Total income and ecosystem service sustainability index: Accounting applications to holm oak dehesa case study in Andalusia-Spain

This research develops the novel concept of an economic ecosystem service sustainability index from the perspective of total income theory, and presents its empirical application at the spatial unit scale of the agroforestry farm. This paper compares the results accrued from applying the refined standard System of National Accounts (rSNA) and the authors’ Agroforestry Accounting System (AAS). The AAS extends the rSNA to capture economic activities without manufactured production costs and substitutes the production cost valuations for exchange values revealed/stated by consumer willingness to pay for consumption of final products without market prices, the aim being to provide more comprehensive figures for total and environmental incomes of the agroforestry farms. Both accounting frameworks are applied to a case study of sixteen large, non-industrial, privately-owned holm oak dehesas (agroforestry farms) in Andalusia-Spain. This dehesa application provides estimates for the economic ecosystem service, total income factorial allocation, total capital and economic ecosystem service sustainability index for the aggregate and individual economic activities of the dehesa, distributed between accounts for the farmer and government institutional sector economic activities. The AAS explicit measurements of the hidden rSNA ecosystem services and environmental incomes of the dehesa allow us to further our scientific understanding of the current and future contributions of environmental income from nature to the total income of society as well as to provide information to the policy makers so that action can be taken to mitigate the depletion and degradation of environmental assets. This dehesa application reveals that environmental income measured by the AAS accounts for 67 % of total income in 2010. The dehesa AAS and rSNA ecosystem services share 34 % and 26 % of total product consumptions, respectively. Coupled with the AAS economic ecosystem service sustainability index of 0.5 and the rSNA economic ecosystem service sustainability index of 0.2, these figures indicate total product over-consumption in 2010. The dehesa case study shows that the AAS ecosystem services and environmental incomes are 2.5 and 8.4 times higher than those of the rSNA, respectively. Once the theoretic robustness of non-market product consumption simulated transaction value is accepted, as in the AAS methodology, the expected official economic ecosystem accounting framework will mainly depend on its ongoing standardization by the United Nations Statistical Division and implementation by individual governments. Thus, the challenge of standardizing and implementing such a framework is more closely linked to governmental policy measures than to the current scientific weakness of non-market product consumption valuations.     

淡水养殖系统环境损害成本的条件价值评估——以淀山湖水源保护区为例

水产养殖生态系统为人类提供了巨大的生态服务价值,但也造成一定程度的环境污染。本文利用CVM方法调查了淀山湖区域居民对水产养殖系统环境损害成本的支付意愿。分析结果表明,只有23.5%的居民对解决水产养殖造成的淀山湖生态环境损害存在支付意愿。利用单边界两分式问卷调查发现,对于水产养殖生态系统的环境污染治理的平均支付意愿为15.92元/人·年。据此计算,淀山湖周边三镇水产养殖系统的环境损害成本为每年276.7万元。居民治理水产养殖环境污染的支付意愿受收入、性别等社会经济因素的影响。     

Using stated preference techniques to value four key ecosystem services on New Zealand arable land

Many researchers have noted that not only natural ecosystems but also landscapes actively modified by humans (engineered or designed ecosystems) can significantly impact the level of ecosystem goods and availability of services, thereby impacting human and social welfare. In New Zealand, agricultural lands are the largest area of engineered ecosystems on the national landscape. Study of the welfare effects of ecosystem services delivered by agricultural land can provide important insights into the management of engineered or designed ecosystems. This paper uses the contingent valuation method (CVM) and choice modelling to estimate values of four key ecosystem services: climate regulation, water regulation, soil retention and scenic views, for New Zealand land used for arable farming.     

生态系统的商品和服务属性及其提供的环境收入

生态系统具有商品和服务的属性,人类的生产和生活依赖于这些商品和服务。生态系统提供的商品和服务所体现的价值是人类从系统中获取的环境收入。农村家庭从公共共享资源中以不同途径获得的环境收入,用于家庭成员消费和商品交换。公共资源支撑力的衰退,迫使人们加强生态系统支撑能力建设。     

国家公园自然资本核算方法研究

在联合国千年生态系统服务评估框架的基础上,根据我国国家公园的地理位置和资源优势,设计了国家公园自然资本核算框架,以自然资源资产和生态系统服务为两大核算对象,基于已有数据,对我国国家公园体制试点自然资本进行了价值量核算。核算结果表明:在自然资源资产中,草地和森林覆盖面积普遍较高,且价值量较高;在生态系统服务中,调节服务价值量普遍偏高。研究认为,相关部门应提高人们保护草地和森林自然资源的意识,形成并强化生态环境与社会经济和谐发展的观念,最终促进我国国家公园草地、森林自然资源的健康发展。     

Valuing ecosystem services of urban forests and open spaces: application of the SEEA framework in Australia*

Around two‐thirds of the global population will live in cities by 2050 requiring large urban infrastructure development. Decision‐makers and planners usually rely on standard economic accounting methods for urban planning and investments on infrastructure assets. However, standard methods fail to account for the ecosystem services benefits that living infrastructure (e.g. urban forests, open spaces) provides to city dwellers. This could generate socially inefficient configurations of urban spaces and compromise the achievement of long‐term urban sustainability targets. In this analysis, we applied a stochastic whole‐of‐life benefit–cost analysis following the System of Environmental‐Economic Accounting (SEEA) framework to compare alternative long‐term management strategies for living infrastructure in Canberra, Australia. Spatially explicit data, i‐Tree Eco and benefit transfer methods were used to estimate the stocks and flows ecosystem services benefits of urban forests and irrigated open spaces from 2018 to 2070. Our analysis suggests that a ’30 per cent canopy cover expansion’ scenario has the highest benefit–cost ratio, while the business as usual scenario, where a net loss of 400 trees is expected per year, offers the lowest benefit–cost ratio. Scenarios of expanding versus not expanding irrigated open spaces in the future both result in a benefit–cost ratio of approximately two.     

The importance of managing the costs and benefits of bird activity for agricultural sustainability

The behaviour of wild animal species in agricultural landscapes may confer benefits to growers through the provision of ecosystem services (e.g. control of agricultural pests) or inflict costs through direct or indirect damage to crops or livestock. The literature on the costs that species inflict or the benefits they provide has evolved largely independently with few attempts to synthesize information across studies. However, managing cost–benefit trade-offs to maximize agricultural productivity while ensuring native species conservation is vital to the future of ecologically sustainable agriculture. Using birds as a case study, we review the two bodies of literature on the costs and benefits attributed to bird activity in agricultural landscapes. In each case, we examine the major types of costs (e.g. consumption of crops) and benefits (e.g. pollination of crops) and assess approaches to quantifying these in terms of changes in crop yield or monetary value. We then synthesize this information to examine options for balancing cost–benefit trade-offs through coordinated and integrated management strategies that consider all aspects of species activity in agricultural landscapes. Employing strategies that successfully balance costs and benefits is fundamental to future food security and agricultural sustainability.     

Evaluation of a dairy agri-environmental programme for restoring woody green infrastructure

Pastoral landscape woody vegetation provides ecosystem services, but potentially competes for space, light and nutrients that could provide additional farm production. A questionnaire determined the values and behaviours of New Zealand dairy farmers to evaluate voluntary agri-environmental programmes for restoring woody vegetation. Findings indicate the area is increasing, while the composition and configuration of networks are changing and redistributing. Farms with little are losing more, and those with more are gaining. Farmers are planting new areas to increase their public ecosystem services, but may not provide these services through planting and management. Barriers include insufficient private woody vegetation ecosystem services, and low rates of growth of native plants. Government incentive programmes are ineffective in overcoming barriers. Farmers may be motivated by stronger evidence of valued ecosystem services, information about their benefits and drawbacks and how to support services through planting and management. However, a targeted environmental stewardship scheme is required to overcome barriers to planting, with government and the dairy industry working together to develop and maintain a landscape-scaled woody vegetation network on private and public land. Such networks would build sustainability and resilience into dairy farming, leading to an equitably sharing of benefits and costs of their public ecosystem services.     

Identifying and mapping the tourists⿿ perception of cultural ecosystem services: A case study from an Alpine region

Landscapes provide an array of services to society, from the provision of food and material, to the provision of cultural ecosystem services such as recreation, aesthetics or spirituality. Studies on cultural ecosystem services, however, remain rare and little is known about the spatial localisation of these services. In this study, we adopt and test a framework to identify and map the provision of cultural ecosystem services as perceived by tourists in an Alpine region, i.e. the region of South Tyrol in Italy. A photo-based questionnaire survey is combined with cartographical representations of landscape types to elicit hot and coldspot areas of cultural ecosystem service provision. We statistically test for influences of the land use type and the respondents' socio-demographic background on the tourists' perception of these services. The results show that different spatial patterns emerge for each of the investigated cultural ecosystem services depending on the distribution and extent of the landscape types to which they are related. In particular traditionally managed landscapes, small in extent and mainly scattered over large areas between 1000 and 2200 m a.s.l., are hotspot areas of aesthetic beauty, leisure activities and spirituality. In contrast, intensively managed landscapes, mainly located in the lowland plains of the study site, are considered to be more important for the provision of cultural heritage values. While the results suggest that land use type exerts the strongest influence upon tourists' perception, factors such as the respondents' perceived importance of the services, their gender, cultural background, environmental engagement and experience with the landscape play a significant but subordinate role. We conclude that the spatially explicit information about the provision of cultural ecosystem services can serve as a helpful basis for the design and further implementation of land use policies that acknowledge the high touristic value of traditionally used landscapes in mountain regions.     

日本森林生态服务价值核算考察报告

1972年日本首次向社会公布了森林生态服务价值为12.827万亿日元/年,1991年第二次核算结果为39.2万亿日元/年,2000年为74.99万日元/年。其核算内容包括生物多样性,地球环境保护功能等82项主要功能。核算方法包括工程替代法和施行费用法。日本的经验对我国森林资源核算具有很好的借鉴意义。     

地勘单位会计制度改革的必要性及其建议

《地质勘查单位会计制度》自1996年施行以来未作修改,随着地质工作管理体制、财政预算管理体制、地勘单位性质和内部结构、会计法律制度环境均发生了较大变化,改革现行地勘单位会计制度已非常必要。建议对企业化经营的地勘单位,应按照《企业会计准则》和《企业会计制度》的要求实行资本金制度,建立资产减值准备、调整会计报表体系、增减相关会计科目,同时建议废除"四三三"节余与收益分配政策。     

基于生态服务价值的天门土地利用总体规划环境影响评价研究

本研究基于生态系统服务价值理论对天门市2006~2020年土地利用总体规划方案进行环境影响评价。鉴于谢高地等建立的我国生态系统服务功能价值评估体系不适于中小尺度的区域研究,本文根据天门市实际情况修正各土地生态系统单位面积生态服务价值系数,采用Costanza生态系统服务价值计算公式结合ARCGIS 9.3技术得出2005~2020年天门市生态系统服务价值的变化:生态服务总价值量增加7.75亿元;生态服务价值结构变化较小,食物生产、气体调节和保持土壤这三项价值有所减少;空间分布变化主要表现为中心城区城镇生态系统的扩大和周围工矿生态系统的减少。评价结果对天门市生态环境建设具有重要的现实意义。     

浅析地质多样性对生态系统服务的作用与贡献

地质多样性与生物多样性一起构成了地球的自然多样性。地质多样性支撑并提供许多重要的生态系统服务,为其管理提供信息。但是在生态系统方法以及相应的国际政策中对地质多样性的认知比较混乱,表述不一致,现有生态系统服务及其评估分类缺失了地质多样性的内容。地质多样性维护着自然生态系统的稳定性,地质多样性的作用与贡献不可低估或忽视,分析地质系统为人类提供5类产品与服务的影响,有益于推动生态系统服务评估方法的改进。     

Specialization or diversification? The situation and transition of households’ livelihood in agricultural heritage systems

Zhagana Agriculture-Forest-Animal Husbandry Composite System (ZCS) is the first Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems site in the Tibetan Plateau. Similar to many traditional agricultural regions, with the development of tourism and leisure agriculture, the peasant households in ZCS have gradually changed their livelihood strategies and livelihood activities in the past 10 years, resulting in the disappearance of some traditional farming methods and agricultural landscapes with a long history. By taking livelihood assets as the entry point and livelihood strategies as the core, this paper analyzed the basic situation of households’ livelihood and the transition mechanism of different livelihood strategies in order to offer suggestions for the dynamic conservation and sustainable development of Agricultural Heritage Systems (AHS). (1) The livelihood strategies of peasant households in ZCS can be divided into two major categories: specialized strategies and diversified strategies. (2) According to the empirical calculation of the livelihood asset accounting framework of AHS, the average livelihood asset value of peasant households in ZCS is 2.040, showing that the situation of peasant households’ livelihood is inadequate. (3) The transition of peasant households’ livelihood strategies from traditional strategy to specialized or diversified livelihood strategies is mainly influenced by natural assets, human assets, cultural assets, social assets and informational assets. In order to meet the growing material and spiritual needs of peasant households and achieve the sustainable development of ZCS simultaneously, it is suggested that the agriculture-forestry-animal husbandry-tourism composite strategies shall be taken as the development direction of peasant households’ livelihood strategies.     

Land expansion and growth in low‐ and middle‐income countries*

Over past decades, low and middle‐income countries have experienced considerable expansion of agricultural land, yet this effect on growth has not been examined The following paper shows that the Solow‐Swan growth model can be extended to the case whereby arable land is expanding, as originally suggested by Solow (1956). This extension indicates that land expansion boosts growth, and this effect increases with the relative share of land in income. An empirical analysis over 1990–2018 for 138 low and middle‐income countries supports this finding. The growth impact of land expansion over 1990–2018 varied significantly across the sample of countries depending on how much income was derived from land. This result explains why countries dependent on agriculture have engaged in extensive land expansion: it boosts overall growth. However, these growth benefits must be weighed against the considerable environmental costs of converting forests and other natural habitat to more agricultural land, such as increased carbon emissions, loss of ecosystem services and biodiversity, risk of disease, and impacts on local livelihoods.     

城镇水生态系统服务功能价值评估——以宁波市镇海区为例

城镇水生态系统服务功能是指城镇水生态系统及其生态过程所形成及所维持的城镇居民赖以生存的自然环境条件与效用;以宁波镇海区为例,运用市场价值法、替代工程法等方法对城镇水生态系统的供水、水产品生产、调蓄洪水、水资源蓄积、净化环境、提供生境和休闲娱乐等服务功能价值进行了评估,结果表明,镇海区水生态系统各项服务功能的总价值为83714.28万元/a,并提出应本着可持续发展的原则科学合理利用城镇水生态系统服务价值。     

Testing Asset Dynamics for Poverty Traps in Rural China

This paper quantifies the link between agricultural income, caloric intake, and asset‐based poverty in rural China. The analysis employs data from the China Health and Nutrition Survey including 1,279 households in eight survey years. The balanced data models are then estimated to reveal the role that various shocks (e.g., prices and climate/weather) play in determining the asset dynamics between different income groups using four different asset indexes which cover comprehensive, fixed, productive, and consumable assets. To capture absolute asset dynamics, a fourth‐degree polynomial function was used in a three‐stage least squares system made up of an asset index, caloric intake, and farm income. The empirical results do not show evidence of a poverty trap based on multiple equilibriums.     

生态功能区县域生态资产价值评估

基于生态资产内涵,构建由自然资源价值与生态系统服务价值组成的生态功能区县域生态资产价值评估指标体系,核算并分析了宁夏自治区泾源县从2000年到2015年生态资产价值的变化情况。结果显示:泾源县2000年和2015年的生态资产价值分别为87. 79亿元和98. 09亿元,其中自然资源价值所占比例分别为60. 72%和59. 62%;与2000相比,2015年泾源县除湿地资源价值、气体调节价值及耕地资源价值减少外,其它生态资产指标的价值均不同程度增加,其中以休憩娱乐价值和林地资源价值增幅最大,分别为131. 56%和81. 28%。     

Auction winning,social dynamics and non-compliance in a payment for ecosystem services scheme in Indonesia

Conservation auctions for payment for ecosystem services (PES) are useful to identify the levels of incentives that will cover the opportunity costs of farmers supplying ecosystem services. Although auctions are increasingly used for allocation in PES schemes, the factors that lead to their successful implementation and eventual environmental outcomes are poorly understood in developing countries. We investigated the socio-economic and institutional contexts that led to smallholders' auction winning and eventual compliance using linear mixed-effects models, and post-auction and post-contract surveys. We employed a case study of a conservation contract preceded by a sealed-bid, multiple round, uniform price auction for watershed services from coffee farmers in Lampung, Indonesia. The auction participants presented low education levels, low asset endowments and small plot sizes. The study obtained evidence that farmers with larger plot areas were more likely to win the contracts, suggesting economies of scale. Most farmers considered the auction a fair self-selection mechanism to allocate contracts where allocation was not influenced by power or social rank. Non-compliance was associated with labor availability constraints, short duration of land ownership and existence of previous conservation applications, suggesting lax of capability to invest in applying conservation agriculture. Final bids were however not good predictors of compliance, among other factors, calling into question the potential of auctions to elicit the actual incentive from the farmers. Ensuring that farmers understand the purposes of auctions for effective contract allocation beyond a mere game and identifying farmers that might encounter difficulties fulfilling the contract could increase the likelihood that such a PES scheme would be successful.     

水利风景资源资产化管理初探

水利风景资源资产化管理既是水利行业对自然资产稀缺性凸显、生态产品需求趋旺的市场动态的主动把握,也是对党的"十八大"提出的"增强生态产品生产能力"的积极响应。水利风景资源资产化管理的目标是凸显水利风景区的生态、文化优势,全面实现水利风景区的物质产品、文化产品和生态产品的价值;难点是识别、展示水利风景区的生态系统服务,实现生态系统服务价值。水利风景资源资产化管理模式主要有:水库型、灌区型水利风景区的绿色农副产品开发,河湖型水利风景区的生态旅游发展,水保型水利风景区的生态补偿以及湿地型水利风景区的生态系统服务市场交易等。提出针对不同水利风景资源资产化管理模式应逐步配套不同的政策保障措施。