Sloping Land Conversion Program: insights of policy outcomes from Yunnan Province,

Southwest China

Jun He

World Agroforestry Centre

Key questions for research

Overall question:

Whether the SLCP has ben effectively implemented , the extent of its ecological and socioeconomic outcomes and how SLCP contribute to forest recovery or forest transition?

Sub-questions:

• How the SLCP was implemented locally?

• What are the environmental and socioeconomic outcome of Sloping Land Conservation Program at local level?

• Why those outcome varied across place, (the SLCP is very successful in one place, but did not achieve its original goal in the others )？

Methodology

Case-study approach

• Remote sensing, Landsat, rapid eye,

• 104 HHs Questionnaire survey

• Interviews multi-level

• Focus groups

Results: Land use and cover change

--Forest transition incurred much before SLCP at about 1989-2002

--Largely proportion of forest recovery is not in the SLCP plots

2002-2010Source: He et al. 2014,

Results: Land use and cover change on the plots of SLCP

Source: He, 2014

Demographic dynamics and income changes

--Population growth, while forest growth--Economic growth, while forest growthSource: He et al. 2014

Results：Farmers volunteering for SLCP

Source: He, 2014

influential actors in SLCP decision-making

Source: He, 2014

Results: Socioeconomic assessment of sampled households after SLCP

Source: He, 2014

Results: Local Dynamics and institutions

• Xinqi (han-Chinese)

---local institution for collective management

---local election and democracy, downward accountability

---local communal tenure system

• Pingzhang (Yi minority)

---broken down and eroded local institution

---less representation

---Upward accountability,

Concluding remark• SLCP contribute to forest recovery, but local specifically, this

contribution is arguable.

• SLCP can be trigger points for land use transition.

• SLCP is generally implemented in a top-down approach, while the

central government promoting local participation.

• The SLCP is more likely to be successful where local institution is

strong and downward accountable.

• The SLCP may need to consider local context and regional variability,

and improve the recognition of local institution and participation.