Recently, the top international journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS for short) published an article titled Poverty Alleviation Resettlement in China Reduces Deforestation. This research is a collaborative effort by Associate Professor Chen Wei from school of agricultural economics and rural development, Dr. Chen Feifei from China University of Mining and Technology (Beijing), and Professor Qiu Huanguang from Liaoning University. Chen Wei is the co-first author of this paper.

There is a vicious cycle between poverty and deforestation. Excessive deforestation by the poor leads to forest degradation that is difficult to recover in a short period of time, and the loss of forest resources for survival further exacerbates poverty. During the 13th Five-Year Plan period, China implemented a large-scale targeted poverty alleviation strategy, among which the Poverty Alleviation Resettlement (PAR) moved over 9.6 million registered poor people out of areas where the land cannot support the people, and provided follow-up assistance for their post-relocation living quality and employment. This is a great feat in the history of global poverty reduction. However, existing studies mainly analyzed the socio-economic effects of the targeted poverty alleviation strategy, while its ecological and environmental effects have not been deeply evaluated.

This study utilized multiple sets of macro data such as county-level geographic remote sensing, climate monitoring, relocation situations and socio-economic data, as well as three periods of micro data collected through field research in 16 counties of 8 provinces, to assess the impact of the PAR program on county-level forest quality and test its micro-level impact mechanisms. The main conclusions are: (1) The PAR program not only achieves poverty reduction but also has a significant positive ecological and environmental effect, with reduced deforestation and significantly improved vegetation coverage in the relocated areas; (2) After relocation, the energy consumption structure of poor households has transformed towards cleanliness, and the felling of firewood has significantly decreased; (3) Relocation has effectively alleviated ecological degradation through channels such as enhancing market accessibility, fostering nonfarm employment opportunities, and elevating income levels.

The main contributions of this study are two-fold: first, it provides new empirical evidence for the ecological and environmental effects of the PAR program; second, it reveals multiple mechanisms through which the PAR program reduce deforestation by alleviating poverty through relocation. The relevant research findings can provide experience for other developing countries to simultaneously achieve poverty reduction and ecological protection.

paper link: www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2421526122