Sustainable natural resource use in rural China: recent trends and policies

Recent trends in the availability and quality of land and water sources in rural China. Ecological recovery programs are major factors leading to the decrease of cultivated area, which, however, promote the increase in forest land and the prevention of water erosion. In northern China, groupwater have fallen considerably with increasing needs for irrigation. Agriculture-based non-point source pollution has become a major cause to water pollution in the major lakes and reservoirs. Examples of market-based instruments and institutions are studied, in the implementation of which, less government interference is recommended.