Ecological compensation for natural resource utilisation in China

In China, the ecological compensation mechanism (ECM) was initiated in the 1990s solely to address compensation for forest ecological benefits. For nearly 20 years, the ECM has been gradually applied to other areas. This study evaluates the current status, implementation procedures and existing problems of ECMs in China. Several large-scale ecological engineering projects are summarised, and eight ECM pilot cases are examined. There are some major issues concerning ECMs: policy, institution, administration, management, finance and capital allocation. Suggestions are proposed to improve current conditions and resolve existing problems. Finally, several key topics for future research are also discussed.