Implementation Capacity Through Network Collaboration:an Assessment Of Watershed Eco-compensation Programs In Zhejiang Province

Watershed eco-compensation is an important policy to coordinate regional ecological benefits and to optimize watershed resource allocation. Since the end of 1990s, governments of different levels have issued relevant documents to promote the implementation of eco-compensation policy. Zhejiang province started to carry out the watershed eco-compensation programe throughout the whole province in 2005. In order to understand the efficiency and influence factors of the policy implementation, the implementation situation of watershed eco-compensation policy was evaluated by the questionaire survey and expert interview in this study. An index system was established based on the evaluation pattern of eco-compensation policy implementation capacity in this paper. The implementation capacity of Zhejiang watershed eco-compensation policy was comperhensively assessed by qualitative and quantitative method. The main results are showed as following:(1) The superior government, the river basin local governments, enterprises, the public and the third sector are the major watershed ecological stakeholders. Their negotiation and bargaining for watershed resources exploit and environment protection form a collaboration network of watershed eco-compensation. Based on the collaboration network and the Smith Policy Implementation Processing Pattern, an evaluation model of eco-compensation policy implementation capacity was established. Five factors that include ideal policy, implementation agencies, target groups, policy environment and collaboration network were considered in the model.(2) Based on the evaluation model, the evaluation index system of eco-compensation policy implementation capacity was established. The system is composed of one target layer index, five criterion layer indexes, eleven sub criterion layer indexes and twenty index layer indexes. The implementation capacity of watershed eco-compensation policy was set as target layer. Criterion layer aimed at the five influencing factors, namely the perfect degree of the policy, the implementation agencies suitability degree, target groups’cooperation degree, policy environmental support degree and benefit network collaboration. The sub criteria layer and the index layer are the specific characterization of the criterion layer. The index weight was determined by the expert opinion average method. Composite index method was used to evaluate the implementation capacity of watershed eco-compensation policy.(3) Different levels of governments were regarded as respondents. The questionaire survey was combined with the field interview. The implementation capacity of Zhejiang watershed eco-compensation policy was comprehensively evaluated in this study. The assessment rank is good. The reasons are as following. First, the fairness of policy formulation is strong, and its strengthening trend is obvious. Second, the executives have higher professional quality, and the responsibility of functional departments of government is consistent with power. Third, the basic governments have strong desire to implement the policy, and their policy identity is high too. Fourth, the cultural environment is relatively ideal, and the financial resources are relatively rich. Fifth, the vertical collaboration between the upper and lower governments is effective, and enterprises participation level is high. But there are still some problems in the policy implementation. For example, the goal of the policy is unclear, departmental coordination is not strong, basic governments don’t have much experience and lack effective supervision on the policy, the policy implementation lacks public participation.(4) Aiming at the above problems, some suggestions were put forward. They consist of improving the watershed eco-compensation collaboration network system, establishing the diversified ecological compensation pattern, regulating the fund mechanism of ecological compensation, improving the relevant laws and regulations and constructing the supervision and evaluation system of watershed eco-compensation.