Does Classification-Based Forest Management Promote Forest Restoration? Evidence from China’s Ecological Welfare Forestland Certification Program

Abstract

Classification-based forest management (CFM) is generally regarded as an important political means of achieving sustainable forest development. However, in the upsurge of publicly managed forest devolution, the impact of CFM policies on forestland restoration remains uncertain and needs to be explored. This study contributes to the scant literature on this topic in China, where CFM has long been implemented based on the ecological welfare forestland (EWF) certification program. We use provincial data from China to examine the relationship between EWF-certified areas and forest restoration. Based on inter-provincial panel data from the third to the ninth consecutive forest resource inventories in China (1984–2018), we use a dynamic spatial autoregressive model to analyze the impact of forest classification management on forest restoration. The results show that, contrary to appearances, increasing EWF-certified areas promotes forest restoration. However, after controlling for other possible influencing factors, increasing EWF-certified areas plays a minimal role in promoting forest restoration and regrowth by inhibiting investment in forest management and even has a negative impact on forest restoration in the southern collective forest area.