Convergence Analysis of the Overall Benefits of Returning Farmland into Forest in the Upper Yangtze River Basin, China

Returning farmland to the forest (RFTF) in the upper Yangtze River basin is a strategic measure to promote the sustainable development of ecological protection. The convergence analysis of the overall benefits of the upper Yangtze River basin provides a basis for a scientific and reasonable understanding of the improvement in the comprehensive benefits of RFTF in the basin. It provides policy suggestions for basin governance and sustainable development. Therefore, the convergence analysis and its spatial effect decomposition are carried out based on the entropy weight method to calculate the overall benefits of RFTF in the upper Yangtze River basin. The results indicate that there is no sigma convergence in the overall benefits of RFTF in the upper Yangtze River basin, but there is significant absolute beta convergence and significant conditional beta convergence, and the overall development trend is stable. After thoroughly considering certain economic and social factors, especially the traffic infrastructure and the intensity of economic activities, the convergence rate of the overall benefits of RFTF in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River is accelerated. From the perspective of the spacing effect, the overall benefits of RFTF in this region and surrounding areas in the previous period significantly affected this region. As a result, sustainable development of the upper Yangtze River basin needs to include coordinated regional action to ensure ecological benefits, to improve transportation infrastructure, to scientifically recognize economic activities, and to guard against food security risks.