Articles

Community-based Wise-Use and Sustainable Management of Wetland:Case Study from Polder Xipanshanzhou, Dongting Lake,China

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  • 1 Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research,CAS,Beijing 100101,China;
    2 Graduate University of Chinese Academy of Sciences,Beijing 100049,China;
    3 Institute of Policy and Management,CAS,Beijing 100190,China;
    4 Institute of Subtropical Agriculture CAS,Changsha 410125,China

Received date: 2010-11-23

  Revised date: 2011-02-12

  Online published: 2011-03-28

Supported by

National Natural Science Foundation of China(grant number:30670374),National Basic Research Program of China(973 Program): Ecosystem Services and Ecological Safety of the Major Terrestrial Ecosystems of China(grant number:2009CB421106),and WWF(World Wide Fund for Nature)International Collaboration Program:Wetland Ecosystem Assessment and Management in Dongting Lake(grant number: CN0088.03-YB01/02/03/04).

Abstract

The frequent occurrence of extreme flood events in the late 1990s and the past decade has brought about an ongoing debate on the relationships between wetland resources,wetland ecosystem services,and human development and livelihoods of communities in the Dongting Lake area.This paper is prepared for analysing the best practices in wise-use and sustainable management of wetland and their socioeconomic benefits in Polder Xipanshanzhou in Dongting Lake.The quantitative(monetary values)and qualitative socioeconomic data of 1683 samples from questionnaire surveys during 2000 to 2008 were used for this study,of which 1173 were obtained in Polder Xipanshanzhou.Five conclusions are drawn from the study:(i)the community-based alternative activities and wise-use in Polder Xipanshanzhou after “Returning Farmland to Lake”(RFL)resulted in more income,increased well-being,reduced vulnerability to food shortage,poverty and flooding,and more sustainable use of the natural resource base;(ii)women, elder farmers,and low-income groups benefited much more from these activities;(iii)livelihood continued to improve as compared with that when the project started in 2000,and project participating households earned more income and owned more properties than non-project households.Even after the external funding stopped in 2001,its positive accumulated effects have still been significantly contributing to the improvement of livelihoods of this community;(iv)social structures within Polder Xipanshanzhou have been evolving in a positive way,community-based grass-roots organizations have emerged and developed well,and the capacities of community-based participatory co-management,self-governing and self- development,as well as local awareness of environmental issues have been improving,which attract more local people to be interested in such wise-use activities;and(v)the success can be attributed to the mobilization of local communities,favorable national policies,Public-Private Partnership(PPP),institutional arrangements in local communities,and adaptive management and innovative approaches.

Cite this article

PAN Mingqi, YU Xiubo, ZHANG Chen . Community-based Wise-Use and Sustainable Management of Wetland:Case Study from Polder Xipanshanzhou, Dongting Lake,China[J]. Journal of Resources and Ecology, 2011 , 2(1) : 66 -73 . DOI: 10.3969/j.issn.1674-764x.2011.01.010

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