| In 1999,Jingning County began to implement the most extensive project of returning farmland to forest with the strongest policy,the highest public participation as well as the largest amount of investment in China;in addition,it has been the largest-scale project of strengthening agriculture and benefiting farmers in China and the largest ecological construction project in the world.Jingning County in Gansu Province is one of the regions where resources,population and environment are contradictory as well as the area with extremely serious soil erosion at the same time.As an important way of improving the ecological environment,returning farmland to forest project has made achievements since it was implemented.With the continuous deepening of the project,it has caused the widely concerned socio-economic and ecological benefits,and how to evaluate and monitor the project of returning farmland to forest has gradually become the focus of concern from all walks of life.In this paper,the specific situation of returning farmland to forest in Jingning County of Gansu Province is taken as the research object.The relevant data are obtained through the research on the literatures related to returning farmland to forests at home and abroad,and then according to the obtained data and the practical experience of the previous researchers,the paper carries out a systematic analysis on the socio-economic and ecological benefits and other kinds of indicators caused by the returning farmland to forest project in Jingning County by the means of quantitative and qualitative,statistical data and field survey,and the combination of the production practice and science and technology.What the preliminary analysis result indicates are as follows:(1)In ecological benefits.First of all,by the end of 2016,the total area of returning farmland to forest in Jingning County was 58133.3 hm2,and the forest coverage increased from 6.9% in 1999 to 25.9% in 2016,increasing by 19%.Secondly,the climate is significantlyimproved.Compared with the bare land,the annual temperature difference is obviously reduced;the relative humidity of the air is significantly improved;the drying system is reduced;the soil and water loss is reduced;the sand-dustweather are effectively prevented.Thirdly,soil physical and chemical properties are improved obviously.Both soil fertility and land productivity have been improved,the soil organic matter is increased;thereby enhancing the soil permeability and improving soil permeability.Soil erosion modulus is gradually reduced,which effectively controls the water loss and soil erosion.(2)In social and economic benefits.Firstly,the arable land area of jingning county has been greatly reduced,but the total grain output showed an increasing trend year by year.The grain production was from 150 kg per mu to 350 kg per mu in 2016,which increased by more than two times.Secondly,returning farmland to forest project also brought direct economic income to farmers and encouraged the planting of economic forest and the corresponding government subsidies,and the per capita net income for farmers increased from 3063 yuan in 2011 to 6852 yuan in 2016,which rose significantly.Thirdly,industrial structure has changed.The proportion of the primary industry and the secondary industry fell down in the overall output,respectively dropping from 40% and 33%in 2011 to 36% and 25% in 2016,while the proportion of the tertiary industry increased significantly from 27% in 2011 to 39% in 2016.This studies not only provides scientific evaluation methods and indicators for returning farmland to forest,but also can provide the basis for the implementation and decision-making of returning farmland to forest project in the future,provide theoretical and practical reference for the sustainable development of Jingning County,as well as offer the theoretical and practical experience for the evaluation of this project. |
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