Scaling Up of Sustainable Land Management in the Western People's Republic of China Evaluation of a 10-years Partnership

The People’s Republic of China-Global Environment Facility Partnership to Combat Land Degradation in Dryland Ecosystems promotes an integrated ecosystem management (IEM) approach to restore, sustain and enhance the productive capacity of dryland ecosystems.

This paper provides an analysis and synthesis of the funding strategies, methods and approaches that have been applied and tested under the Partnership to pilot and scale up IEM and sustainable land management (SLM) practices in the western People’s Republic of China under its first 10 years. On the basis of a mix of methods using literature reviews, data collection at selected pilot sites through household questionnaire surveys, stakeholder workshops and field sampling, the following lessons were generated: (i) mainstreaming of IEM into relevant policy and development frameworks has been the most effective way of mobilizing funding for scaling up of SLM; (ii) SLM best practices need to be combined with economic incentives for land users, and pilot demonstrations of SLM need to be integrated into larger investment programmes to achieve impacts and economies of scale; (iii) market-based approaches to scaling up of SLM, such as payment for ecosystem services and public–private partnerships, have a role to play, but cost–benefit analysis need to be better integrated into payment schemes; (iv) the economic benefits of carbon sequestration are too low to fund eco-compensation schemes on their own but can provide supplementary funding; and (v) land degradation and SLM monitoring and assessment systems should be multiscale to support decision-making on SLM and to monitor impact from the local to the national level.