Study On The Influence Mechanism Of Forest Land Easement Reform On Farmers’ Income

As the highest protected land type in China,the National Park undertakes the important function of maintaining the authenticity of the ecosystem and biodiversity protection.The reform of easement in the National Park is conducive to the unified management of collective forest land in the National Park.The restriction of easement reform on farmers’ forestry production and management activities has an impact on Farmers’ livelihood,and farmers’ income level and structure may be affected.What changes have taken place in the income level and structure of farmers since the pilot easement reform of Qianjiangyuan National Park in 2018? Does the employment structure play an intermediary effect? Does the easement reform have a differentiated impact on the income of different types of farmers? The answer to the above questions has important practical significance and policy value for understanding the impact mechanism of National Park easement reform on Farmers’ income,evaluating the impact of easement reform policy on farmers,and promoting the construction of national park system.Taking the pilot project of Qianjiangyuan National Park as an example,based on the survey data of farmers in two phases(2016 and 2019)of 13 villages,this study constructs the analysis framework of the impact of easement reform on farmers’ income by using property right theory,land rent theory,farmers’ behavior theory and labor allocation theory,and uses descriptive statistics to analyze the basic situation,employment status,income level and structure of farmers before and after easement reform,The double difference model is used to empirically analyze the impact of easement reform on the income level and structure of different types of farmers,as well as the intermediary effect of employment structure in this impact.The research process and results are as follows:(1)The research shows that compared with the farmers who did not participate in the easement reform,the number of farmers who participated in the easement reform working,self-supporting and serving as forest rangers increased significantly.In addition,farmers engaged in forestry activities are generally older,and they are more inclined to carry out non-agricultural labor in the county due to physical reasons.The number of non-agricultural employment carried out by farmers participating in the easement reform in their own villages,outside villages and in counties outside villages has increased significantly.Compared with the farmers who did not participate in the reform,the non-agricultural employment time of the farmers who participated in the easement reform increased.No matter whether they participate in the easement reform or not,the agricultural and forestry working hours of farmers have decreased.(2)The did model is used to test the impact of easement reform on farmers’ employment structure and income.The results show that the easement reform significantly improves the per capita total income and per capita non-agricultural income of farmers,and the impact on different types of farmers is different.Easement reform easement reform has significantly increased the per capita total income and per capita non-agricultural income of middle-aged and elderly farmers.Compared with the middle-aged farmers,the easement reform has significantly reduced the per capita forestry income of the elderly farmers.The reform of easement has significantly increased the per capita total income and per capita non-agricultural income of basic farmers.(3)On the whole,non-agricultural employment has no intermediary effect between easement reform and farmers’ income.At the sample level,non-agricultural employment plays an intermediary effect in the impact of easement reform on the income of elderly farmers and basic farmers.Easement reform significantly improves the proportion of non-agricultural employment time of elderly farmers and basic farmers.The possible reason is that elderly farmers are more engaged in forestry activities at home and spend a long time in Forestry labor.The income of basic farmers is highly dependent on non-agricultural income,which is easier to increase non-agricultural employment.Therefore,the impact of easement reform on these two types of farmers is more obvious.Based on the above research conclusions,this study puts forward the following policy suggestions:(1)continue to implement and improve the easement reform policy,and establish a performance evaluation and supervision system for farmers’ protection behavior and effect;(2)Enhance farmers’ nonagricultural employment ability and strengthen farmers’ non-agricultural employment knowledge and skills through employment training;(3)Provide more local non-agricultural employment opportunities for elderly and basic farmers,increase the convenience of non-agricultural employment of such farmers,and promote the smooth transfer of employment of elderly and basic farmers.