Study On The Legal System Of Ecological Compensation For Arable Land In China

As a compound resource,arable land has the dual functions of providing agricultural production and ecological services.With the rapid development of economy and society,the high intensity and rough production methods have led to the serious deterioration of the ecological environment of arable land and a series of problems such as soil consolidation and ground strength decline.Based on the strategic need to maintain the ecological security of arable land,producers and other related groups have taken up the obligation to protect arable land,effectively improving the ecological environment of arable land in the region and contributing to the incremental ecological benefits of arable land for regional development.However,the price paid by these groups for the ecological protection of arable land has not yet been effectively corrected and guaranteed by the rule of law,and the inequitable distribution of the ecological benefits of arable land has been highlighted by the characteristics of ecological externalities,and the traditional administrative means of enforcement and control can no longer meet the practical needs of arable land ecological protection.Therefore,in order to protect the legitimate rights and interests of arable land ecological protectors and achieve a fair distribution of arable land ecological benefits,the Central Committee of the Party and the State have begun to attach great importance to the application of arable land ecological compensation system in the field of arable land protection and put the construction of its rule of law on the agenda.In 2020,the National Development and Reform Commission(NDRC)put forward the Regulation on Ecological Protection Compensation(Draft for Public Consultation)on its portal for public consultation,and in 2021,the General Office of the State Council proposed in the Opinions on Deepening the Reform of the Ecological Protection Compensation System that "the construction of the rule of law should be accelerated,and legal means should be used to adjust and regulate ecological compensation practices".So far,the legislation of ecological compensation for arable land in China is still under active exploration,and the matter of ecological compensation for arable land has not been specifically regulated at the central level,and the relevant legal provisions are mostly scattered in laws and regulations such as the Constitution,the Environmental Protection Law and the Cleaner Production Promotion Law,etc.Local governments can only rely on the general provisions in the above-mentioned laws and the guidelines in some policy documents when formulating local regulations,On the whole,the legal system of ecological compensation for arable land in China lacks systematization and comprehensiveness.The arable land ecological compensation system can not only realize the distribution justice of arable land ecological benefits,but also contribute to the sustainable development of agriculture in China.In the context of comprehensively promoting the construction of ecological civilization,it is important to study and improve the legal system of arable land ecological compensation.This paper is guided by the theory of equity,the theory of reciprocity of rights and obligations,and the theory of externality,and based on a thorough review and collation of research developments on ecological compensation for arable land at home and abroad,the paper focuses closely on the core elements of the legal system of ecological compensation for arable land.This paper is divided into four parts.The first part compares the current legislative and policy status of China’s arable land ecological compensation system at both national and local levels,and examines the pilot implementation of arable land ecological compensation in Chengdu and Suzhou to summarize the current status of China’s arable land ecological compensation legal system and practice.Based on the current situation of the system and practice,the second part summarises the five shortcomings of China’s arable land ecological compensation legal system,namely,the unclear scope of compensation subjects,unreasonable compensation standards,unreasonable compensation methods,inadequate compensation supervision and imperfect compensation accountability mechanism,and discusses the causes of these shortcomings from a legal perspective in order to further explore countermeasures for improvement.The third part focuses on the five shortcomings of the legal system of ecological compensation for arable land in China,and conducts a comparative study of the relevant systems in the United States,Japan,Canada and other overseas countries,summarising their advanced models and institutional experiences,which can be applied in the light of China’s national conditions.The fourth part,based on the aforementioned research,puts forward specific suggestions for improving the legal system of ecological compensation for arable land in China,namely,clearly defining the subjects of the legal relationship of ecological compensation for arable land to ensure a clear division of compensation rights and obligations;setting reasonable standards for ecological compensation for arable land to ensure the smooth promotion of compensation;improving diversified methods of ecological compensation for arable land to ensure the efficient allocation of compensation resources;and establishing an effective monitoring system for ecological compensation for arable land to ensure that the compensation process is effective.ecological compensation supervision system to ensure the fair operation of compensation procedures;and improve the strict accountability mechanism for ecological compensation of arable land to ensure the effective realization of the rights of compensation subjects.