The mandate of “heaven”: How forestland property rights were undermined under the Chinese discourse of Ecological Civilization

IF 4.9 2区 环境科学与生态学 Q1 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
Wenyuan Liang , Bas Arts , Annah Lake Zhu , Jiayun Dong
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Abstract

The relationship between upholding forestland property rights and achieving environmental conservation is not always straightforward. Occasionally, property rights can be undermined in the pursuit of environmental conservation. This article adopts the concept of “rule of mandates” to explain how a Chinese reform of property rights over forestland, namely the Collective Forest Tenure Reform (CFTR) initiated in 2003, was subsequently undermined under the discourse of Ecological Civilization. In doing so, the article updates the framework for analysing policy implementation under the rule of mandates. Unlike the rule of law, the rule of mandates enables a government to assign a set of mandates that are ambiguous, contradictory, and with hierarchical priorities. Under the top-down authoritarian hierarchy, lower-level governments are obliged to implement the high-priority mandates of higher-level government. Tracing the forest governance dynamics of two counties in Fujian province from 2010 to 2019, the case study reveals that, in the early 2010s, the central government prioritized environmental conservation over forestland property rights under the discourse of Ecological Civilization. At local levels, this manifested in undermining property rights through restricted timber harvest levels for the sake of environmental conservation. Unlike policy implementation under the rule of law, restrictions on timber harvest were implemented by direct government mandates. This analysis points to the vulnerability of property rights under the rule of mandates. In a developing country context characterized by pressing environmental concerns and a dysfunctional rule of law, this study demonstrates the challenges of prioritizing environmental conservation over legal tenure.
天命":林地产权如何在中国的生态文明话语中受到损害
维护林地产权与实现环境保护之间的关系并非总是简单明了。在追求环境保护的过程中,产权有时会受到损害。本文采用 "委任统治 "的概念来解释中国的林地产权改革,即 2003 年启动的集体林权制度改革(CFTR),是如何在生态文明的话语下遭到破坏的。在此过程中,文章更新了任务规则下的政策执行分析框架。与法治不同,委任统治使政府能够分配一系列模棱两可、自相矛盾且具有等级优先权的任务。在自上而下的专制等级制度下,下级政府必须执行上级政府的高度优先任务。通过对福建省两个县从 2010 年到 2019 年的森林治理动态进行追踪,案例研究发现,在 2010 年代初,中央政府在生态文明话语下将环境保护置于林地产权之上。在地方层面,这表现为为保护环境而限制木材采伐量,从而损害了产权。与法治下的政策执行不同,对木材采伐的限制是通过政府的直接授权来实施的。这一分析表明了授权规则下产权的脆弱性。在环境问题紧迫、法治失灵的发展中国家,本研究表明了环境保护优先于合法使用权所面临的挑战。
本文章由计算机程序翻译,如有差异,请以英文原文为准。
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来源期刊
Environmental Science & Policy
Environmental Science & Policy 环境科学-环境科学
CiteScore
10.90
自引率
8.30%
发文量
332
审稿时长
68 days
期刊介绍: Environmental Science & Policy promotes communication among government, business and industry, academia, and non-governmental organisations who are instrumental in the solution of environmental problems. It also seeks to advance interdisciplinary research of policy relevance on environmental issues such as climate change, biodiversity, environmental pollution and wastes, renewable and non-renewable natural resources, sustainability, and the interactions among these issues. The journal emphasises the linkages between these environmental issues and social and economic issues such as production, transport, consumption, growth, demographic changes, well-being, and health. However, the subject coverage will not be restricted to these issues and the introduction of new dimensions will be encouraged.
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