Melinda Firds Program Management Unit Assistant
World Agroforestry (ICRAF)
Jl. CIFOR, Situ Gede, Sindang Barang,
Bogor Barat - Indonesia 16115
Tel: +62 2511 8625415
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Developing indicators of economic value and biodiversity loss forrubber plantations in Xishuangbanna, southwest China: A case studyfrom Menglun township
Author
Yi Zhuangfang, Charles H. Cannon, Jin Chen, Cheng-Xi Ye and Ruth D. Swetnam
In Xishuangbanna, southwest China, rubber plantations are lucrative and have expanded dramatically in the past two decades, leaving little natural forest. The local government hopes to use eco-compensationmechanisms to promote forest restoration without forcing smallholders to forego profits. Based on alandscape productivity model for two management systems and given a range of prices, we assessedthe feasibility of this concept by constructing a spatially explicit map of net present value (NPV) of rub-ber plantations. We found that roughly 7% of existing plantations generally had negative NPV, thereforeopportunity costs would be negligible. But to restore forest in buffer zones along roads and rivers as rec-ommended by the state government, more substantial opportunity costs were observed because theseareas have high NPV values. Additionally, plantations situated above 900 m elevation or on slopes > 24?were not profitable and a conversion ban should be enforced. Opportunity costs and plant species bio-diversity are positively correlated, so any policy to protect species-rich areas must take this relationshipinto consideration. Eco-compensation schemes can feasibly promote forest restoration on marginal landsand spatially-explicit mapping of NPV can provide monetary targets to adequately recover opportunitycosts for smallholders.
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