Cost-benefit analysis for China's Grain for Green Program

The Grain for Green Program (GGP) that the Chinese government has implemented, the world's largest ecological restoration plan, has an important component based on payments for ecosystem services. However, the program's net benefits (which include compentation payments) remain unclear. To solve this problem, we proposed an improved cost-benefit analysis method that reveals the specific relationship between the benefits of each type of restoration and the multiple costs that must be incurred to generate those benefits. The results showed that the benefits and net benefits of GGP were 1749.2x10(9) RMB and 637.2x10(9) RMB, respectively in 2017. These were equivalent to total and net benefits that averaged 60.17 x 10(3) RMB center dot ha(-1)center dot yr(-1) and 21.92 x 10(3) RMB center dot ha(-1)center dot yr(-1), respectively, across the four methods. Afforestation of degraded land had the biggest total cost (509.1 x 10(9) RMB center dot yr(-1)), whereas establishing fruit tree plantations produced the highest net benefit (244.2 x 10(9) RMB center dot y(r-)1), but the best cost-benefit ratio was obtained by natural forest conservation (366.8%). To improve the net benefits of GGP while balancing the relationship between environmental protection and economic development, the GGP must be adapted so that managers plan program implementation based on net benefits; to do so, planners should choose the method for each site that maximizes the program's benefits.