China’s mountains house the headwaters of many of its greater and lesser rivers; they are also home to a majority of its chronically poor. Here the tension between watershed conservation and poverty alleviation is probably more acute than almost anywhere in the world. This divide between upland conservation and development priorities was aggravated following China’s shift from a centrally planned to a more market-oriented, decentralized economy in 1978. The costs and benefits of maintaining environmental services provided by upland forests –flood prevention, erosion control, and water quality in particular– had traditionally been borne by and accrued to a centralized state, but state withdrawal broke the direct link between producers and beneficiaries. With declining government support and without incentives for households, businesses, and local government to conserve, deforestation in the uplands became widespread
Publication year
2022
Authors
Language
English
Keywords
environment, services
Geographic
China
