Balancing Protection for China’s Forests and the Livelihoods of Surrounding Communities
By Yu Gao and Michael Lufkin
Amid all the coverage of the Communist Party's third plenum last November, one important statement seems to have been overlooked: the Central Committee's assertion on the need to improve compensation to farmers affected by the government's forest protection programme.
Improving compensation is not only good for farmers. It is good for the environment.
Ever since 1998, poor farmers who live in mountainous regions have been asked to help preserve [...]