Afforestation and forestry land allocation in northern Vietnam: Analysing the gap between policy intentions and outcomes

Many tropical countries have recently implemented similar forest policies including large-scale afforestation programmes and the devolution of land-use rights. Their success in enhancing livelihoods and contributing to improved environmental services has been widely questioned. This paper discusses the impacts of state afforestation efforts and forestry land allocation on farmers’ land-use decisions in northern Vietnam. It links policy outcomes with factors located beyond the local level by analysing the decision-making process at the policy implementation stage. Our study suggests that the current national afforestation campaign has not successfully involved households in the forestry sector and that forestry land allocation to households has often disrupted existing land-use systems with little impact on afforestation. These discrepancies between policy intentions and outcomes are partly linked to the relative freedom provinces have to interpret and adapt policies during the implementation stage. In this respect, the political and economic context has played a significant role in providing particular financial and bureaucratic incentives to the former State Forest Enterprises and to civil servants. However, we argue that these actors have been allowed or even encouraged to take advantage of these incentives by national policy-makers thanks to: (1) the lack of clarity or the poor adequacy of the policies designed at the central level, and (2) the blurred character of prevailing national discourses promoting afforestation and community-based forest management. We recommend that national policy-makers allow flexibility in policy implementation but develop mechanisms of accountability and control between the provincial and the central authorities.     

贵州省台江县反排苗族村山林管理模式及影响因素分析

以一个苗族村寨为例,考察分析解放以来农村土地制度几经变迁后的民族地区山林管理的模式及影响因素。研究结果表明:在农村土地集体所有的前提下,社区选择了多种山林管理模式,这些模式除了受国家政策影响外,很大程度上还受到民族社区的传统观念、风俗习惯及经营管理方式的影响;目前一些尚未划分到户、仍由村组统一经营管理的矛盾多、管理难的"公山"的存在,有其历史原因,也有现实必要。重视这些对于推进集体林权制度改革,制定科学适宜的林地政策,保护林地资源,促进生态平衡及增加林农收入,都是非常重     

Diverse local regulatory responses to a new forestry regime in forest communities in the Bolivian Amazon

Over the last decade, important land and forest governance reforms have taken place in many tropical countries, including the devolution of ownership rights over land and forests, decentralization that created mechanisms for forest dwellers to participate in decision making in lowest tiers of governments. These reforms have resulted in an intensive academic debate on governance and management of forests and how actors should be involved. An important but understudied element in this debate is the ways in which communities cope with new legislation and responsibilities. Property rights bestowed by the government leave many aspects undecided and require that local forest users devise principles of access and allocation and establish authority to control those processes. We studied 16 communities in the northern Bolivian Amazon to evaluate how forest communities develop and control local rules for resource access and use. We found that the first requirement to community rule design, enforcement, and effective forest management is the opportunity to, and equity of, access to forest resources among members. Under the newly imposed forestry regulations, communities took matters in their own hands and designed more specific rules, rights and obligations of how community members could and should use economically important resources. The cases suggest that communities hold and maintain capacity to prepare their own ownership arrangements and related rules, even if they are strongly conditioned by the regulatory reforms. Very specific local histories, that may differ from community to community, influence strongly how specific ideas are being shaped, which in northern Bolivia resulted in notable local differences. The results suggest that new regulatory regimes should create appropriate conditions for communities to define adequate or at least convenient forestry institutions that assure an acceptable level of collective coexistence according to each particular communal history.     

永安市集体林权制度改革的绩效分析

在全面推行、深化集体林权制度改革的背景下,前期改革的实施情况和成效日益成为研究的热点。本文依托国家林业局集体林权制度改革跟踪监测课题的调查情况,以福建省永安市为研究对象,从林地经营的投入、产出,林地的流转,林改的满意度和政策需求等方面,探讨集体林权制度改革的成效。研究结果发现:集体林权制度改革增加了林农的林业生产收入,拓宽了林业融资渠道;同时也导致林业投入的增加,林业合作组织的出现和加强。最后指出提高永安市集体林权制度改革绩效的政策方向。     

建立适应土地资源市场配置的国家宏观调控体系

研究目的:构建适应市场配置的国家宏观调控体系,保障土地资源市场配置的顺利实施。研究方法:系统分析法,政策分析法。研究结果:在市场配置下,政府可以通过以下措施实现对土地市场的宏观调控:(1)改革现行土地利用规划、计划制度,建立适应市场经济的规划、计划体系;(2)改革并建立能够促进土地集约利用、优化配置、收益公平分配的土地财税制度;(3)实行土地用途管制分区,限制土地使用权,克服土地利用的负外部性;(4)为实现公共利益征收土地所有权、使用权,由国家确定其土地用途;(5)改革现行行政审批制度,简政放权;(6)尽快制定《土地基本法》。研究结论:目前应首先改革财税制度,把建立稳定的、与地方政府事权相匹配的地税体系作为土地管理制度改革的切入口,为全面开展土地管理制度改革奠定基础。     

我国集体林权制度改革态势与绩效评估——基于22省(区、市)1050户农户的入户调查

根据2011年对全国22省(区、市)76村1050户农户的调查数据,从微观角度跟踪观察了本次集体林权制度改革村庄实践态势,并对其经济、社会绩效进行了评估。调查显示:近7成的农户领到林权证,与林改前相比,样本户的承包山总面积累计有10%左右的增加;农户对国家林业政策稳定性仍有疑虑;部分地区政策执行不到位;林权抵押贷款政策实施面临一些困难。研究表明:随着集体林权制度改革的深入推进,农户对林地的投入有所增加;林农收入有所增加;社会资金向林产业积聚,社会造林绿化积极性提高;林下经济取得了初步发展。     

国有林权改革中林改户心理预期的失衡与重构——基于铁力林业局15个林场(所)的实证分析

通过对铁力林业局15个林场(所)采用半结构式访谈方式,对林改职工进行了调查。得出结论:改革初期林改户的心理预期包括收益、资金扶持、技术扶持、林地权属落实、采伐政策等多项预期;林改户心理预期失衡主要表现在林权证没有如期发放,融资贷款困难,全方位的经营指导技术不到位和采伐限额制度不落实。最后根据研究结论提出恢复林改户心理预期的政策建议。     

产权明晰、交易自由与森林资源有效保护之关系初探——兼论《中华人民共和国森林法》修改

现行的森林资源权属制度以及运行模式导致了两种后果:第一,所有者与经营管理者分离,经营管理者缺乏所有权人意识,只顾眼前利益,造成森林资源的破坏;第二,现有森林权属受到诸多限制,加大了森林资源权属行使和流转的成本。运用产权理论与交易理论分析得出结论:要想使森林资源得到有效地保护,应当在修改法律的过程中首先考虑明晰森林资源的权属并减少对权利的限制,其次要考虑减少森林权属交易的成本。这种产权模式既能够满足经营管理者对经济利益的诉求,又能够有效地保护森林资源。     

“三权分置”下农业经营的实践形态与农地制度创新

"三权分置"是农地制度改革的重要成果,为提升农业经营效益提供了制度保障。农业经营的实践形态显示,土地经营权的设立并未提升资本化耕种的农业经营收益,也难以提升村集体范围内农地产权正式转移的水平。农业经营体制在"统"的层面缺乏可操作性的产权制度方案,阻碍了农地产权设置在"分"的层面发挥出高效的制度效能。切实回应农地利用中实际耕者的地权诉求,解决农地细碎化、村集体内土地经营权流转价格过高、土地经营权配置不充分、土地经营权流转后的社会纠纷等问题,需要围绕农地高效利用,在"三权分置"下充分发挥集体土地所有权的管理权能,以集体土地所有权统合土地承包经营权和土地经营权。     

Specifying a poly‐period development programme for a family farm

Most measures of inequality focus on the distribution of income and resources. A potentially important additional source of inequality stems from unequal property rights protection. The aim of the present paper was to examine the existence and patterns of systematic within-country inequalities in effective land rights in Rwanda. While a large qualitative literature discusses the comparative land rights of different groups, there is a lack of systematic quantitative evidence on the existence of land right inequalities. The results of estimations drawing on data on the land tenure arrangements of over 17 000 Rwandan households do indeed suggest within-country inequalities in land rights. In particular, despite recent reform efforts to improve women's land rights, a gender gap in land rights was observed that persisted throughout the 2005–2011 period studied, highlighting that institutional development takes time and that changes in de jure legislation do not automatically translate into changes in effective rights. Moreover, conflict-displaced households and households resettled to newly constructed village settlements all report weaker land rights than their respective comparison groups.     

Assessing the financial contribution and carbon emission pattern of provisioning ecosystem services in Siwalik forests in Nepal: Valuation from the perspectives of disaggregated users

Provisioning Ecosystem Services (PS) from the forests contribute much to peoples’ livelihoods as well as to the national economy. Previous studies have been constrained by their primary focus on biophysical quantification of PS through modelling and mapping or aggregated monetary valuation, while little attention has been paid to the issues of the distribution of financial benefits among the different forest subgroups. Using market price and substitute good price methods, this paper assesses how local users exploit financial benefits and emit carbon from the use of PS in two dominant community-based forest management systems (community forestry—CF and collaborative forestry—CFM) based on proximity (nearby vs. distant users) and socio-economic class (rich vs. poor users) in the Siwalik region, Nepal. Results indicated that the wealth level of the users plays a key role in the amount of financial benefits generated from the use of PS: (1) users living near forests receive the highest economic benefits compared to those living long distances from the forest area. However the distribution of benefits differs according to management modality and socioeconomic status; (2) CF users, on average, receive higher economic benefits than CFM users; and (3) compared to poor households, rich households receive higher benefits. On average, a rich household adjacent to CF receives USD 1214/year while a poor household living in the same area receives almost half of that (USD 630/year). Similarly, a poor household living far from a forest area generates USD 189/year, slightly higher than that of a rich household in the same area (USD 109/year); and (4) an average CF user emits more carbon (7.4 tCO₂/HH/year) from the consumption of PS than an average CFM user (5 tCO₂/HH/year). Finally, we discuss the reasons behind these differences and draw policy implications for developing and refining constitutions and operational plans of forest user groups.     

Implications of land-use change in rural China: A case study of Yucheng,Shandong province

Based on surveys on rural land-use change at village scale in Yucheng City, Shandong province, this paper presents how land-use change takes place in response to inhibitive institutional forces in light of an outmoded land ownership system and unreasonable land use rights administration, and discusses it in the broader social context of industrialization, rural depopulation, a dual-track land market, and land use legislation. Spatial comparison of land use maps interpreted from aerial photographs in different period unveils a decrease in arable land for farming, and an increase in rural settlements, facilities land and unused land. Despite rural depopulation, rural settlements area nearly tripled during 1967–2008. Nearly all newly gained non-agricultural land originated from farmland at the village fringe while formerly facilities land and unused land had been converted to residential use and it was abandoned later. Thus, the destructive farmland conversion from productive use to non-agricultural uses took place at multiple stages. Questionnaire survey of 1650 households in 48 villages in Yucheng City indicated that 41% of the households had multiple dwellings, even though some of them are not occupied or even ruined. This finding may damp the rosy picture of the reportedly slowdown in China's farmland reduction in recent years as these destructive changes are too small to detect from satellite imagery, and it will also provide a practical scientific basis for constituting more strict farmland protection objectives and strategies for China in the near future. In order to hold back the destructive conversion trend from farmland to non-agricultural uses, the authors argue that policy and institution innovation concerning land use and urban–rural development in China needs feature highly in the government's agenda.     

When should households be compensated for land-use restrictions? A decision-making framework for Chinese forest policy

Competing uses of land mean that regulations aimed at environmental conservation often conflict with the land-use rights of rural households. Several reports suggest that this has occurred with the introduction of the Natural Forest Protection Programme (NFPP) in China, one of the world's largest logging ban programmes. This paper investigates whether households should be compensated for infringements on property rights, drawing on institutional economics literature on regulation. We distinguish between cases where regulation solves local collective action problems and increases the welfare of those affected, and those where regulation involves a redistribution of rights from one group to another. We apply this to the NFPP by estimating the net welfare impacts, using household level stated preference data with econometric techniques that explicitly account for zero and negative values of the dependent variable. We find that the ban on logging does not affect the net welfare of the affected forest communities. This indicates that the losses resulting from the restrictions on property rights are offset by the benefits from restrictions on other local households. We also find evidence that a partial reduction in logging would be welfare increasing, indicating that the NFPP is to some extent addressing local collective action problems in forest areas. Broader implications for the question of compensating for infringement of property rights as the result of regulatory interventions in contexts of institutional imperfections are also drawn.     

南方集体林区林地产权、地理特征与农户林地投入行为

基于现有研究的缺陷和林农投资水平低的现实问题,构建"林权改革、地理特征-农户经济行为-林地投入"的理论分析结构,并以南方集体林区3省1248个农户样本为例,采用Double-Hurdle回归模型从微观层面检验林地产权、地理特征对农户林地资金投入和劳动力投入的影响。研究表明:安全、稳定的林地产权能够促进农户对林地的资金与劳动力投入,优越的地理条件(灌溉、地形)能够促进农户对林地的资金与劳动力投入,不便利的交通条件抑制农户对林地的投入。因此,建议重视保障林业经营者林地权利的安全性与稳定性,提高确权发证水平;加强集体林区林业基础设施建设,完善林业市场体制机制。     

Loss of land and livelihoods from mining operations: A case in the Limpopo Province,South Africa

Loss or degradation of communal lands can have major implications for people’s livelihoods and well-being in rural underdeveloped areas. Mining operations are one driver of land loss with negative implications for people. This study assesses the livelihood effects of open-cast mining on a rural communal land village that lost 8 000 ha of land and compares it to another village nearby that did not. The results suggest that the loss of land and the ecosystem services they provide has negatively affected people’s livelihood strategies and outcomes. On average, only 23 % of households in the affected village had crop fields compared to an adjacent village, that did not lose land to the mine, where 90 % of households had a crop field. This accounts for substantial losses in income through agriculture, both as cash earnings and savings, and negatively affects household food security. As a result of the mine the affected community has also lost access to grazing, and now many households must pay to graze their livestock in other areas. Furthermore, the option to harvest several key natural resources (provisioning services) or non-timber forest products (NTFPs) such as wild fruits and vegetables, edible insects, fuelwood, and to a lesser extent resources like reeds and medicinal plants were lost due to the mine, negatively impacting local livelihoods. NTFPs are important for rural livelihoods as they allow for cash saving, income generation and act as a safety net or fall-back option during times of increased vulnerability. The findings also give a good indication of changes in agriculture and resource use over time and the varying reasons for this. Other negative effects from the mine included; cracking of houses due to blasting, dust pollution, water contamination, social and cultural effects, community alterations and conflicts, and very little was seen to be gained in terms of employment through Social Labour Plans (SLPs) or corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives. Households in the village affected by the mine lose approximately R 15 000 per year through losses of agricultural potential and the ability to collect NTFPs, which is larger than the annual cash incomes for most households. This value is likely to be an underestimate of the total value lost, as reductions in grazing potential and the loss of supporting, regulating and cultural ecosystem services were not included in this figure. This study highlights the importance of considering land access and associated land-based livelihoods in rural communal land areas in the context of disturbance and change. Recommendations for future assessments and policy on compensation for rural communities are made and issues relating to CSR are discussed.     

辽宁丹东市集体林家庭承包经营的“八到户”——深化集体林权改革的思考

林改的主要任务是落实四权一责,即明晰林地和林木所有权,放活经营权,落实处置权,保障收益权;明确和落实管理者和承包者的责任。深化集体林权制度改革,落实四权一责,关键是做到家庭承包经营的八到户:政策落实到户、方案编制到户、限额分配到户、资金补偿到户、责任落实到户、合同监管到户、咨询服务到户、组织联系到户。     

从现代产权制度着眼 深入推进国有林权改革

在论述国有林区建立现代产权制度重要意义的基础上,对伊春的林权制度改革目标和内容进行了阐述。认为伊春林区实行的以职工家庭对国有林地进行承包经营为主要内容的产权形式,是国有林区的一种优越的经济制度选择;其核心目标是在国有森林资源领域真正建立起归属清晰、责权明确、保护严格、流转顺畅的现代产权制度。     

试论林权概念的修正

林权作为一个法律概念,在林业实践中具有十分重要的地位。但长期以来,法学理论一直对林权内涵没有给予准确的界定。文章以此为立论基础,运用实证和比较分析的方法,通过对现行林业法和不同类型林权进行分析,将林权界定为自然人、法人或者其他组织对森林、林木、林地依法享有的占用、使用、收益或者处分的权利,在类型上包括森林、林木、林地所有权和森林、林木、林地使用权。     

森林抚育补贴政策对国有林区职工家庭收入流动性的影响

利用2015及2016年东北、内蒙古国有林区411户职工家庭的跟踪调查数据,运用绝对收入流动性指标、马尔科夫链转移概率矩阵和普通最小二乘法(OLS)实证分析了森林抚育补贴政策对职工家庭收入流动性的影响。研究结果表明:国有林区职工家庭对森林抚育的参与程度处于较低水平;森林抚育补贴政策对职工家庭收入流动性的影响并不显著,但对高收入组产生了一定的积极影响;作为政策目标受益群体的低收入职工家庭,其收入水平并未因森林抚育补贴政策的实行而向上流动。