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Adapting conservation easement to Chinese conservation context: from theory to practice

Document Type

Research-Article

Author

Siyuan He, Yu Wei

Journal Name

Forest Policy and Economics

Keywords

Collective forestland, Conservation easement, Conservation incentives, Land rights, National parks, Rural development

Abstract

Conservation easements (CEs) are efficient conservation tools to coordinate public-private interests. As China establishes a new national park system, CEs have been tested as a potential solution to the conservation-development trade-off in populated rural areas where collective forestland rights emerge as a major concern. However, limited research exists on their adaptability in China's National Park context. This study employs a qualitative approach to examine CEs' utility in forest management through theory and in practice in the Qianjiangyuan National Park Pilot (QNP). Through a necessity and feasibility assessment framework and structured interviews with key informants, findings indicate that CEs represent a promising conservation tool for achieving conservation targets by easing human pressures while maintaining land ownership and use rights at low cost under complex land tenure. Local governance, non-governmental organisations' participation, academic involvement, protected area management, and community governance were all identified as contributing factors for CE feasibility, with importance decreasing in that order. Further semi-structured interviews with qualitative content analysis revealed that the park agency prioritised CE's necessity for land tenure issues, particularly its cooperation with local governments to leverage a policy window for unified land management rather than state-owned land transformation. This cooperation emerged as a key condition for local CE adaptation. The study concludes that multi-stakeholder collaboration is essential to develop CE as a science-based land management tool that maximises its “minimum restriction for maximum comprehensive benefit” role. © 2025 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.forpol.2025.103627

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