Study On The Economic Incentive Mechanism For The Conservation Of Oriental White Storks In Sanjiang Plain

Agricultural intensification is one of the important factors leading to the reduction of farmland biodiversity.The Sanjiang Plain in Heilongjiang Province has the largest freshwater wetland in Asia.However,the intensive development of local agriculture has caused the fragmentation of the Oriental White Stork(Ciconia boyciana)habitat and the continuous reduction of its foraging areas.It was generally considered as an effective way to promote the coordinated development of agriculture and biodiversity in the world.At the same time,market-based environmentally-friendly agriculture is considered to have great potential to reshape the relationship between farmland biodiversity,agriculture and community livelihoods.In this study,through literature review,we collected data on changes in the number of the Oriental White Stork in the Sanjiang Plain,and the cultivated area and wetland area of Heilongjiang Province,based on which,a quantitative analysis was carried out to study the relationship between the agricultural development of the Sanjiang Plain and the protection of the Oriental White Stork.Choice experiment was made to study residents'(inhabited in Beijing,Harbin,and areas distributed with the Oriental White Stork)preferences for environmentally-friendly rice.In this experiment,a total of 4 550 cards were issued,of which 4 340 were valid,with an effective rate of 95.4%.Finally,the latent classification model(LCM)and random parameter logit(RPL)were used to quantitatively analyze data obtained from the choice experiment.The results of the study are as follows:(1)During 1954-1995,the trend of the local Oriental White Stork population was basically the same as that of the wetland area.The rice planting area in Heilongjiang Province increased from 2 100 km2 in 1980 to 37 830 km2 in 2018.Rice became one of the main types of crops planted in Heilongjiang Province,and the organic rice planting area has increased from 100km2 in 2016 to 1 460km2 in 2018,and the development trend is improving.(2)The residents in the areas where the Oriental White Stork is distributed to show diversified preference for planting environmentally-friendly rice.The LCM1 type(56.6%)of residents from areas distributed with the Oriental White Stork show a positive preference for organic(P?0.1)rice planted in nature reserves(P?0.01)with good taste(P?0.1).The LCM2 type(17.6%)of residents have a significant preference(P?0.05)for rice planted with fish farming in paddy fields,but have a negative preference for organic rice cultivation(P?0.05).The LCM3 type of residents significantly prefer rice planted in protected areas(P?0.01)with good taste(P?0.01).(3)Residents in urban areas have a very significant preference for buying organic(P<0.01)rice in fish farming(P?0.01),that is,they pay more attention to the health properties of rice.However,compared with organic labels,many urban residents show a higher degree of trust towards "biological labels"(such as fish or crab).(4)The Willingness to pay(WTP)(7.54 CNY/kg and 4.56 CNY/kg)of residents in Beijing and Harbin for the organic properties of environmentally-friendly rice is much higher than the Willingness to accept(WTA)(2.38 CNY/kg)of the residents in areas distributed with the Oriental White Stork,indicating that economic incentives for protecting the Oriental White Stork is highly feasible.Based on the above results,discussions were made to explore the relationship between the agricultural development of the Sanjiang Plain and the protection of the Oriental White Stork,the preference of urban residents and residents living in areas distributed with the Oriental White Stork for environmentally-friendly rice,and the economic incentive mechanism for the protection of the Oriental White Stork.We believe that an economic incentive mechanism for the protection of Oriental White Stork based on the needs of urban residents has great potential to promote the protection of biodiversity in wetland and farmlad in the Sanjiang Plain and the development of local agriculture.The feasibility of protecting economic incentives is relatively high,but it still needs to be supplemented by policies to improve it.