| Before the implementation of the Grain to Green Program(GTGP)in 2001,due to the influence of human activities,water conservation capacity of Qilian mountains area decreased sharply,resulting in the shortage of water resources in the middle and lower reaches of three inland river basins and therefore bringing about serious degradation of regional ecosystem.The first phase of the GTGP(2001-2011)was recognized as a keynote huge project of ecosystem restoration,in which the forest conservation program had exerted multi-scale and multi-level compound effects on the natural and social ecosystem in Qilian mountains area.The relationship between vegetation restoration and farmers’ livelihood at this stage has changed with the implementation of the GTGP,but this issue lacks systematic exploration and refinement.The relationship between vegetation restoration and farmer livelihood and its driving mechanism is widely viewed as the basic scientific issue in ecology.It belongs to the interdisplinary research scope of ecology,humanity and social sciences.The first phase of GTGP program appears to be a typical case of interdisplinary research,since it is frequently difficult and challenging when employing interdisciplinary research methods,analytic tools,data and theoretical integration.To clearly present the main results and conclusions,the extended is used in this thesis,instead of small abstract in regular thesis.In this study,the Qilian Mountains area was chosen as study site,based on the coupling theory of man and nature(CHANS)and ecosystem circle management theory(SFDM).This paper uses the interdisciplinary research method to explore the relationship between vegetation restoration and farmers’ livelihood under the implementation of the first phase of GTGP project.It mainly includes the following three aspects:1)natural ecosystem level.Evaluate the ecological benefits and sustainability of the policy of GTGP in the Qilian mountains area from the aspects of land use type,vegetation cover index and biodiversity.2)Socio economic system level.Based on survey data of farmers’ livelihood,this paper studies the livelihood strategy and labor direction change of the policy of GTGP in Qilian Mountains,understands the impact of the policy on Farmers’ livelihood and evaluates the sustainability of the policy.3)Mutual coupling relationship level.The telecoupling system is used to evaluate its remote effect and its impact on regional ecology and livelihood.Finally,the effectiveness and sustainability of the policy of GTGP in Qilian mountains area are comprehensively evaluated,and the main conclusions are as follows:1.Distribution characteristics of suitable areas for returning farmland and analysis of ecosystem circle managementThe weight superposition module in ArcGIS10.3 software is used to superimpose the weight of the appropriate level map of each factor,and add the land use/land cover information and the boundary map of the study area to obtain the distribution map of the appropriate area for the GTGP in the Qilian Mountains area,and outline the characteristics of ecosystem circle.·Taking Qilian Mountains Nature Reserve as the central area,distribution of suitable areas for the GTGP in the whole Qilian Mountains area basically presents the characteristics of circle distribution of core area,middle circle area,buffer area and edge area.According to the distribution of the policy of GTGP in different regions,it can be seen that the grassland and forest are mainly distributed in Subei,Sunan,Shandan,Minle,and the regions with small population density are the most suitable places for implementing the policy of GTGP,while the policy suitability of Zhangye,Wuwei,Jinchang and other regions is limited.From the perspective of spatial scale,the eastern region is dominated by returning forest and the western region is dominated by returning grass.The restoration measures should correspond with local conditions,namely,plant trees if the place is suitable for forest,plant grass if the place is suitable for grass,and combine forest with grass according to circumstances".They should be in line with the ecosystem circle management theory in the region.2.Changes of land use and vegetation cover in the Qilian Mountains area under the background of returning farmland for ten yearsSatellite image data and transfer matrix method are used,and the land use changes and vegetation changes in the Qilian Mountains area are analyzed.It is found that the implementation of ten-year GTGP has a significant promoting effect on ecological conservation.·The vegetation coverage(NDVI)in the Qilian Mountains area increased from 46.24%in 2001 to 61.28%in 2011,and the vegetation coverage increased significantly.During the ten-year implementation period,the proportion of the land area included in the conversion of farmland to forest and grassland in the whole cultivated land area increased year by year,from 20.79%in 2001 to 38.46%in 2006,and then to 44.24%in 2011.In addition,the proportion of green space(forest land,grassland and alpine meadow)in the whole land area increased from 33.77%in 2001 to 51.52%in 2011,mainly the increase of forest and grassland.Therefore,from the perspective of natural ecological restoration,the ecological validity of GTGP in this area is significant.·The land use transfer matrix further reveals the above main trends.Through the analysis of land use transfer matrix from 2001 to 2006,it was found that the cultivated land in the Qilian Mountains area has been mainly transformed into grassland(33.4%),alpine meadow(12.8%)and forest land(12.4%).Bare land was mainly converted into grassland(8.9%)and alpine meadow(9.1%).Through the analysis of land use transfer matrix from 2006 to 2011,it is found that the effectiveness of GTGP in this area has been further improved.The main conversion types of cultivated land are grassland(27.7%),alpine meadow(10.1%)and forest land(3.3%),but 8.5%of cultivated land has been converted into bare land,and a small range of abandonment exists.In addition,the ten-year return of farmland has led to the conversion of 148000 ha(11.8%)of bare land into an alpine meadow.However,farmers’ construction land has increased significantly,200%higher than that in 2006.3.Labor migration and farmers’ livelihood change in the Qilian Mountains area under the background of ten-year returning farmlandAccording to the survey of farmers and socio-economic development data,this paper analyzes the characteristics of labor transfer and farmers’ livelihood change strategies under the background of returning farmland,and reveals the farmers’feedback and response mechanism to the policy.·The GTGP has driven the transfer of labor force to the secondary and tertiary industries and reduced population pressure of primary industry.The survey results of farmers show that since 2001,the population of primary industry has been declining,from 33.44%in 2001 to 19.82%in 2011.The population of secondary industry increased from 32.66%in 2001 to 44.17%in 2011,and tertiary industry also increased slightly.This result is supported by the statistical results of officially released social and economic development data.The proportion of agricultural population in the region decreased year by year from 2001 to 2011.·Different natural endowments have an important impact on labor transfer,and there are great differences between pastoral and agricultural areas.The results show that 74%of the labor force in Tianzhu area mainly engage in planting industry go out to work,and the remaining 26%are transferred to individual business(10%),animal husbandry(10%)and non-wood forest products(6%).In Sunan Area dominated by animal husbandry,54%of the labor force go out to work,and the rest are transferred to individual business(22%)and animal husbandry(24%).At the same time,affected by social capital,most of the labor force in Sunan Area(62%)has been transferred to the nearest city Zhangye,while Tianzhu’s labor force transfer is relatively balanced,of which 36%has been transferred to Lanzhou,the capital city of Gansu Province,and 41%to Wuwei.·Family factors have a high degree of correlation with labor transfer.According to the PCA,it is known that policy perception,the cropping income and the number of male labor have a major impact on labor transfer.The results show that the age coefficient of the head of household(Sunan-0.202,Tianzhu-0.066)is significantly negatively correlated with labor transfer,while the health coefficient of the head of household(Sunan 2.351,Tianzhu 1.18)is significantly and positively correlated with labor transfer.The cognitive degree coefficient of farmers for GTGP is positive in Sunan(4.336)and Tianzhu(2.307),and there is a significant correlation at the level of 1%.The results show that the higher the farmers’ awareness of the policy,the easier the labor transfers under the program.·Livelihood mode also has a high correlation with labor transfer.The coefficient of total household income in different ecological areas(Sunan 1.396,Tianzhu 0.617)is positively correlated with the labor transfer under the background of returning farmland,indicating that the higher the family income,the easier the labor transfers.In Sunan Area dominated by animal husbandry,the sign of the logistic coefficient(-1.176)of animal husbandry income is negative,while the coefficient sign of individual business income(0.94)and migrant wage income(2.174)is positive,indicating that the animal husbandry income of farmers in Sunan Area is negatively correlated with the impact of labor transfer under the background of returning farmland.There is a positive correlation between individual business income and migrant wage income.In Tianzhu,which is dominated by planting industry,the income of planting industry(-1.066)has a negative correlation with the impact of labor transfer under the background of returning farmland.·There are significant differences in the relationship between the number of male labor force and labor transfer.In Sunan dominated by animal husbandry,the coefficient(-2.657)sign of the number of male labor force is negative,and there is a significant correlation at the level of 5%with labor force transfer.In other words,the more male labor force in the family,the less likely it is to transfer labor force under the policy of GTGP.On the contrary,in Tianzhu area dominated by planting industry,the coefficient of male labor force(1.382)is positive and has a significant positive correlation with labor force transfer.The more male labor force in the family,the easier it is to transfer labor force under GTGP.4.Stakeholder analysis and social learning evolution under the background of ten-year land conversionAs the basic means of ecosystem management,stakeholder analysis aims to identify,describe and classify stakeholders in order to determine their participation in the decision-making process in the future.According to the stakeholder theory,the groups and individuals affected by the implementation of the farmland conversion policy are defined as stakeholders.Different stakeholders have different interest demands,which change with the enhancement of the overall social cognition and adaptability(Social Learning).There is interest coordination and game relationships among stakeholders.This process is greatly affected by social learning during the conversion period,which affects the implementation effectiveness of the conversion policy.·Stakeholders have feedback effects on the GTGP,but there are great differences.The results show that as the main stakeholders,the average correlation scores of farmers,central government,local government and forest management departments are more than 4.0,indicating that they have a high correlation with the policy of GTGP.In addition,the influence weight of returning farmland farmers and the central government exceeds 4.0,and the influence of the central government is as high as 4.89,indicating that they have an obvious impact on the policy.The influence weight of local government and forest management departments is lower than 4.0,especially the influence weight of forest management departments is only 3.19.The impact weight of the financial sector is higher than 4.16,which shows that the ecological compensation mechanism has a great impact on the implementation of the policy.·The ten-year return of farmland policy has a great impact on the choice of livelihood strategies.There are significant differences in planting,animal husbandry,business income and working income,especially the working income increased from about 6000 Yuan to about 14000 Yuan,while the planting income decreased by about 2000 Yuan,which is significantly lower than the income growth brought by other livelihood strategies.The data shows that △I＝2000 Yuan and I’=11000 Yuan in the game conclusion,which also explains that farmers will also choose to actively respond to the policy of GTGP in the game.The data show that the labor force of local farmers has decreased by 240 person times(62.2%)from the planting labor force before and after the implementation of the policy of GTGP,of which 132 person times(34.2%)have been transferred to work.Since the implementation of the policy of GTGP,farmers have made feedback and responses to administrative policies through social learning and changed the distribution of labor force,and finally brought the change of farmers’ livelihood strategy and the improvement of farmers’ livelihood.5.Analysis of telecoupling system under the background of returning farmland for ten yearsBased on statistical data,spatial analysis and field investigation,the telecoupling system model is applied to quantitatively analyze the correlation and radiation effects between ecosystem components and extraterritorial systems under the background of returning farmland for ten years.·There is a coupling relationship between different components of the Qilian Mountains complex ecosystem,including the flow and interaction of information,energy and resources.According to the order of policy occurrence,distance system first extends the policy to focal system through information flow,which will lead to changes in farmers’ livelihood and natural ecosystem in the focus system.With the implementation of the policy,farmers feed-back the policy and change their livelihood strategy,which will lead to the export of labor force and labor flow.Due to the improvement of the overall economic situation outside the region and the increase of labor demand,local farmers are given more choices of livelihood strategies.While obtaining good ecological benefits,the decline of cultivated land does not bring inhibitory effects on local farmers.In addition,through the analysis of the coupling relationship between the system outside the region and within the region,due to the conversion of farmland within the region,it is found that the area of forest land and grassland outside the region increase,the runoff decrease,and the land water storage increase accordingly,which in turn promotes the restoration of vegetation within the region.In general,under ten years’ returning farmland,the forest coverage,vegetation index(NDVI)and green space area in this area have been greatly improved,and good ecological benefits have been obtained.At the same time,labor transfer has promoted the change of livelihood mode,industrial adjustment and improvement of livelihood level,and achieved good social and economic benefits.The implementation of the ten-year farmland return policy has had a comprehensive and complex impact on the ecological,social and economic coupling system in the surrounding areas.The whole policy has been invested by the government in the form of ecological compensation in the initial stage to gradually harvest and obtain good ecological benefits in the later stage.Farmers’ attitude toward the policy has changed from initial negative resistance to final active participation to further improve the ecological benefits of the policy,and realize the win-win model of sustainability and virtuous cycle in the compound ecosystem of natural system and human system. |
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