The Dilemmas and Countermeasures of China’s Agricultural Ecological Compensation Mechanism

Although significant progress has been made in China’s agricultural ecological compensation mechanism, there are still some urgent issues to be addressed compared to its crucial foundational role in rural ecological revitalization. The legal mechanism for ecological compensation in Chinese agricultural lands faces shortcomings in terms of the subjects of compensation, the objects of compensation, the modes of compensation, and the standards of compensation; similarly, the policy for ecological compensation in watersheds also faces issues such as lack of unity in the policy-making entity and instability in policy. In terms of agricultural land ecological compensation, it is necessary to expand the subjects of compensation, clarify the objects of compensation, broaden the scope of compensation, pay attention to the regulatory role of the market, and establish compensation standards that fully consider the will of different subjects and use scientific methods to balance the interests of all parties. In the area of watershed ecological compensation, on one hand, it is essential to establish a horizontal ecological protection compensation mechanism within the watershed that embodies the principles of “shared costs, shared benefits, and cooperative governance” between upstream and downstream regions. On the other hand, it is crucial to establish a diverse and complementary set of rules for watershed ecological compensation to ensure the effective operation of the watershed ecological compensation mechanism.