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Sandstorms and soil erosion are serious problems around the world, but particularly in arid northern China. In response to these problems, the Chinese government has implemented the world's largest shelter forest construction project: the Three North Shelter Forest Program (TNSFP). However, we do not know how successful the program has been, because no one has carried out a comprehensive cost–benefit analysis. To analyze the benefits of the different ecological restoration methods implemented under the TNSFP and provide guidance for future ecological restoration efforts, we developed an improved cost–benefit analysis method that considers as many of the benefits and costs (including opportunity costs) as possible, subject to data availability, thereby clarifying the net benefit after accounting for these costs. We found different net benefits for the restoration types implemented under the TNSFP. The lowest net benefit was for afforestation by planting, at − 6.8 × 103 RMB ha−1 year−1, which was negative due to its high costs; in contrast, the highest net benefit was for fruit tree plantations, at 53.3 × 103 RMB ha−1 year−1, and this resulted from its high product value. There were large differences among regions in China, which indicates that the regional governments should adjust the balance among the ecological restoration measures in their region to account for the unique local conditions and maximize the net benefits of ecological restoration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ecological restoration and conservation are primary components of sustainable development around the world, particularly during the contemporary era of climate change. However, restoration and conservation are not free; they consume huge amounts of resources that would otherwise support social and economic development. Therefore, excessive conservation creates a risk of creating rather than eliminating poverty. Unfortunately, scientists have largely ignored the balance between these contrasting goals. Here, we discuss the concept of finding the threshold that represents a suitable balance between ecological conservation and economic development, thereby maximizing the benefits for both humans and the environment and promoting sustainable development. To demonstrate the concept, we examined China's ecological restoration achievements and discussed some of the unforeseen negative consequences that accompanied these achievements to discuss how future policies could better balance ecological and socioeconomic goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Decreasing vegetation cover leads to serious environmental problems, with negative impacts on human health and socioeconomic development. In recent years, these problems have seriously threatened human societies around the world. Although there have been many studies of urbanization's impacts on natural land cover, ecosystem health, and biodiversity, the effects of spatial variation of human factors and their interaction with climate factors are less well known, particularly in rapidly developing countries such as China. This makes it difficult to design effective ecological restoration policies because the lack of such research creates a high risk of misunderstanding the current situation and wasting a lot of money and labour. To provide some of the missing information, we used municipal‐ and county‐level data from China in 2017 to calculate the contributions of 14 factors that affect vegetation cover, which combine urbanization, socioeconomic development, and natural influences. We found significant regional differences in the impacts of the urbanization and socioeconomic development factors, suggesting that their impact differed among northeastern, southern, and western China, sometimes with opposite effects. This was especially true in western China, where most human factors had negative impacts on vegetation cover. Our research has implications for environmental protection planning in regions affected by environmental degradation in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ecosystem degradation is a major cause of poverty, and poverty further aggravates ecosystem degradation through a feedback known as the 'poverty trap' that can prevent sustainable socioeconomic development in ecologically fragile areas. However, most ecological restoration programmes have failed to improve the lives of residents of the targeted areas because planners failed to understand the driving forces behind the poverty trap. Finding the threshold conditions for the poverty trap, which represent the conditions when the current state of a system changes to a new and inferior state, can help managers to avoid triggering the poverty trap in ecologically fragile areas. To avoid crossing the threshold, it's necessary to understand the driving mechanisms responsible for the poverty trap so that managers can break the vicious cycle that undermines the effectiveness of ecological restoration. China's ecological restoration has shown that integrating ecological restoration with measures that provide a sustainable livelihood for residents of programme areas can achieve the win–win goal of ecological restoration and poverty alleviation. We found preliminary evidence that there is an income threshold for the poverty trap, and that raising incomes above this level may help residents of restoration areas escape the trap. The examples described in this paper provide valuable guidance for other countries that must achieve similar goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To protect the global ecological environment and prevent threats to human safety and property, nations around the world have invested heavily in ecological restoration programmes. However, we do not know whether these investments have been repaid by the resultant benefits.To answer this question, we developed an improved method of quantifying costs and benefits that accounts for more of the costs associated with ecological restoration, thereby letting us calculate the net benefit.To demonstrate this method, we analysed the Grain for Green Program (GGP), which is the world's largest ecological restoration programme. We found that the increase in net benefits amounted to a total of 530.1 × 109 RMB/year in 2017. However, 11 of China's 25 provinces have incurred net losses due to high cost increases and low increases in benefits under the GGP.Synthesis and applications. Because compensation payments to farmers and herders whose livelihoods were disrupted by implementation of the Grain for Green Program only accounted for 0.8% of the programme's cost, improving compensation payments will be essential to its success. Assessing Grain for Green Program the largest ecological restoration programme in the world will provide guidance for ecological protection and restoration policies around the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Land degradation is a global problem that seriously threatens human society. However, in China and elsewhere, ecological restoration still largely relies on a traditional approach that focuses only on ecological factors and ignores socioeconomic factors. To improve the effectiveness of ecological restoration and maximize its economic and ecological benefits, a more efficient approach is needed that provides support for policy development and land management and thereby promotes environmental conservation. We devised a framework for assessing the value of ecosystem services that remain after subtracting costs, such as the opportunity costs, costs of forest protection, and costs for the people who are affected by the program; that is, the net value of ecosystem services (NVES). To understand the difference between the value of a resource and the net value of the ecosystem service it provides, we used data on VES, timber sales, and afforestation costs from China's massive national afforestation programs to calculate the net value of forest ecosystem services in China. Accounting for the abovementioned costs revealed an NVES of ¥6.1 × 1012 for forests in 2014, which was 35.9% less than the value calculated without accounting for costs. As a result, the NVES associated with afforestation was 55.9% less than the NVES of natural forests. In some regions, NVES was negative because of the huge costs of human‐made plantations, high evapotranspiration rates (thus, high water opportunity costs), and low forest survival rates. To maximize the ecological benefits of conservation, it is necessary to account for as many costs as possible so that management decisions can be based on NVES, thereby helping managers choose projects that maximize both economic and ecological benefits. Article impact statement: Accounting for the effects of costs on the value of ecosystem services provides a net value that more strongly supports policy development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Desertification affects about 36 × 106 km2 of land around the world, two‐thirds of the world's countries and one‐fifth of its population, but poverty prevents these people from developing effective solutions. To balance the need for sustainable development with environmental protection, China's scientists have tested a new and more environmentally friendly approach based on ecological restoration projects that simultaneously provide a sustainable livelihood for the citizens affected by the projects. This strategy for controlling desertification requires cooperation among governments, scientists, and researchers from many disciplines and the communities affected by the program. To document the effectiveness of this strategy, we monitored the implementation of a programme to combat desertification in the Alxa League of China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. Our study showed that the new strategy can significantly increase vegetation cover, species richness, aboveground biomass, soil organic matter content, and soil nutrients. The successful ecological restoration provides potentially important lessons for other parts of the world that face the joint burden of poverty and environmental degradation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • The net ecosystem services value can reveal the real benefits of an ecosystem. • The net value is more practical than the payment for ecosystem services. • The net ecosystem services value provides decision-making for ecological conservation and environmental protection. Abstract To understand the difference between the value and the net value of ecosystem services (VES and NES , respectively), we used government statistics and data from published papers about the values and costs of grassland services to calculate their VES and NES in China. We found that when the associated costs (investment in ecological conservation and restoration, reduction of the risk of natural disasters, water consumption, and land rent) are subtracted from this total, the NES of China's grassland ecosystem services equaled −0.12 × 103 RMB ha−1 yr−1. Except for northeastern China and Inner Mongolia, which have abundant natural resources and lower population and livestock pressure, China's other seven regions had a negative grassland NES. The pressure on grassland by livestock has increased steeply (by 1066.1%), from 29.2 × 106 sheep units in 1977 to 340.5 × 106 sheep units in 2014. This strongly suggests that China's grasslands are being heavily overexploited. In contrast with China's well-funded afforestation programs, the low investments in grassland restoration and management have combined to produce severe degradation of grasslands. China's government should re-examine the benefits of livestock culture by accounting for the costs of this land use and of various restoration methods, and should take measures to preserve and restore the country's fragile grasslands. Our results provide a warning for managers of other ecosystems around the world where calculations of grassland VES may be ignoring significant costs of ecological restoration and preservation, leading to overuse and degradation of the ecosystem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ecosystem degradation is caused by interactions among multiple factors, including climate change and human activity. Therefore, we must understand the key factors that underlie ecological degradation and determine their impacts on ecosystem change before we can undertake ecological restoration. To test this hypothesis, we proposed a measure that we call “targeted measures to control ecological restoration”. This approach calculates the contribution of every key factor and control measure to ecosystem change during ecological restoration; by identifying the key factors, it helps managers to design an effective restoration strategy based on those factors. To test this approach, we performed a case study from 2000 to 2016 in four towns of Changting County, Fujian Province, China. Although the vegetation cover decreased by 3.1% from 1984 to 1999, vegetation cover and vegetation species richness increased by 94.8 and 616.7%, respectively, in the test areas where new measures were implemented from 2000 to 2016. These rates were 4.5 and 148.2 times those in the control area, respectively. Our new approach focuses on repairing degraded ecosystems rather than creating new ones. The case study suggests that understanding ecosystem dynamics can help us deal more effectively with the simultaneous effects of climate change and human activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the strategies used by the government of China in combating desertification in the arid region. Topics discussed include factors which results in the formations of desertification such as climate change and human activities; ecological restoration programs in arid and semiarid regions; and promotion of no-till cultivation to protect the soil and decrease water consumption.

Environmental Kuznets curve theory predicts that rapid economic development will initially and unavoidably create environmental problems until these problems are solved at higher development levels. However, because different economies face different impacts from economic growth, some may find ways to shorten the environmental Kuznets curve. To understand the characteristics of a “Kuznets curve” based on Chinese environmental attitudes and the factors that influence these attitudes, we interviewed 3000 randomly selected Chinese adults in 2014 using stratified random sampling in six areas (four provinces and two provincial-scale municipalities) that had been affected by the national Grain for Green program. Our goal was to determine their opinions on China’s environmental policy. Based on their responses, we calculated that the minimum value of the environmental Kuznets curve (the income at which priorities change from income to environmental protection) occurred at a per capita income of between 20 200 and 27,000 RMB (an increase of 61.6% compared with results from a similar survey in 2004). We found significant impacts of income, education level, age, gender, employment, and region on Chinese environmental choices. To achieve sustainable socioeconomic development, China’s government must account for how these factors affect public responses to its policy initiatives. China’s government must also find ways to increase personal income faster to speed China’s progress along the environmental Kuznets curve. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

People who live in ecologically fragile environments face both poverty and environmental degradation, which reinforce each other and create a 'poverty trap.' Traditional ecological restoration projects focus only on ecological measures, and thus ignore the livelihoods of local residents. Those projects therefore fail to solve the poverty trap. In addition, project subsidies to residents typically end when the projects end, thus forcing residents to return to their old way of life and reversing the gains from the projects. To break this cycle, we performed a study in China's Yanan City, in Shaanxi Province, to promote a new 'green purchase' method for implementing sustainable economic activities that bring residents ongoing earnings without harming the environment. This method involves the construction of terraced fields, establishment of fruit tree orchards, implementation of grazing restrictions, and ecological migration. We found that the method was ecologically effective, as it increased Yanan's vegetation cover by 0.89% annually since 1999, which is twice the rate for Shaanxi Province. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Land degradation is a global environmental problem that jeopardizes human safety and socioeconomic development. To alleviate severe soil erosion and desertification due to deforestation and overgrazing, China has implemented historically unprecedented large-scale afforestation. However, few studies have accounted for the resulting imbalance between water supply (primarily precipitation) and water consumption (evapotranspiration), which will affect ecosystem health and socioeconomic development. We compared the water balance results between restoration by means of afforestation and restoration using the potential natural vegetation to guide future ecological restoration planning and environmental policy development. Based on estimates of water consumption from seven evapotranspiration models, we discuss the consequences for water security using data obtained since 1952 under China's large-scale afforestation program. The models estimated that afforestation will increase water consumption by 559–2354 m 3 /ha annually compared with natural vegetation. Although afforestation is a potentially important approach for environmental restoration, China's current policy has not been tailored to local precipitation conditions, and will have therefore exacerbated water shortages and decrease the ability to achieve environmental policy goals. Our analysis shows how, both in China and around the world, future ecological restoration planning must account for the water balance to ensure effective and sustainable environmental restoration policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Afforestation is a primary tool for controlling desertification and soil erosion in China. Large-scale afforestation, however, has complex and poorly understood consequences for the structure and composition of future ecosystems. Here, we discuss the potential links between China''s historical large-scale afforestation practices and the program''s effects on environmental restoration in arid and semi-arid regions in northern China based on a review of data from published papers, and offer recommendations to overcome the shortcomings of current environmental policy. Although afforestation is potentially an important approach for environmental restoration, current Chinese policy has not been tailored to local environmental conditions, leading to the use of inappropriate species and an overemphasis on tree and shrub planting, thereby compromising the ability to achieve environmental policy goals. China''s huge investment to increase forest cover seems likely to exacerbate environmental degradation in environmentally fragile areas because it has ignored climate, pedological, hydrological, and landscape factors that would make a site unsuitable for afforestation. This has, in many cases, led to the deterioration of soil ecosystems and decreased vegetation cover, and has exacerbated water shortages. Large-scale and long-term research is urgently needed to provide information that supports a more effective and flexible environmental restoration policy. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Road construction is an important cause of environmental degradation, particularly in mountainous regions. However, re-establishing vegetation cover at the construction site can mitigate these problems, particularly on steep roadside slopes. In the present study, we developed two new planting techniques to increase vegetation cover on these slopes, in which planters fill the holes in air bricks (i.e., bricks with large holes that pass through the full depth of the brick) with soil, then plant grass or herbaceous species in the soil. Two variants of this technique (one in which the air bricks form a stairstep pattern, and another in which they form a smooth slope) were tested in an area with a warm climate near Shennongjia (Hubei Province) between 2006 and 2008. The new planting techniques promoted root growth, the development of a continuous vegetation cover, and the production of merchantable seeds compared with the conventional planting technique. This suggests that the air brick technique is more suitable for the study area, where the natural soils are thin, and may prove suitable for similar areas elsewhere in the world. The provisional results, based on 2 years of research, suggest that the new techniques represent a potentially valuable alternative for vegetation restoration, landscape conservation, and road maintenance/management in mountainous zones during and after highway construction. The techniques have strong potential for use in other areas. In addition, they provide a good example of using ecological engineering to increase vegetation cover on steep roadside slopes. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: There are many factors have contributed to China''s environmental crisis and are hindering environmental recovery campaigns. In particular, the implementation of government policy has played a strong role, both because of a government''s natural slowness to change and because of structural impediments. Competition for a share of the huge investments that are being made to support environmental protection among various governmental departments and with local governments has also slowed progress. The conflicting socioeconomic policies that can result from this competition have undermined the large investments in environmental programs by failing to consider the environmental consequences of the conflicts, leading to inappropriate actions and compromising the ability to achieve environmental restoration goals. To improve governance and the ability to meet environmental goals, governments at all levels must understand the problem created by the competition that leads to weak coordination of efforts and must formulate revised policies that encourage sustainability by balancing economic growth with a careful consideration of the need for all groups, whether governmental or private sector, to benefit from these policies. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

• Cost-benefit can reveal the real benefits of an ecosystem. • The net benefit provides stronger support for decision-making for ecological conservation. • The net benefit is more practical than the payment for ecosystem services. Land degradation, soil erosion by water, and desertification caused by deforestation are serious problems around the world. To counteract the effects of these problems, China's government implemented the world's largest and most comprehensive ecological restoration program: the Natural Forest Conservation Program (NFCP). However, it's not yet known how well the program has succeeded because no one has performed a comprehensive cost–benefit analysis. To provide the missing information, we developed an improved cost–benefit analysis approach that accounts for as many benefits and costs (including opportunity costs) as possible given the current availability of data. Our analysis revealed a net benefit of 6.029×1012 RMB per year for the NFCP. The net benefit (after subtracting the costs) was highest for protection of natural vegetation to allow recovery, but was lowest for afforestation by planting. We found significant differences between regions of China, suggesting that governments of these regions should adjust the balance among their ecological restoration measures to account for unique local conditions and maximize the net benefit. In addition, governments should increase subsidies to the residents of program areas to compensate them for the costs imposed on them by the NFCP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Large-scale afforestation is a primary tool for combatting desertification and global warming. However, the consequences for future ecosystems are complex and poorly understood. To judge the payback from afforestation in arid regions, we assessed the effects of the Three-North Shelter Forest Program, which is the world's largest ecological restoration program, in predominantly semi-arid to arid regions in China. Our analysis revealed a net loss of 230.8 × 109 RMB annually for afforestation, suggesting that tree planting is a poor choice in much of northern China. However, establishment of fruit tree plantations and protecting vegetation to allow natural recovery produced large annual benefits (235.5 × 109 RMB and 447.43 × 109 RMB, respectively) due to having the highest product value and lowest restoration cost, respectively. Because the net benefits were negative for artificial afforestation, and some net benefits were negative for some restoration programs in some regions, it is essential to change the proportions of the different restoration methods both to improve the restoration success and ensure the survival of the residents in areas affected by the program. • Our more comprehensive form of cost–benefit analysis reveals net benefits. • We applied the method to China's Three North Shelter Forest Program. • Forest protection to allow natural recovery gave high net benefits due to low cost. • Fruit tree plantations provided high net benefits due to income from fruit sales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Forests generate a wide range of ecosystem services that support human well-being and socioeconomic development. However, traditional calculations of the value of these services generally failed to account for their costs. To understand the difference between the value (VES) and the net value (NES) of forest ecosystem services, we used government statistics and data from published papers about the values and costs of these services to calculate the NES of China's forest ecosystems. After accounting for the opportunity costs (water consumption and land rent), the investments in conservation and restoration of forests, and the cost of management to prevent natural disasters, China's forest NES averaged 13.3 × 103 RMB ha−1 year−1, which is only 30.1% of the average VES of 44.2 × 103 RMB ha−1 year−1 calculated using the traditional approach. We also found NES was negative in parts of eastern China because of the region's excessive investments in forests. Accounting for the costs to determine the true (net) value of ecosystem services suggests that this region should reconsider the size and nature of its investments to optimize its land use. Our findings provide a reference for the management of other ecosystems in the world where VES calculations may ignore significant costs of ecological restoration and conservation, resulting in inappropriate investments in ecosystems and improper planning of land use. The methods we describe can help restoration managers identify and solve these problems. • The net ecosystem services value can reveal the real benefits of an ecosystem. • The net value provides stronger support for decision-making for ecological conservation. • The net value is more practical than the payment for ecosystem services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Fruit trees are an important forest resource because they simultaneously produce huge ecological and economic benefits. • The net ecosystem services value can reveal the real benefits of an ecosystem. • The net value provides stronger support for decision-making for ecological conservation. Fruit trees are an important forest resource because they simultaneously produce huge ecological and economic benefits. However, many estimates of these benefits have neglected the costs of providing these services, leading to ineffective planting of these trees and, consequently, reduced economic and ecological benefits. To understand the difference between the total and net benefits of ecosystem services, we used government statistics and data from published papers to calculate the total benefits, costs, and net benefits (= total benefits – costs) of land use of fruit trees in China. The fruit trees had a high value of ecosystem services (VES), at 643.2×109 RMB·yr−1, and a high value of products (VP), at 1399.4×109 RMB·yr−1 in 2014, and the total benefits (VES plus VP) of land use of fruit trees totaled 2042.6×109 RMB·yr−1. After accounting for the costs of establishing, maintaining, and protecting the fruit trees, as well as the opportunity costs of not using the land for other purposes, the net benefits provided by the fruit trees were 955.7×109 RMB·yr−1 (53.2% less than the total benefits). Due to regional differences in the geographic and economic environments, the benefits and costs of the fruit trees differed among China's regions, leading to large differences in the net benefits from the fruit trees. Because fruit tree cultivation is essential to farmer livelihoods, the government must plan the establishment and management of the fruit trees based on the results of cost–benefit analysis to achieve the win-win goal of combining ecological restoration with poverty alleviation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Grain for Green Program (GGP) that the Chinese government has implemented, the world's largest ecological restoration plan, has an important component based on payments for ecosystem services. However, the program's net benefits (which include compentation payments) remain unclear. To solve this problem, we proposed an improved cost–benefit analysis method that reveals the specific relationship between the benefits of each type of restoration and the multiple costs that must be incurred to generate those benefits. The results showed that the benefits and net benefits of GGP were 1749.2 × 109 RMB and 637.2 × 109 RMB, respectively in 2017. These were equivalent to total and net benefits that averaged 60.17 × 103 RMB·ha−1·yr−1 and 21.92 × 103 RMB·ha−1·yr−1, respectively, across the four methods. Afforestation of degraded land had the biggest total cost (509.1 × 109 RMB·yr−1), whereas establishing fruit tree plantations produced the highest net benefit (244.2 × 109 RMB·yr−1), but the best cost–benefit ratio was obtained by natural forest conservation (366.8%). To improve the net benefits of GGP while balancing the relationship between environmental protection and economic development, the GGP must be adapted so that managers plan program implementation based on net benefits; to do so, planners should choose the method for each site that maximizes the program's benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Land degradation results from the interactions among multiple climate and human factors. Solving the problem requires a holistic strategy that deals with all significant factors simultaneously. However, it is difficult to solve such problems because few researchers have studied the simultaneous effects of these interactions, making it difficult to develop a truly holistic strategy. To help land managers find such a strategy, we have proposed and tested a new approach for ecological restoration in which we calculated the simultaneous contributions of multiple factors during vegetation cover change in Yan'an City, Shaanxi Province, China, from 2000 to 2016. After implementing the new approach, the vegetation cover increased by 35.7% during the study period, which is 2.3 times the rate in the rest of Shaanxi Province, where only the national Grain for Green program was implemented. The new approach accounted for 74.0% of the increased vegetation cover in the first year, and comparable values in the second and third years. Our results provide important information to guide sustainable development in China, and our approach can be adapted for use in other nations that are facing similar problems. Graphical abstract Image 1 Highlights • Ecological restoration must account for climate and human factors simultaneously. • Restoration through socioeconomic development will be sustainable in the long term. • Alleviating poverty significantly improves the effects of ecological restoration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water scarcity is a global environmental problem that jeopardizes human safety and socioeconomic development. Since 1952, China has implemented a large-scale tree-planting program in the country's arid regions to combat desertification. However, there is a serious risk this program will exacerbate water shortages and lower the groundwater table: the trees selected for this program were not chosen based on local environmental constraints, and their evapotranspiration exceeds the regional precipitation. However, no data on the afforestation's effects on the groundwater table is available. This is problematic because any loss of groundwater will severely constrain socioeconomic development in China's arid and semiarid regions, which already face severe water shortages. The economic concept of a groundwater opportunity cost could be used to guide socioeconomic activities to improve the sustainability of groundwater use and mitigate the potential problems caused by the Chinese afforestation program. In this paper, seven evapotranspiration models were used to provide the first estimate of the opportunity cost created by afforestation's adverse effects on the groundwater resource. The results showed that the groundwater table declined yearly throughout the study area, with mean water opportunity costs in 2011 ranging from 0.04 × 10 9 RMB to 11.1 × 10 9 RMB under nine provinces in arid and semiarid China. This study provides the first solid evidence that afforestation in arid and semiarid northern China will exacerbate the groundwater decline while creating enormous opportunity costs. Thus, the afforestation program must be urgently reassessed and the water-use efficiency of vegetation must be considered when planning future ecological restoration both to make the restoration more cost-effective and to protect the ecosphere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]