Evaluation of the Lake Recovery Area Eco-Compensation in Dongting Lake Wetland
洞庭湖区湿地恢复的生态补偿效应评估

Eco-compensation is an environmental economics instrument for internalization of external cost. Lake recovery is one of the important parts of restoring ecological function of the Yangtze River. Whether the project could be successful depends on the compensation to the farmers, who have lost their original benefits and contributed to the ecosystem recovery. The availability of reasonable approaches to settle down the relocated population is a significant premises for the implement of the programs to restore the ecological environment in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River. It refers not only to the provision of basic living space for the relocated population, but also to the creation of opportunities of employment and development for the population. Dongting lake area is an important national commercial agricultural base with high population density. The practical implementation of programs of lake recovery and flood control in this area has been challenged by the heavy task of population relocation, so it is an ideal area to do a case study to reach the academic objectives proposed above. The wetland in Dongting Lake region is the largest lacustrine wetland in China, covering an area of 8.07×105 hm2. This article takes Dongting Lake area as a case to study and explore the basic issues of the eco-compensation, that is who should pay, who should be paid, how much is the payment and payment vehicle. Based on the analysis, the cost of eco-compensation in Dongting Lake area is 6084.6 yuan. In order to realize the eco-compensation, we must improve the compensation of social environment, local policies, compensational measures, and mental situation, so it can provide advantageous conditions to eco-compensation.