The earth’s natural ecosystems provide a multitude of benefits to mankind such as clean drinking water, waste decomposition and fruit tree pollination by insects. Collectively, these resources and processes are known as “ecosystem services”. Unlike other ecosystem products and functions, ecosystem services are defined by the human demand for them. They can be divided into four main categories:
1. Provisioning services such as the production of food and water
2. Regulating services such as the control of climate and disease
3. Supporting services such as nutrient cycles, photosynthesis and crop pollination
4. Cultural services such as recreational and spiritual benefits
Generally, the people who are most dependent upon environmental resources for their livelihoods are those living in developing countries. Crucially, it is believed that sustainably managed ecosystems can play an important role in poverty reduction and improving people’s well-being in these countries.
China has made large strides towards a more developed society. Since 1979 a major reforming process has been underway, lifting 450 million people above the dollar-a-day poverty line. However, there were still 80-100 million who remained below this line in 2006 and many ecosystems, are in a state of decline. Recognising this, the Chinese Government sees the need for environmental sustainability to improve along with economic and social equality. However, it is essential that new government policies aimed at protecting the natural environment are well informed. There is a complex relationship between man and the environment and in order to protect the environment, some people’s livelihoods and way of living may have to change. It is clear therefore that research into the current status of man’s relationship with the environment needs to be carried out.
The National Environment Research Council (NERC), the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and the Department for International Development (DfID) in the UK have joined forces to explore the potential for a major five year research programme looking at how sustainably managed ecosystems contribute to poverty reduction and improve people’s well being in developing countries. This project is a pre-cursor to the major research programme and four global regions are being researched: South America, China, sub-Saharan Africa and south Asia. CABI has been brought on board to analyse the current situation of mans relationship to the environment in China and any information gained will be used to guide the design of the main research programme.
CABI is working alongside six other partners gathering information to submit for the final report. The other partners are: the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (consortium lead); the United Nations Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre; Stanford University - The Natural Capital Project; the Walker Institute for Climate System Research - University of Reading; the Ningxia Development and Reform Commission; and the Ningxia Centre for Environment and Poverty Alleviation.
The final report from the study has been drawn up and covers a huge amount of information with some really useful findings. Currently, the majority of people below the poverty line in China live in the west and central regions, which are dominated by mountains and grassland; the main contributors to poverty are low agricultural productivity, degraded ecosystems and natural disasters. Grassland ecosystems have been heavily hit by soil erosion, – 135 million hectares are affected, a figure that increases by around 2 million hectares per year. In addition, 50% of China' wetlands have disappeared over the last 50 years as they've been converted for growing crops.
A review of the literature on the subject showed that of the four main ecosystem services categories, there has been very little research into the value of support services (such as crop pollination) and of cultural services such as recreation that they provide. However, there is information on the provisioning and regulating services (which involve the production of food and water and the control of climate and disease respectively). This is probably due to their more obvious impact on the economy. Access to water is a major problem in western China, where levels of poverty are high. Here, agriculture provides 70 – 80% of the income and not only does this situation restrict production but worse, 200 million people do not have access to clean drinking water.
Another major problem faced by poor rural communities is soil erosion. Nationally, soil is eroded at the rate of 5 billion tons per year, not only does this reduce crop production, but this sediment is washed into waterways and can be very damaging to river ecosystems. Natural disasters are often cited as a cause of poverty and insecurity, flooding being a major problem with over 100 million people affected each year.
China's GDP increased by just under 10% between 1979 and 2006, resulting in a reduction in poverty but at the same time, demand upon ecosystem services rose as did the amount of pollution. China’s population is forecast to continue to rise putting even more pressure on poor rural areas. The predicted major threats to ecosystem services in the future are human-induced; climate change and an increased exposure to invasive species as global trade and transport systems expand could jointly have a disastrous effect on the delicate balance of ecosystems and the services they provide.
The main finding of the study is that there is a shortage of knowledge on the relationship between ecosystem health and human poverty in China. A policy making approach that is sympathetic to both the obvious and hidden values of ecosystems is recommended. At the same time it is recognised that policy making will have to become much more complex and flexible if it is to be successful in the long term.
Feng Zhang
Address: C/o CAAS-CABI Project Office, C/o Internal Post Box 56, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, 12 Zhongguancun Nandajie, Beijing 100081, China
Tel: +86 10 82105692
Email: f.zhang@cabi.org
Min Wan
Address: C/o CAAS-CABI Project Office, C/o Internal Post Box 56, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, 12 Zhongguancun Nandajie, Beijing 100081, China
Tel: +86 10 82105692
Email: m.wan@cabi.org