. This paper takes the case of the ecological products value realization of Yichun Forest Industry as the research object, analyzes the reality of the ecological products value realization in the key state-owned forest areas and its formation reasons, and then puts forward the optimization paths of the ecological products value realization, which is of great significance for the economic transformation, quality and efficiency improvement in the key state-owned forest areas. (2) Methods--Based on the panel data of ecosystem service value and output value of the ecological products in Yichun City from 2003 to 2020, this paper quantitatively evaluated the realization level of the ecological products value of Yichun Forest Industry Group. It first established an index system to evaluate the realization level of the ecological products value, then used the SBM-DEA model to measure the realization efficiency of the ecological products value in 17 forestry bureaus of Yicun Forestry Industry, evaluated the efficiency level from two dimensions of time and space, and finally put forward the paths to improve the realization level of the ecological products value in the key state-owned forest areas. (3) Results--The average value of realization level of the ecological products in Yichun Forest Industry from 2003 to 2020 was not low, but the level of EPV realization had a clear fluctuating downward trend over time, and the average value of the EPV realization efficiency declined from 0.91 in 2003 to 0.75 in 2020. Comparing the average value of the ecological products value realization in 17 forestry bureaus in Yichun Forestry Industry from 2003 to 2020, it could be seen that the realization level of the ecological products value of Tieli Forestry Bureau was the highest, and its average value of realization efficiency was 0.985. The realization level of the ecological products value of Nancha Forestry Bureau was the lowest, and its average value of realization efficiency was 0.52. In the time dimension, affected by the change of technical efficiency, the realization level of the ecological products value of Yichun Forest Industry Group showed a certain fluctuation. The average value of total factor productivity of the ecological products in Yichun Forestry Industry from 2003 to 2020 was 1.08. From the perspective of index composition, the change of total factor productivity (TFP) was caused by the change of technical Efficiency Change (EFFCH). The average value of technical efficiency change from 2003 to 2020 was 1.081, and the rate of technological Change (TECH) remained constant at 1. The fluctuation in EFFCH from 2003 to 2020 was caused by the changes in the Pure Efficiency Change (PECH) index. In terms of spatial dimension, only Hongxing Forestry Bureau'sTFP was below 1, while all other forestry bureaus' TFP was above 1. Among them, Tieli Forestry Bureau had the highest total factor productivity (average annual growth rate of 11.5%), while Hongxing Forestry Bureau had the lowest total factor productivity (0.965), and showed an average annual decline trend of 3.5%. (4) Conclusions and Discussions--First, since the implementation of the Natural Forest Protection Project, significant changes have taken place in the leading industries, product scales and business entities of the key state-owned forest areas. Second, the realization level of the ecological products value depends on whether the business entities of the key state- owned forest areas actively explore the new model of ecological industry development. Third, the technical level is the main restriction factor that the realization level of the ecological products value in the key state-owned forest areas is difficult to improve. Based on the above research conclusions, the following policy recommendations are put forward: On one hand, create differentiated and diversified ecological products by relying on ecological resource endowments. On the other hand, improve the management level of ecological products and innovate the economic development model through technological renewal and talent introduction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As one of the largest forestry ecological protection projects in China, the natural forest protection project has been implemented for 20 years, and great changes have taken place in the natural resources and social appearance of the forest area. This article regards the implementation of the natural forest protection project as a policy impact and makes an objective evaluation of the implementation effect of the policy through measurement and accounting. Based on the panel data of forestry total factor productivity (TFP) in 31 provinces in China from 1997 to 2018, this article uses the double difference model to investigate the impact of the policy impact of natural forest protection projects on the implementation of provincial forestry TFP from the perspective of quasinatural experiment. The results show that the natural forest protection project significantly improves the TFP of forestry in the province where the policy is implemented, and the higher the forest resource coverage, the more significant the provincial impact of policy implementation. From other influencing factors, the reduction of human investment, the rationalization of industrial structure, and the improvement of the level of scientific, technological, and economic development can also effectively mend the TFP of forestry in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]