IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v7y2015i8p10308-10323d53526.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Is the “Ecological and Economic Approach for the Restoration of Collapsed Gullies” in Southern China Really Economic?

Author

Listed:
  • Chengchao Wang

    (Key Laboratory of Humid Subtropical Eco-geographical Process of the Ministry of Education, College of Geographical Sciences, Fujian Normal University, Fuzhou 350007, China)

  • Yaoqi Zhang

    (School of Forestry & Wildlife Sciences, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849, USA)

  • Yecheng Xu

    (School of Forestry & Wildlife Sciences, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849, USA)

  • Qichun Yang

    (Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, 5825 University Research Court, Suite 1200, College Park, MD 20740, USA)

Abstract

Collapsed gully erosion constantly plagues the sustainability of rural areas in China. To control collapsed gully erosion, an ecological and economic approach, which uses tree plantation to gain economic benefits and control soil erosion, has been widely applied by local governments in Southern China. However, little is known about the economic feasibility of this new method. The objective of this study was to determine the effectiveness and economic benefits of the new method. Based on a case study in Changting County, Southeast China, two farms were selected to represent a timber tree plantation and a fruit tree plantation, respectively. The Annual Capital Capitalization Method and Return on Investment (ROI) were selected to conduct cost-benefit analysis. In contrast to previous studies, we found that the new approach was far from economic. The value of the newly-built forestland in Sanzhou Village and Tufang Village is 2738 RMB ha −1 and 5477 RMB ha −1 , respectively, which are extremely lower than the costs of ecological restoration. Meanwhile, the annual ROI is −3.60% and −8.90%, respectively, which is negative and also far poorer than the average value of forestry in China. The costs of conservation were substantially over the related economic benefits, and the investors would suffer from greater loss if they invested more in the conservation. Low-cost terraces with timber trees had less economic loss compared with the costly terraces with fruit tree plantation. Moreover, the cost efficiency of the new approaches in soil conservation was also greatly poorer than the conventional method. The costs of conserving one ton soil per year for conventional method, new method for planting timber trees, and planting fruit trees were 164 RMB, 696 RMB, and 11,664 RMB, respectively. Therefore, the new collapsed gully erosion control methods are uneconomic and unsuitable to be widely carried out in China in the near future.

Suggested Citation

  • Chengchao Wang & Yaoqi Zhang & Yecheng Xu & Qichun Yang, 2015. "Is the “Ecological and Economic Approach for the Restoration of Collapsed Gullies” in Southern China Really Economic?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(8), pages 1-16, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:7:y:2015:i:8:p:10308-10323:d:53526
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/7/8/10308/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/7/8/10308/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Taylor, Mark P & Sarno, Lucio, 1997. "Capital Flows to Developing Countries: Long- and Short-Term Determinants," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 11(3), pages 451-470, September.
    2. Hou, Lingling & Hoag, Dana & Keske, Catherine M.H. & Lu, Changhe, 2014. "Sustainable value of degraded soils in China's Loess Plateau: An updated approach," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 20-27.
    3. Yu Zhu, 2000. "In Situ Urbanization in Rural China: Case Studies from Fujian Province," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 31(2), pages 413-434, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Juan Carlos Cuestas & Karsten Staehr, 2014. "The great (De)leveraging in the GIIPS countries. Domestic credit and net foreign liabilities 1998–2013," Bank of Estonia Working Papers wp2014-4, Bank of Estonia, revised 10 Oct 2014.
    2. Mara Pirovano & Jacques Vanneste & André Van Poeck, 2011. "Portfolio and Short-term Capital Inflows to the New and Potential EU Countries: Patterns and Determinants," Chapters, in: Wim Meeusen (ed.), The Economic Crisis and European Integration, chapter 12, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    3. Ghosh, Atish R. & Qureshi, Mahvash S. & Kim, Jun Il & Zalduendo, Juan, 2014. "Surges," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(2), pages 266-285.
      • Mahvash S Qureshi & Mr. Atish R. Ghosh & Mr. Juan Zalduendo & Mr. Jun I Kim, 2012. "Surges," IMF Working Papers 2012/022, International Monetary Fund.
    4. Valpy FitzGerald & Derya Krolzig, 2003. "Modeling the Demand for Emerging Market Assets," OFRC Working Papers Series 2003fe10, Oxford Financial Research Centre.
    5. Wang, Chengchao & Yang, Yusheng & Zhang, Yaoqi, 2012. "Rural household livelihood change, fuelwood substitution, and hilly ecosystem restoration: Evidence from China," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 16(5), pages 2475-2482.
    6. Yitian Ren, 2023. "Rural China Staggering towards the Digital Era: Evolution and Restructuring," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(7), pages 1-25, July.
    7. Edison, Hali J. & Warnock, Francis E., 2008. "Cross-border listings, capital controls, and equity flows to emerging markets," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 27(6), pages 1013-1027, October.
    8. Tomislav Globan, 2015. "Financial integration, push factors and volatility of capital flows: evidence from EU new member states," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 42(3), pages 643-672, August.
    9. Bryan Jones & Deborah Balk & Stefan Leyk, 2020. "Urban Change in the United States, 1990–2010: A Spatial Assessment of Administrative Reclassification," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-20, February.
    10. Tricia Mangal & Day-Yang Liu, 2020. "The impact of economic freedom on foreign portfolio investments: The case of the Caricom single market and economy," International Journal of Research in Business and Social Science (2147-4478), Center for the Strategic Studies in Business and Finance, vol. 9(2), pages 213-222, March.
    11. Ahmed, Shaghil & Zlate, Andrei, 2014. "Capital flows to emerging market economies: A brave new world?," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 48(PB), pages 221-248.
    12. Partha Mukhopadhyay & Marie‐Hélène Zérah & Eric Denis, 2020. "Subaltern Urbanization: Indian Insights for Urban Theory," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(4), pages 582-598, July.
    13. Emrouznejad, Ali & Yang, Guo-liang, 2016. "A framework for measuring global Malmquist–Luenberger productivity index with CO2 emissions on Chinese manufacturing industries," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 115(P1), pages 840-856.
    14. Bonizzi, Bruno, 2017. "Institutional investors’ allocation to emerging markets: A panel approach to asset demand," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 47-64.
    15. Alan M. M. Leal & Stefan D'Amato & Igor V. M. Viveiros, 2021. "Short and long-run relations between capital netflows and the differential of american and brazilian interest rates," Textos para Discussão Cedeplar-UFMG 629, Cedeplar, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais.
    16. Barry Eichengreen and Carlos Arteta., 2000. "Banking Crises in Emerging Markets: Presumptions and Evidence," Center for International and Development Economics Research (CIDER) Working Papers C00-115, University of California at Berkeley.
    17. Gelos, R. Gaston & Sahay, Ratna & Sandleris, Guido, 2011. "Sovereign borrowing by developing countries: What determines market access?," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 83(2), pages 243-254, March.
    18. Wang, Chengchao & Gao, Bidan & Weng, Zudeng & Tian, Ying, 2020. "Primary causes of total hamlet abandonment for different types of hamlets in remote mountain areas of China: A case study of Shouning County, Fujian Province," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 95(C).
    19. Fiess, Norbert, 2003. "Capital flows, country risk, and contagion," Policy Research Working Paper Series 2943, The World Bank.
    20. Bruno, Valentina & Shim, Ilhyock & Shin, Hyun Song, 2017. "Comparative assessment of macroprudential policies," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 28(C), pages 183-202.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:7:y:2015:i:8:p:10308-10323:d:53526. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.