Impacts Of Grassland Ecological Compensation Policy On Grassland Ecology And Herdsman’s Off-farm Income In Qinghai Province

Grassland,which is an important part of the global terrestrial ecosystem,has the dual functions of ecology and production.The keys to the pastoral sustainable development are protecting the grassland ecology and ensuring the livelihoods of herdsmen.China established the basic principle of “integration of production and ecological service provision with ecological conservation as the priority” to strengthen grassland ecological protection and open up new ways for herdsmen to increase their income and employment,and the Grassland Ecological Compensation Policy(GECP)was implemented in 2011.The existing studies are relatively single in the dimensions of GECP evaluation,and there is a lack of systematic reviews that combine the dimensions of grassland ecology and herdsmen’s livelihood,which is key to assessing policy effectiveness and is of great importance for policy improvement.In order to evaluate the impact of the GECP on grassland ecology and herdsmen’s livelihood and its implementation effect,NDVI and non-farm employment income as indicators of grassland ecological and household’s livelihood.Ecological data were obtained through NASA data system and China Meteorological Data Network,and 189 valid livelihood questionnaires of herdsmen were obtained through stratified sampling based on field surveys.The paper constructs panel data that includes ecological data and livelihood data based on the perspective of herdsmen,and does empirical analysis by fixed-effect model.The main conclusions are as follows:Firstly,grassland NDVI in Qinghai Province has been stable year-to-year,and non-farm income has continued to grow.The NDVI of 67.41% of the grassland remained stable before and after the implementation of the GECP,accompanied by a slight decrease and increase.The proportion of non-farm employed labor force increased from 13.46% in 2008 to 19.45% in 2017,and non-farm income has shown an increasing trend,but animal husbandry is still the main means of livelihood for herdsmen.Secondly,the ecological performance of the GECP was significant.GECP has a strong positive correlation with grassland NDVI in the case of climate control variables and other conditions remain unchanged.The average annual precipitation,grassland management area and grassland NDVI are positively correlated,and the stocking rate and NDVI show an "inverted U-shaped" relationship.Thirdly,the income of GECP had a negative effect on pastoralist non-farm income.The income from non-farm employment will decrease by 280 yuan that year for every 1,000 yuan increase in the income from the GECP income supplement in the previous year.Non-farm income is negatively correlated with livestock income and positively correlated with duration of non-farm work and age of labor.The current year’s non-farm income will decrease by 5,510 RMB for every 1% increase in the share of livestock income in the previous year.Non-farm income will increase by 1,960 RMB for every 1-month increase in non-farm working time,and the household non-farm income will increase by 1,090 RMB for every 1-year increase in the age of labor.Based on the above conclusions this paper makes policy suggestions such as accelerating the modernization of pastoralism,promoting grass turnover,developing rational zoonotic standards,protecting herdsman’s interests for the peasants get a guaranteed gain when the GECP income decreases and an increasing gains when GECP income rises,and improving supporting measures,etc.