IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v19y2022i22p14891-d970713.html

Identification of Socio-Economic Impacts as the Main Drivers of Carbon Stocks in China’s Tropical Rainforests: Implications for REDD+

Author

Listed:
  • Guifang Liu

    (College of Geography and Environmental Science/Key Research Institute of Yellow River Civilization and Sustainable Development & Collaborative Innovation Center on Yellow River Civilization of Henan Province, Henan University, Kaifeng 475004, China
    Key Laboratory of Geospatial Technology for the Middle and Lower Yellow River Regions (Henan University), Ministry of Education/National Demonstration Center for Environment and Planning, Henan University, Kaifeng 475004, China)

  • Jie Li

    (College of Geography and Environmental Science/Key Research Institute of Yellow River Civilization and Sustainable Development & Collaborative Innovation Center on Yellow River Civilization of Henan Province, Henan University, Kaifeng 475004, China)

  • Liang Ren

    (College of Geography and Environmental Science/Key Research Institute of Yellow River Civilization and Sustainable Development & Collaborative Innovation Center on Yellow River Civilization of Henan Province, Henan University, Kaifeng 475004, China)

  • Heli Lu

    (College of Geography and Environmental Science/Key Research Institute of Yellow River Civilization and Sustainable Development & Collaborative Innovation Center on Yellow River Civilization of Henan Province, Henan University, Kaifeng 475004, China
    Key Laboratory of Geospatial Technology for the Middle and Lower Yellow River Regions (Henan University), Ministry of Education/National Demonstration Center for Environment and Planning, Henan University, Kaifeng 475004, China
    Henan Key Laboratory of Earth System Observation and Modeling, Henan University, Kaifeng 475004, China
    Henan Dabieshan National Field Observation and Research Station of Forest Ecosystem, Henan University, Kaifeng 475004, China)

  • Jingcao Wang

    (College of Geography and Environmental Science/Key Research Institute of Yellow River Civilization and Sustainable Development & Collaborative Innovation Center on Yellow River Civilization of Henan Province, Henan University, Kaifeng 475004, China)

  • Yaxing Zhang

    (College of Geography and Environmental Science/Key Research Institute of Yellow River Civilization and Sustainable Development & Collaborative Innovation Center on Yellow River Civilization of Henan Province, Henan University, Kaifeng 475004, China)

  • Cheng Zhang

    (College of Geography and Environmental Science/Key Research Institute of Yellow River Civilization and Sustainable Development & Collaborative Innovation Center on Yellow River Civilization of Henan Province, Henan University, Kaifeng 475004, China)

  • Chuanrong Zhang

    (Department of Geography & Center for Environmental Sciences and Engineering, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269-4148, USA)

Abstract

Active incentives or compensation measures plus conservation, sustainable management of forests, and enhancement of forest carbon stocks (denoted together as “REDD+”) should be adopted in developing countries to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions caused by deforestation and forest degradation. Identification and analysis of the driving forces behind carbon stocks are crucial for the implementation of REDD+. In this study, the principal component model and the stepwise linear regression model were used to analyze the social and economic driving forces of stocks in three important types of forest change: deforestation, forestland transformation, and forest degradation in China’s tropical rainforests of Xishuangbanna, based on the combination of satellite imagery and the normalized difference vegetation index. The findings show that there are different key driving forces that lead to carbon stock changes in the forest land conversion of Xishuangbanna. In particular, the agricultural development level is the main cause of emissions from deforestation, whereas poor performance of protection policies is the main cause of emissions from forest degradation. In contrast, the rural economic development interventions are significantly positive for emissions from forestland transformation. It is crucial to pay attention to distinguishing the driving forces behind carbon stock changes from forest degradation, deforestation, and transformation for optimizing REDD+ implementation and ensuring the effectiveness of REDD+.

Suggested Citation

  • Guifang Liu & Jie Li & Liang Ren & Heli Lu & Jingcao Wang & Yaxing Zhang & Cheng Zhang & Chuanrong Zhang, 2022. "Identification of Socio-Economic Impacts as the Main Drivers of Carbon Stocks in China’s Tropical Rainforests: Implications for REDD+," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(22), pages 1-20, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:22:p:14891-:d:970713
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/22/14891/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/22/14891/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Luodan Cao & Jialin Li & Mengyao Ye & Ruiliang Pu & Yongchao Liu & Qiandong Guo & Baixiang Feng & Xiayun Song, 2018. "Changes of Ecosystem Service Value in a Coastal Zone of Zhejiang Province, China, during Rapid Urbanization," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(7), pages 1-16, June.
    2. Gawith, David & Hodge, Ian & Morgan, Fraser & Daigneault, Adam, 2020. "Climate change costs more than we think because people adapt less than we assume," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 173(C).
    3. Min, Shi & Bai, Junfei & Huang, Jikun & Waibel, Hermann, 2018. "Willingness of smallholder rubber farmers to participate in ecosystem protection: Effects of household wealth and environmental awareness," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(C), pages 70-84.
    4. Xiqiang Xia & Junhu Ruan & Zhiru Juan & Yan Shi & Xuping Wang & Felix T. S. Chan, 2018. "Upstream-Downstream Joint Carbon Reduction Strategies Based on Low-Carbon Promotion," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(7), pages 1-16, June.
    5. Rezende, Camila Linhares & Fraga, Joana Stingel & Sessa, Juliana Cabral & de Souza, Gustavo Vinagre Pinto & Assad, Eduardo Delgado & Scarano, Fabio Rubio, 2018. "Land use policy as a driver for climate change adaptation: A case in the domain of the Brazilian Atlantic forest," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 563-569.
    6. Kaisa Korhonen-Kurki & Jenniver Sehring & Maria Brockhaus & Monica Di Gregorio, 2014. "Enabling factors for establishing REDD+ in a context of weak governance," Climate Policy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 14(2), pages 167-186, March.
    7. Mucahid Mustafa Bayrak & Lawal Mohammed Marafa, 2016. "Ten Years of REDD+: A Critical Review of the Impact of REDD+ on Forest-Dependent Communities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(7), pages 1-22, July.
    8. Forni, Mario & Lippi, Marco, 2001. "The Generalized Dynamic Factor Model: Representation Theory," Econometric Theory, Cambridge University Press, vol. 17(6), pages 1113-1141, December.
    9. Norman Myers & Russell A. Mittermeier & Cristina G. Mittermeier & Gustavo A. B. da Fonseca & Jennifer Kent, 2000. "Biodiversity hotspots for conservation priorities," Nature, Nature, vol. 403(6772), pages 853-858, February.
    10. Guillaume Lestrelin & Jean-Christophe Castella & Qiaohong Li & Thoumthone Vongvisouk & Nguyen Dinh Tien & Ole Mertz, 2019. "A Nested Land Uses–Landscapes–Livelihoods Approach to Assess the Real Costs of Land-Use Transitions: Insights from Southeast Asia," Land, MDPI, vol. 8(1), pages 1-20, January.
    11. Robinson, Elizabeth J. Z. & Somerville, Scott & Albers, Heidi J., 2019. "The Economics of REDD through an Incidence of Burdens and Benefits Lens," International Review of Environmental and Resource Economics, now publishers, vol. 13(1-2), pages 165-202, April.
    12. Jichuan Sheng & Weihai Zhou & Alex De Sherbinin, 2018. "Uncertainty in Estimates, Incentives, and Emission Reductions in REDD+ Projects," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(7), pages 1-21, July.
    13. Heli Lu & Guifang Liu, 2015. "Opportunity Costs of Carbon Emissions Stemming from Changes in Land Use," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(4), pages 1-18, March.
    14. Reydon, Bastiaan Philip & Fernandes, Vitor Bukvar & Telles, Tiago Santos, 2020. "Land governance as a precondition for decreasing deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    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. Murakami, Lia Yukari K. & Massi, Klécia Gili & Mendes, Tatiana Sussel G., 2023. "Socioeconomic aspects of riparian vegetation debt in the state of Sao Paulo, Brasil," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 130(C).
    2. Viteri-Salazar, Oswaldo & Toledo, Lucía, 2020. "The expansion of the agricultural frontier in the northern Amazon region of Ecuador, 2000–2011: Process, causes, and impact," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    3. Laxmi D. Bhatta & Sunita Chaudhary & Anju Pandit & Himlal Baral & Partha J. Das & Nigel E. Stork, 2016. "Ecosystem Service Changes and Livelihood Impacts in the Maguri-Motapung Wetlands of Assam, India," Land, MDPI, vol. 5(2), pages 1-14, June.
    4. Skutsch, Margaret & Turnhout, Esther, 2020. "REDD+: If communities are the solution, what is the problem?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 130(C).
    5. Caviedes, Julián & Ibarra, José Tomás & Calvet-Mir, Laura & Álvarez-Fernández, Santiago & Junqueira, André Braga, 2024. "Indigenous and local knowledge on social-ecological changes is positively associated with livelihood resilience in a Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 216(C).
    6. Maeda, Eduardo Eiji & Clark, Barnaby J.F. & Pellikka, Petri & Siljander, Mika, 2010. "Modelling agricultural expansion in Kenya's Eastern Arc Mountains biodiversity hotspot," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 103(9), pages 609-620, November.
    7. Aibo Jin & Gachen Zhang & Ping Ma & Xiangrong Wang, 2024. "Ecosystem Services Trade-Offs in the Chaohu Lake Basin Based on Land-Use Scenario Simulations," Land, MDPI, vol. 13(12), pages 1-29, December.
    8. Wang, Lijing & Zhang, Lu & Xiao, Yi & Kong, Lingqiao & Ouyang, Zhiyun, 2025. "Identifying suitable areas for cropland and urban development in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 150(C).
    9. Cipollini, A. & Kapetanios, G., 2009. "Forecasting financial crises and contagion in Asia using dynamic factor analysis," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 16(2), pages 188-200, March.
    10. Gulay Cetinkaya Ciftcioglu, 2025. "Tackling the resilience of the olive landscape through nature-based solutions: a case study from the Akdeniz protected area of Northern Cyprus," Environment Systems and Decisions, Springer, vol. 45(2), pages 1-19, June.
    11. Massacci, Daniele, 2017. "Least squares estimation of large dimensional threshold factor models," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 197(1), pages 101-129.
    12. Soukphavanh Sawathvong & Kimihiko Hyakumura, 2024. "A Comparison of the Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC) Guidelines and the “Implementation of Governance, Forest Landscapes, and Livelihoods” Project in Lao PDR: The FPIC Team Composition and the Implementation Process," Land, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-16, March.
    13. Olegas Beriozovas & Dalia Perkumienė & Mindaugas Škėma & Abdellah Saoualih & Larbi Safaa & Marius Aleinikovas, 2024. "Research Advancement in Forest Property Rights: A Thematic Review over Half a Decade Using Natural Language Processing," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(19), pages 1-28, September.
    14. Jushan Bai & Serena Ng, 2020. "Simpler Proofs for Approximate Factor Models of Large Dimensions," Papers 2008.00254, arXiv.org.
    15. Elisa Barbour & Lara Kueppers, 2012. "Conservation and management of ecological systems in a changing California," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 111(1), pages 135-163, March.
    16. van der Hoff, Richard & Nascimento, Nathália & Fabrício-Neto, Ailton & Jaramillo-Giraldo, Carolina & Ambrosio, Geanderson & Arieira, Julia & Afonso Nobre, Carlos & Rajão, Raoni, 2022. "Policy-oriented ecosystem services research on tropical forests in South America: A systematic literature review," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 56(C).
    17. Mariza Cooray & Rolando Gonzales Martinez, 2025. "Tracking the Hidden Forces Behind Laos' 2022 Exchange Rate Crisis and Balance of Payments Instability," Papers 2503.13308, arXiv.org.
    18. Brendan Fisher & Stephen Polasky & Thomas Sterner, 2011. "Conservation and Human Welfare: Economic Analysis of Ecosystem Services," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 48(2), pages 151-159, February.
    19. Pütz, S. & Groeneveld, J. & Alves, L.F. & Metzger, J.P. & Huth, A., 2011. "Fragmentation drives tropical forest fragments to early successional states: A modelling study for Brazilian Atlantic forests," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 222(12), pages 1986-1997.
    20. Stephanie D. Maier & Jan Paul Lindner & Javier Francisco, 2019. "Conceptual Framework for Biodiversity Assessments in Global Value Chains," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(7), pages 1-34, March.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:22:p:14891-:d:970713. 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.