Research On The Impact Of Wetland Ecological Compensation Policy On Farmers’ Livelihood Strategies

Studying the impact of wetland ecological compensation policy on farmers’ livelihood strategies is of great significance for improving the efficiency of wetland ecological compensation policy.As far as ecological compensation is concerned,farmers are the most important stakeholders.The impact of the policy on their livelihood strategies is an important indicator to measure the effectiveness of policy implementation.In China,wetland ecological compensation is still in its infancy,so relevant research is relatively lacking.Based on the theory of Sustainable Livelihood Framework(SLA)and combining the characteristics of ecological compensation,this paper takes Y City,Jiangsu Province,a pilot of wetland ecological compensation in China,as an example.Through questionnaire survey,the impact of ecological compensation policy on farmers’ livelihoods is investigated on the spot,and propensity score matching-difference in differences(PSM-DID)method is used to investigate farmers’ livelihood capital and livelihood strategies,so as to provide reference for improving China’s ecological compensation policy.The results show that farmers’ natural capital decreases,financial capital increases significantly,and their livelihood strategies have changed from agriculture to non-agriculture by 0.524.Wetland ecological compensation has a significant impact on farmers’ livelihood strategies.Under the influence of the policy,farmers’ livelihood strategies have shifted from agriculture to non-agriculture,from traditional agriculture to modern agriculture,and from professional to versatile.Wetland ecological compensation policy have promoted the diversification of farmers’ livelihoods.Therefore,the wetland ecological compensation policy needs to be improved through policy promotion,policy management,policy supervision,and industrial integration development,proiding differentiated incentive policy for farmers,expanding diversified employment channels,stabilizing household economic income,and continuously improving the welfare of the farmers participating in the policy.