Yongwu Dai

Investigating the spatiotemporal distribution patterns of regional ecosystem health and the methods for optimizing their zoning is essential for enhancing ecosystem management and sustainable development. This study takes Fujian Province, a pivotal forest region in southern China, as the research object to establish a county-level ecosystem health evaluation framework grounded in the vitality–organization–resilience–ecosystem (VORS) model. It further conducts a comprehensive spatial–temporal analysis of ecosystem health dynamics from 2000 to 2020 and explores ecological management zoning and optimization strategies. The results indicate that (1) from 2000 to 2020, the overall ecosystem health level in Fujian Province maintained a relatively high status and exhibited a steady upward trajectory, with the index rising from 0.4694 in 2000 to 0.4762 in 2010, and further increasing to 0.4865 in 2020. (2) The health of ecosystems in Fujian exhibits significant geographical autocorrelation and aggregation, characterized mostly by high–high and low–low clusters. Typically, it has a geographical distribution characterized by elevated values in the northwest and diminished values in the southeast. (3) In light of the present condition and temporal dynamics of ecosystem health, the study classifies Fujian’s counties into three ecological management categories—conservation, stabilization, and reshaping zones—and puts forward tailored optimization measures for each region. The methodology employed in this study provides a general framework for ecosystem health assessment, which can offer useful references and insights for forest ecosystem health evaluation and refined, zone-specific ecological management in forest regions.

Cooperative afforestation, reforestation, and forest management initiatives between state-owned forest farms and village collectives serve as pivotal strategies for restoring degraded ecosystems, establishing new forested areas, and revitalizing collective forestland resources. These collaborations offer a practical pathway to enhance forest resource utilization while contributing to rural revitalization in forest-dominated regions. Despite their significance, achieving the sustainability of Forest–Village Cooperation through efficient resource allocation remains a critical challenge. This study investigates Forest–Village Cooperation cases in Fujian Province, employing resource orchestration theory to develop an analytical framework for sustainable resource allocation in these partnerships. By integrating Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), Necessary Condition Analysis (NCA), and Fuzzy-Set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA), the research examines how policy resources, human resources, natural resources, economic resources, grassroots connectivity capability, and technological innovation capability collectively influence sustainability. The findings reveal that no single resource factor is necessary for Forest–Village Cooperation Sustainability (FVCS). However, economic resources, human resources, and technological innovation capability emerge as key drivers of high sustainability. State-owned forest farms with weaker grassroots connectivity capability can offset this limitation through natural resource advantages, while those with stronger connectivity achieve cooperation upgrades via efficient economic resource allocation. Furthermore, this study identifies three pathways for FVCS: “Resource Integration-Driven”, “Technology Innovation-Enabled”, and “Capability–Resource Synergy”, each tailored to specific resource endowment contexts. This research not only extends the application of resource orchestration theory in the forestry cooperation domain but also provides actionable policy recommendations for optimizing collaborations between state-owned forest farms and village collectives.

Increased uncertainty in the trade environment has become a reality. However, so far, there is no well-established indicator system to quantify the international competitiveness of forest products in the context of increased uncertainty in the trade environment. Based on expanding the concept of international competitiveness, we constructed an evaluation indicator system of international competitiveness including market performance and competitive advantage, which highlighted market stability and market sustainability indicators. We obtained a comprehensive international competitiveness index of the forest products by Deviation Maximization Method. This study aims to compare and evaluate the international competitiveness of forest products in the top 10 exporting countries using a comprehensive international competitiveness index. The results showed that it is more accurate and comprehensive to use the comprehensive international competitiveness index to evaluate the international competitiveness of forest products, compared to using only a single index. Additionally, the changes to the composite index of international competitiveness went hand-in-hand with the uncertainties the observed countries face, indicating that the indicator system is applicable to the measurement of international competitiveness in an uncertain environment. Large differences exist in the level of international competitiveness of forest products among observed countries. German paper products and wood chips, Chinese wood furniture, wood-based panels and wood products, U.S. logs and wood pulp, and Canadian sawn wood were the most competitive. On the whole, China, Germany and Italy have the highest level of overall international competitiveness in forest products, with Brazil and Poland showing the most significant increases.

Inequities caused by a unilateral climate policy may threaten the sustainability of CO₂ emission reduction efforts by countries and firms, thus endangering sustainable development for humans and the eco-environment. However, few studies have conducted ex-post evaluations on whether environmentally regulated firms receive external compensation such as subsidies, tax reductions, and loan support. Thus, this study investigates whether firms experiencing inequitable conditions under China’s Energy-Saving Quota Policy (ESQP) are financially compensated. It develops a balanced panel of data from 6189 ESQP-regulated and 6189 unregulated firms from 2010 to 2013, and combines a probit model with the difference-in-differences method to conduct empirical analysis. The results show that ESQP-regulated firms receive more subsidy income and lower tax rates than unregulated firms. Of the ESQP-regulated firms, companies with higher energy-saving burdens receive larger subsidies and lower financial expense ratios than those with lower burdens. Additionally, firms that complete their energy-saving quotas are compensated with larger subsidies and/or lower financial expense ratios and tax rates than those that fail to complete them. Finally, state-owned firms receive more subsidies than private ones. Unlike the emission trading schemes implemented worldwide that formulate an exemption mechanism (i.e., free or over-allocated allowances), the ESQP does not exempt regulated firms from their energy-saving responsibilities. Rather, regulated firms receive a greater amount of external compensation in exchange for their reductions in energy consumption.

The efficiency evaluation of forestry green economy development is related to the direction of forestry development and plays an important role in balancing the economic and environmental issues within that forestry development. The existing research faces three challenges: first, the output indicator is singular; second, the perspective of a self-assessment is extremely limited; and third, the multi perspective fusion method is not in line with the mechanism of the cross efficiency evaluation model. To address these challenges and the characteristics of forestry development output, we constructed multi-level output indicators from four aspects: ecology, economy, society, and sustainability and used evidence reasoning to combine the output indicators. Based on the perspective of a cross evaluation among peers, four different cross efficiency values are defined from the evaluation relationship between the different decision-making units to obtain economic–aggressive, social–neutral, ecological–benevolent, sustainable–neutral, and comprehensive–neutral cross efficiencies. According to the relationship between self- and cross evaluation, an order conditional entropy cross efficiency aggregation model has been proposed and used to analyze the development efficiency of the forestry green economy in 31 Chinese provinces in 2019. Considering the uneven distribution of the forestry resources in China, the development in the 31 provinces and cities is divided into four types by discussing the relationship between the output indicators and efficiency, while the reasons for the unbalanced development and the poor comprehensive development are discussed according to five cross efficiencies.

Using field survey data gathered from seven villages in Youxi County in southern China and a list of famous and ancient trees and groves, this study explored the cultural roots and ecological interpretations of village fengshui forests. The results show as follows: the species of fengshui trees selected by Chinese rural villagers bear a symbolic meaning, including health, longevity, flourishing population, fortune, and wealth. Fengshui belief, clan system, village rules and regulations, fengshui worship tradition, and customs have all played important roles in villagers’ planting and conservation of fengshui forests. It is suggested that the government should recognize the cultural and ecological value of fengshui forests and integrate the local rules and village regulations into the current policy frameworks to improve fengshui (culturally preserved) forests management with favourable polices such as subsidies and conservation strategy. China’s fengshui forests suggest the cultural importance of ecosystem services from forests, and the role of culture in forest conservation.