Documentation:Open Case Studies/FRST522/2022/Community co-management at Dongting Lake Region, Hunan Province, China: Promoting sustainable human-nature systems

Summary of Case Study

This case study examines the community co-management model at Dongting Lake Area, Hunan Province, China, in the background of the local biodiversity conservation project implemented by the Global Environment Facility (GEF). It uses a variety of documentation to introduce the essential information and operational details of the co-management model. The state-owed tenure, stakeholders, and administrative policies are diagnosed by analyzing local communities 'bundle of rights'. Many aspects, including the limitations of project reports, development efficiency, power and interests, are discussed and assessed. Although the GEF project achieved the reconciliation of biodiversity and human livelihoods synchronously through the community co-management model and biodiversity conservation implementation, the reports overemphasized the outcomes with little mention of the status and willingness of local participation in community co-management. Recommendations are made operationally, financially, politically, and strategically to promote and scaling-up the community co-management model.

Keywords

China, Hunan Province, Dongting Lake Region, Community Co-management, Ecological Agriculture, GCP/CPR/043/GEF, FAO Project

Introduction

Background Information

Geographic Information and Resources

Figure 1. Geographic Location of Dongting Lake, Hunan Province, China.

Located the in the northeast of Hunan province in the southern part of China, the Dongting Lake (DL) is China's second-largest freshwater lake and an important storage lake in the Yangtze River basin.

As a strategically important place in history and the birth of traditional Chinese Han culture, the lake area is rich in cultural resources and famous for tourism. The rich natural resources make this area famous as the 'hometown of fish and rice' and 'the grain base in China', one of the most important commercial grain and oil bases, and aquaculture and breeding bases in China.

With its unique natural conditions, intact wetland ecosystem, rich species resources and great scale of ecosystem services, the Dongting Wetlands Ecosystem (DWE) is listed by World Wide Fund (WWF) as one of the 200 global key eco-zones in the world. While the wetland provides about 120 migratory bird species with habitats for stopovers, overwintering, and feeding places during their flight in Northeast Asia, the riverine lake is also a breeding place and refuge for aquatic species such as Chinese sturgeon (Acipenser sinensis), Chinese high-fin banded shark (Myxocyprinus asiaticus), Asian carp (Cyprinidae spp.), bony fishes (Hemisalanx brachyrostralis), etc. Meanwhile, its vast beaches and diverse wetland habitats support the remaining populations of endangered endemic mammals such as Père David's deer (Elaphurus davidianus) and Yangtze finless porpoise (Neophocaena asiaeorientalis). In general, 12 nationally protected flora species and 81 nationally protected fauna species are listed in DWE, including 48 nationally protected fish and amphibians species and 34 globally endangered waterfowl species in the IUCN Red List.

Historical Environmental Issues

Environmental threats come from both natural and man-made factors, which cause changes in natural conditions.

• The natural factors are mainly from geologic sedimentation, changes in natural hydrological patterns, and invasion of exotic species.
• The man-made factors significantly change the natural conditions in Dongting Lake Wetlands (DLW), which is reflected by the three key artificial development activities.
  • (1) Starting from the 19th century, the shallower areas were destroyed by agricultural colonization near the wetland areas, which reduce the quality and quantity of habitats and polluted DWE.
  • (2) Overexploitation and unsustainable fishing methods led to the degradation of fishing resources and reduce the reproduction rate of river species
  • (3) The operation of the Three Gorges Dam in 2003 changed distorted and alter the hydrological cycle.
  • (4) The poplar and reed plantation for pulping and papering industries significantly absorbed and pollute the water systems.
  • (5) Sand mining and river traffic that harms wildlife and degrades habitats

As a result, the environmental issues posed threats to the structure and function of DWE, including wetland wildlife and biodiversity, and unstable local hydrological conditions.

Dongting Lake Areas

Dongting Lake Protected Areas

There are four existing wetland Nature Reserves in DLW, namely East DL National NR in Yueyang city, South DL National NR in Yiyang city, West DL National NR in Changde city, and Hengling Lake Provincial NR in Xiangyin county. With relatively intact ecosystems covering 4,320 km² of key areas, the DWE is mainly dominated by wetland vegetation.

In the past, the four Nature Reserve Management Bureaus (NRMBs) had disjoint monitoring and management systems, which led to overlapping and missing protected areas, ambiguous allocation of responsibilities, lack of networking and coordinated strategies for flagship species conservation, and lack of cooperative periodic planning and implementation of management strategy. Other management barriers of relatively ineffective management system were: (1) lack of holistic management data such as the DWE biodiversity and the links between ecosystem services and socio-economic conditions; (2) incomplete legal status for resources allocation and management status and effectiveness improvements; (3) lack of financial support, management equipment, and infrastructures, and unprofessional management crews; (4) limited experiences of community co-management models and no systematic scaling-up provisions; and (4) inadequate raise of local and provincial conservation awareness.

In the recent decade, the NRMBs have been working on strengthening the management effectiveness of the DWE NRs network and enhancing environmental education and awareness for staff, local people, and tourists. And the Integrated Information Management System (IIMS) significantly strengthened institutional capacity.

Biosphere Reserve Zonation System

At present, a biosphere reserve zonation system is formed in the DL area with the core zone, buffer zone, and transition zone.

The core zone mainly includes the conservation entities of wetlands of international or national importance, and the four main wetland NRs, which have effectively protected the biodiversity of DWE.

The buffer zone refers to the area around DL, which forms the preliminary protection circle of DL Wetland Park and is mainly formed by national wetland parks, wetlands of provincial importance, and other NRs. Currently, 16 national wetland parks have been constructed and accepted in the DL area, and provincial important wetlands in Hengling Lake and Huanggai Lake are being declared as national important wetlands.

The transition zone mainly includes other areas in Hunan Province, and is an important component of the ecological security system of "one lake (DL), three mountain chains (Wuling-Xuefeng Mountain Chain, Luoxiao-Mufu Mountain Chain, and Nanling Mountain Chain), and four rivers (Xiang River, Zi River, Yuan River, and Li River)" in Hunan Province. 522 natural protection areas of various levels and types, including NRs, wetland parks, forest parks and scenic spots, have been formed, and flagship species protection has been implemented in 52 NRs.

Introduction to the Project, Securing Biodiversity Conservation and Sustainable Use in China's Dongting Lake Protected Areas

Objectives

"To secure the conservation of biodiversity of global importance in the Dongting Lake through strengthening existing management efforts and promoting the Wetland's long-term sustainable development."

• Global Environmental Objective: Biodiversity conservation in DL
  • bolster the current institutional and legal framework
  • encourage integrated, ecosystem-based planning and management
  • enhance the current system of wetland nature reserves
  • exhibit biodiversity-friendly production methods and sustainable co-management models of the Dongting Lake Wetlands Ecosystem (DLWE) to lessen the impact of human activities on the Wetlands
  • improve institutional capability, public understanding, and backing for protecting wetlands
• Project Development Objective: Restore fish populations and encourage sustainable fish farming and rice production to help local fisheries and agricultural people maintain their way of life and generate money.

*Note: Underlined objectives are directly related to community co-management at the DL region.

Agencies

• Implementing agencies: Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
• Executing agencies: Forestry Department of Hunan Province (FDHP)
• Funding Source: Global Environment Facility (GEF) Trust Fund

Timeline

• 2010, September 8: Received by GEF
• 2011, March 1: Concept approved
• 2014, April 20: Project approved for implementation
• 2021, February: Terminal evaluation of the project

Description

Local Dependence on DWE Resources

The DWE's surrounding areas are home to around 140,000 people. DWE is essential to the life and socioeconomic activities of over 20% of Hunan's population. According to a 2007 evaluation, DWE provides ecosystem services valued at USD 4 billion annually.

Agriculture

While the watershed area accounts for about 55% of Hunan Province, the existing arable land in the area is 933,300 ha, accounting for about 1/3 of the province's arable land area. So, the DLW contributes 1/3 of the overall agricultural production of Hunan Province. As 34% of the land carries nearly 43% of the population and 48% of the agricultural output, the agriculture industry in DL area exceeds environmental load capacity.

Fishery

Similarly, the DLW is essential to the fishing communities in eight remote counties. Take Xiangyin county as an example, since more than 110,000 of Xiangyin county's 200,000 people live in rural areas, most of them are mainly in the fishery and directly rely on fishing and its related industries for income.

Local Industries

The local industries such as poplar and reed plantation and papering industry and sand mining provided local people with job opportunities and business.

Reasons for Community Co-management Model

Although local livelihoods are highly dependent on DWE, their practices of gathering incomes only focus on short-term benefits which are unsustainable for the local environment. With the implementation of the GEF project, supporting policies of conservation and sustainable development, and the top-down forestry administration system, a significant population of local communities in DLW lost their means of livelihood due to some conservation policies such as the fishing ban and cleaning operations and remediation actions on communities within the DLW.

For administrative departments, the community co-management model with demonstration areas as pilots in DLW is a way to reduce primary pressure on biodiversity and habitats from human activities. By participating in the project, and transforming traditional management practices to an environmental-friendly co-management model on a regional scale, local people can sustainably improve their manners of livelihoods in DLW. Furthermore, the co-management model tries to increase incomes for households participating in the co-management model (60% of households are represented by women, who are the main participants and beneficiaries).

Ecological Agriculture

Strategies

• Build a community co-management model
• Exploring the path of ecological agriculture
• Construction project demonstration areas
• Building bird-friendly communities
• Develop and improve security measures

Main Modes

(1) Agricultural product

The agricultural product mode can maximize the use of horizontal and vertical spatial and temporal rhythms to optimize the combimation of crop cultivation, which can achieve a high degree of unity between economic and ecological reproduction.

Three main forms:

• Combination of intercropping and interplanting and stereo developing: Such as a multistrata agroforestry system with grape, orange, peach, and edible fungi, tea trees, etc. Most of those products are resistant to long-distance transport, easy to sell with high economic efficiency in different seasons.
• Ecological farming houses: Farmers are actively building family orchards, digging fishponds, expanding pig sheds, and carrying out family-type greenhouses for vegetables, etc. On the basis of vigorous development of the breeding industry, setting up agricultural and side-line processing industries to increase the added value of primary agricultural products.
• Rice-fish systems, rice-duck systems, and other stereo-developing farming with tourism effects. The fish or duck can fertilize the soil, clean pests, and increase the oxygen cycle in the soil.

(2) Eco-farm

Eco-farm is a ecological agriculture system that enables tourists to experience idyllic living while diversify local incomes and booster tourism.

Example forms of Shanxiang Township in DLW:

• Pond leisure fishing with eco-tourism
• U-pick vegetables
• Stereo culture and eco-tourism model of fish and lotus roots system in shallow lakes

(3) Agricultural industrialization base

Agricultural industrialization base refers to the ecological agriculture industrialization model designed and implemented by integrating all aspects of farming, processing, agriculture, industry, and trade. Referring to the structure of the food chain in the ecosystem, multistrata utilization of organic matter is used to establish a multistrata utilization cycle of substances in the ecosystem.

Main forms:

• Integrated crop-livestock-manufacture system.
• Multi-layer stereo-developing intensive farming.
• Green agricultural industrialization base: fertilizer-free and pesticide-free products with high nutrition values.
• Ecological planting pattern with artificial facilities: cultivation of early-maturing, sterile, non-toxic fresh vegetables and fruits using artificial facilities (i.e., vinyl houses, greenhouses, basements, etc.).

(4) Specific plants and animals breeding base

Specific plants and animals breeding base is an efficient way of domesticating and artificially breeding specific animal species and selling their body parts through processing to meet the demand for better quality of life, or growing a specific plant species, especially a medicinal one, to obtain significant economic benefits.

Examples specific species in DLW:

• Specific plants: i.e., specific fruit tree species, Chinese medicine herbs, etc.
• Specific animals: i.e., livestock, poultry, fish, etc.

(5) Adopt ecological management and restoration projects to improve the agro-ecological environment through structural design and process design of agro-ecological systems

The integrated management model of ecological environment refers to the integrated management of agriculture with the core of water and soil conservation and sewage self-purification, rational use of land resources, improvement of the overall efficiency of the ecological economic system in the DLW, and improvement of the ecological environment. The ecological environment in the DLW has been severely damaged due to excessive human reclamation, which seriously affects agricultural production and requires integrated management of the agroecological environment.

Main engineering:

• Soil and water conservation ecological agriculture engineering
• Sewage self-purification ecological agriculture engineering
• Farming ecological management engineering
• Forestry and grass cultivation ecological engineering

Overview

Table 1. Overview of Ecological Agriculture on Communities within DLW

Mode	#Employee	#Annual Tourists (million people)	Annual Profits (million CNY)	Operation Area (ha)
Agricultural product	31,973	3,174	19,590	10,302
Eco-farm	16,258	1,695	24,746	16,267
Agricultural industrialization base	10,780	499	14,260	10,610
Specific plants and animals breeding base	4,660	2.7	6,467	4,423
Adopt ecological management and restoration projects to improve the agro-ecological environment through structural design and process design of agro-ecological systems	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

Community Co-management Pilots (Demonstration Areas)

East DL area

Focus

With abundant of wetland habitats, the community co-management model in the East DL NR focuses on bird-friendly community construction. 26 households are engaged in bird-friendly rice-fish farming on 115 ha of farmland, and it is projected that this practice would raise the revenue per unit of land by over 50% and significantly reduce the usage of pesticides, with the approval of both the farmers and the local township government.

Measurements

1. Cooperation framework agreements between local governments and the East DL NRMB to clarify the responsibilities and obligations, with the assistance of agricultural cooperatives involved in thousands of households, for promoting the community co-management model.
2. Construction contents, including the retreating and returning fields to the lake and the establishment of bird food source recharge site and wetland vegetation seed resource bank for habitat restoration, biodiversity conservation and pollution purification.
3. Promoting bird-friendly agriculture systems such as the rice-fish system which increases household incomes and utilization rate of agricultural areas, and reduces agricultural pollution and production costs. By that means, 320 farming households engaged in migratory bird-friendly rice cultivation have increased their income by at least 30%.
4. Environmental education and training about bird-friendly agriculture technology and conservation policies with the promotion of local ecological activities such as the bird-watching festival and World Wetlands Day, etc.
5. Tourism staff training and investments in local products.

Pilot: Matang Township, Yueyang County

In Matang Township, Yueyang County, which covers the core zone of the East DL, is one of the most important habitats for the endangered bird species, lesser white-fronted goose (Anser erythropus) with over 60% population.

Three highlighted measurements were taken to promote local community co-management.

1. The reservoir lake in Jinlong Village of Matang Township was selected as the area for retreating and returning fields to the lake (66.67 hectares) to implement the construction of bird food source recharge area.
2. The government of Matang Township and local contractors signed the local retreat and compensation agreements to take back the operation right of the storage lake to the government and withdraw the previous farming mode and prohibit all artificial farming behaviour.
3. Through the return fields to wetlands, the local government hands over the production and management rights of the East DL NRMB for 30 years, and the NRMB stops all production and business activities in the area and carry out the construction of a bird food source recharge site with appropriate artificial intervention.
4. The promotion of rice-fish system achieved growth in production of rice and aquaculture and economic benefits. While one of the agricultural cooperatives with 26 households involving 155 farmers has farming areas of 18.93 ha and program area of 16.53 ha, rice and aquatic yields reached 500 kg and 1,245 kg/ha, respectively.

Hengling Lake area

Focus

Xiangyin County has 615,157.5 ha of natural water and 61,533.33 hectares of usable aquaculture surface with a population of 64,000 people engaged in fishery, and there is 105,224 ha of water surface certified by the provincial pollution-free aquatic product production area. While aquaculture has become an important pillar industry in Xiangyin County within the Hengling Lake area, the community co-management model focuses on ecological fish farming.

In the Hengling Lake Natural Experimental Area, 400 farmers engaged in organic fish farming and 500 households engaged in fisheries co-management to support fish stock recovery have seen their income increase at least double.

Another ecological farming species is the Man Jing Zi (Fructus viticis), a traditional native Chinese medicine at Qingshan Island within the Hengling Lake Area.

Because of the low labour intensity of planting Fructus, it is especially suitable for female workers and senior workers with weak labour capacity, which is of very positive significance for solving the employment of women and senior shore fishers (who have difficulties with re-employment) on the island. In terms of its total economic benefits, the yield can reach 3,000-3,750 kg/ha, which sells for CNY 160-200 /kg as medicinal herbs. If the development of other by-products through deep processing, their potential value can be doubled, which means an output value of CNY 900,000 to 15,000,000/ha can be achieved.

Overall, 100% of local farmers conduct ecological fish farming with Fructus planting, which results in an estimated increase of CNY 500 /year/person subject to evaluation whereas Fructus revenue is insignificant.

Measurements

1. Form a five-member community co-management committee consisting of the participation of the county forestry bureau (1 representative), the Hengling Lake NRMB (1 representative), the local community committee (1 representative), and community cooperatives (2 representatives) and leading the sustainable fisheries group, ecotourism group, and agricultural products group. The committee undertakes the tasks of overall planning, introducing external resources, broadening development channels, and organizing operations and management.
2. Promote eco-fishery mode by multistrata cultivation systems such as rice-frog, rice-shrimp, and rice-crab systems with eco-labels.
3. Promote the Fructus plantation.
4. Attract tourists through the improved natural environment. Through field observation, the number of people received in Qingcaohu Village is about 4,000, the per capita consumption of food and beverage is CNY 50 per person, round-trip transportation is CNY 20, in addition to the purchase of vegetables and other local specialties, the annual revenue generated by tourism is about CNY 300,000, the average benefit of about CNY 1,000 per household.

West DL area

Focus

While the West DL is rich in natural resources and cultural spots, the community co-management model focuses on ecotourism and natural education activities.

In the West DL Natural Area, 70 households engaged in ecotourism and bird habitat protection saw their income increase at least double.

Measurements

1. Resource assessment for expanding the recreational space of ecological tourism in West DL and promoting fishers' incomes through ecotourism and expanding bird habitat restoration.
2. Development and planning tourism products and ecological activities with infrastructure constructions (such as the bird museum and ecological education centre).
3. Improving the training of ecotourism staff (including 70 fishers).
4. Environmental education for raising local conservation awareness.

The Qingshan Yuan Community Co-Management Committee

The Qingshan Yuan community co-management committee mainly aims to coordinate the relationship with relevant administrative departments, implement relevant policies, and organize community participation and ecotourism demonstration projects with the support of protected areas and relevant local departments. The community resource management plan is prepared by the West DL NRMB specifically with the participation and coordination of the members of the co-management committee, which means the NRMB and the community co-management committee sign a contract to ensure the reasonable use of natural resources by the community. A contract text drafted by the co-management committee needs to be signed between the NRMB and the community representatives to clarify the responsibilities and rights of both parties.

South DL area

Background and Focus

The poplar tree and reed plantation were introduced and developed in the 1970s for the papering and pulping industry; they occupied a large area, especially in the South DL area. While the plantation of poplar and reed significantly changed the local hydrological conditions and habitats, unsustainable equipment and produce processing caused severe pollution in the DL area. Due to the need to protect the environment and control pollution, only a few paper enterprises with large production capacity and strong wastewater treatment capacity are retained after the 1990s, and the pulping industries were stopped in 2019.

With the cleaning operations and remediation actions of poplar started in 2017, the South DL focus on poplar tree clearance and transformative reed industry into reed-based mushroom cultivation.

Reed-based Mushroom Cultivation Demonstration Base

Two models of farming mode and company plus farmer cooperation are adopted to create a demonstration base of reed-based mushroom.

After the implementation of the cultivation mode, 10 households exceedingly indigent were lifted out of poverty. Compared with the 10 households that did not participate in the reed-based mushroom cultivation before 2020, the annual household income of the lowest household was only CNY 2,160, and the highest household was CNY 9,050.8. After participating in reed-based mushroom cultivation in 2020, the income of each household increased by CNY 3,000-3,600, with the annual household economic income increased by more than 30% (that of the most indigent household increased by 142.86%).

Tenure Arrangements

Although the DLW is owned by the state, local communities have the 'bundle of rights'. For example, while NRMBs, local communities and relative departments have utilization and administration rights, local government and residents only have utilization rights.

Table 2. 'Bundle of Rights' of the Community Co-management at DL Region

Rights		Mark	Notes
Access rights	Right to access to the area	Yes	Except the protected core zones
Withdrawal/Use rights	Use rights for subsistence (named products and specified amounts)	Yes	Although experts will give them recommendations, they can decide the farming mode by themselves
	Use rights for commercial sale (named products and specified amounts)	Yes
Management or Co-management rights	Right to regulate internal use patterns	Yes
Exclusion rights	Right to determine who will have access to a defined area	No	Determined by administrative departments
Alienation rights	Sell; give away; mortgage; lease/loan management or exclusion rights	N/A	Local communities do not own the land
Duration	Time-limited?	N/A
Bequeathe	Rights to hand over or pass on your right to someone else	No	Local people can apply to engage in community co-management
Extinguishability	Rights to due process, provisions for adequate compensation	Yes	Local community can get adequate compensation for cooperating with the biodiversity conservation project

Institutional/Administrative arrangements

The Conservation Priorities of the Central Government of P.R. China

The National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP, 2011-2030)

The National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP, 2011-2030), which aims to conserve the rare and endangered species of river and marine coastal wetlands, such as wintering red-crowned cranes, Siberian white cranes, and many more, identify the DLW as one of 35 priority areas for biodiversity conservation in the Hilly Plain Priority Region.

China's 12th National Five-Year Plan (2011-2015) & National Wetland Conservation Project (2002-2030)

'Reinforcement of biodiversity conservation, enhancing monitoring in NRs, and improving their management and preservation' are key points in China's 12th National Five-Year Plan (2011-2015). Accordingly, a National Wetland Conservation Project (2002-2030) is being carried out to protect 783 wetland reserves — 80 of which are of worldwide importance — effectively. With China placing a greater strategic emphasis on developing an ecological civilization — a shift toward accomplishing development goals by 'creating harmony between man and nature,' as indicated by rules and policies — the initiative received even more relevant after 2015. For instance, the ten-year prohibition on fishing in the waters of the Yangtze River and its connection to DLW.

China Biodiversity Partnership and Framework for Action (CBPF, 2007-2017)

According to plan, this initiative has also significantly aided in the accomplishment of three of the five key themes listed in the China Biodiversity Partnership and Framework for Action (CBPF, 2007-2017). They are (i) strengthening governance of biodiversity (Theme 1); (ii) mainstreaming biodiversity into socioeconomic strategies and investment decision-making (Theme 2); and (iii) effectively investing to stop biodiversity loss in protected areas (Theme 3).

Provincial Policies and Regulations

Policy Framework

The Dongting Lake Wetlands Ecosystem Management Plan (DWEMP) implementation was coordinated by the project from the onset by reactivating the nearly inactive Dongting Lake Conservation Committee (DLCC), which had already existed. It was housed in the Project Management Office (PMO) and given resources including employees and an annual operating budget to help it achieve the project's goals of institutionalizing an integrated strategy for the protection of DWE.

The Provincial level Multi-Stakeholder Government Joint Meeting (PMSGJM) was brought in to take the DLCC's place since it was unable to take proactive steps to fulfil its purpose, although there was no proof of any specific activities performed by the PMSGJM in accordance with the project's goal.

In accordance with the 'One Lake One Policy' of the federal government, the province administration decided to once again replace the PMSGJM with the 'Lake Chief System' in 2018. While the 'One Lake One Policy' established protection guidelines for the four NRs. The aim of the 'Lake Chief System', which was institutionalized from the provincial to municipal levels of administration, was to remove all institutional and legal obstacles to implementing action-oriented steps for the conservation of lakes across the province with a specific emphasis on DLW.

In order to completely eradicate all dangers to DWE, cleaning operations and remediation activities were organized and successfully carried out in DLW in conjunction with the Provincial Government of Hunan.

While the policy framework had a strong connection to the 19th National Congress which supported the development of an ecological civilization, the implementation of the 'Lake Chief System' significantly strengthened institutional capacity.

Government Counterpart

The FDHP is designated as the principal government counterpart and the executing agency, with overall responsibility for the project, including its components, and for ensuring coordination and collaboration with other province and local governments bureaus, local communities.

Legislation Strengthen

Wetland Protection Regulation of Hunan Province (WPRHP)

The Wetland Protection Regulation of Hunan Province (WPRHP) was examined, modified, updated, and completed to remove conflicting jurisdictions and overlapping usage rights of pertinent sectors over DWE.

the DL Protection Regulation, 2021

Additionally, the elimination of conflicting sectoral jurisdictions and overlapping usage rights was made possible by the passage of the DL Protection Regulation, 2021, as well as the improvement of pertinent policies and laws on management and use of wetland resources. Legal responsibility and accountability for DWE protection and biodiversity conservation were established for all sectors with an interest in DWE resources.

Rules and Regulations

Throughout the course of the project's implementation, different rules and regulations with any bearing on the conservation of wetlands were modified.

Affected Stakeholders

Table 3. Affected Stakeholders in Dongting Lake Protected Areas

Stakeholder	Primary Relevant Objective	Relative Power (high - low)
Nature Reserve Management Bureau (NRMBs)	Management and Evaluation of NRs for better local environment Administrative and utilization rights Emotional relationships with DLW	High
Local Co-management Communities	Administrative and utilization rights of DWE resources High dependence on DWE resources	Relatively High
Community Co-management Committee, and Agricultural Cooperatives	Connecting different stakeholders of community co-management for better decision-making or better agricultural practices Emotional relationships with DLW	Medium
Local Government	Administrative support Emotional relationships with DLW	Relative Low
Local Residents	Emotional relationships with DLW Engaging in environmental education and local ecological activities	Low

Interested Stakeholders

Table 4. Interested Stakeholders in Dongting Lake Protected Areas

Stakeholder	Primary Relevant Objective	Relative Power
Central Government Department	Macro control and guideline To maintain ecological civilization and achieve poverty alleviation	High
Local Relative Departments: Forestry Department of Hunan Province (FDHP); Local Relative Government Sectors: Agriculture Sector, Fishery Sector, Water Sector, Environmental Protection Sector, etc.	Macro control and guideline according to policies Biodiversity conservation with different focuses	Relatively High
NGOs: FAO, GEF	Implementation of biodiversity conservation projects	Medium
Researchers and professors (work for GEF or FDHP)	Research for academic work, local government, or NGOs in anywhere	Relatively Low
Tourists or Product Consumers	To get extraodinary tourism experiences or get interested products no matter where the place is or where the products from	Low

Discussion

Although the community co-management at the DL region achieved a relatively successful model economically, environmentally, and socially, the project implementation reports emphasize the outcomes of conservation biodiversity and the NR co-management model rather than the process and involving details, especially the limitations of the model. Meanwhile, the community co-management has operated in a relatively small area successfully, how to scaling-up the community co-management model from the demonstration areas will be one of the key factors for achieving mutual benefits between DLW and local people on a larger scale.

Development Efficiency

While the ecological agriculture system synchronously promotes the agricultural economic system, rural social system, and farmers' production and management system, the community co-management model promotes local livelihoods, production, and ecology with reciprocity.

Power and Interests

The community co-management tried to achieve decentralization from the central government to FDHP, and devolution of administrative rights to local communities. But the power is still more top-down than bottom-up, which means the decision-making process is prone to reflect the willingness of the relatively higher power ones, such as FDHP, GEF, and FAO, compared to the relatively lower power ones, such as local communities and local government.

Table 5. Power Analysis

High Importance but Low Influence	High Importance and High Influence	Low Importance and Low Influence	Low Importance but High Influence
Agricultural cooperatives Community Co-management Committee Local Government Local Residents	Local Relative Departments: Forestry Department of Hunan Province (FDHP) Local Relative Government Sectors: Agriculture Sector, Fishery Sector, Water Sector, Environmental Protection Sector, etc. Local Co-management Communities	Tourists Product Consumers	Central Government Department GEF FAO Researchers and professors (work for GEF or FDHP)

Current Issues

Ecological Constraints

The growing dependency, reduced production, and seasonality mainly reflect the ecological constraints.

The increasing dependence of ecological resources on modern industry and fossil fuels, especially on non-renewable fossil fuels in the agricultural industrialization base, leads to a growing dependence of ecological agriculture in the DL area on energy scarcity and rising energy prices.

Moreover, as the lake surface declines and pollution increases, along with the reduction of wetland and lake areas, the economy of fishery and shrimp production is reduced.

Another problem is the seasonality of agriculture. The timing of ecological agriculture is seasonal, with a significant difference in income between slack and peak seasons. While there might be overloaded resources in the peak season, idle resources operation might happen in the slack season.

Practitioners and Infrastructure Issues

Practitioners

Local farmers and fishers in co-management communities are the practitioners of ecological agriculture in DLW.

While most ecological agriculture practitioners of DLW residents are relatively old and less literate, they are prone to have poor awareness of ecological agriculture and excessive use of agrochemicals to pursue more significant economic benefits.

In addition, although some ecological agriculture programs tried to involve women's, the women involvement situation still reflects gender inequality.

Infrastructure

The water infrastructure is relatively outdated, with alternating droughts and floods, and CNY 40 billion in losses caused by four major floods since 1996.

The operation of Three Gorges since 2003 caused a decrease in the volume of water, which changed the water cycle and led to a reduced wetland area, destruction of vegetation, and threats to biodiversity.

There is insufficient development of ecological agriculture technology due to the geographical economic differences in the diffusion and innovation of technology.

Management of ecological agriculture

• Lack of scientific and reasonable ecological agriculture development planning
• Lack of branding awareness
• Lack of information management and publicity platform
• Local governments have not improved the corresponding laws and regulations. Basically, ecological agriculture propaganda and practice are led by the government, and the initiative of the masses is not very participatory. Secondly, the lack of a certification system for ecological agricultural products has led to a lack of protection for the products and rights of ecological agriculture practitioners.
• Increasing pollution caused by the expansion of ecological agriculture

Assessment

Local Livelihoods Statistics

According to the Statistical Yearbook of Hunan Province in 2017, the Gross Regional Product of the DL region was CNY 7547.87 billion, which took up 22.7% of the province's regional product with CNY 46,382 for Gross Regional Product per capita.

In terms of agricultural statistics, with 855,930 ha of arable land area and 2,459,100 ha of crop area, the gross agricultural production increased by 3.1% from CNY 1489.15 billion in 2015 to CNY 1535.31 billion in 2017.

In 2020, the GDP of the DL Ecological Economic Zone reached CNY 12,830.21 billion, and the annual total output value of agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry and fishery reached CNY 304.610 billion.

Sustainable Development

Agricultural development is coordinated with DLW resources and the environment through:

• Improving agro-ecological efficiency
• Reducing agricultural pollution and human interfere
• Improving resource utilization rate

which tried to achieve reconciliation of biodiversity and human livelihoods synchronously.

Stakeholder Engagement

The NR co-management models motivate the farmers and fishers whose livelihoods are significantly dependent on DWE resources about the value added. Meanwhile, local people realized the environmental damage caused by previous production modes and enjoyed the more sustainable modes with higher beneficial incomes.

Although the project reports state that the project involves multi-stakeholders, especially for the people with the higher power, and households are willing to engage in community co-management, those involved in community co-management began to choose this model more based on project and government guidance than based on of voluntarism. Details of how local communities engaged in the decision-making progress and how effectively their wishes and needs are reflected in decision-making are missing.

Recommendations

Implementation

1. Choose the suitable ecological agriculture model according to local conditions

• Plains area: food crops, economic crops, and grassland production
• Shallow water area: the development of special aquatic products, feeding of herbivorous meat and fur animals, updating of fruit and vegetable species and varieties, development of material and energy conversion
• Mountainous area: selection of plantation, multilayer intensive farming, plantation plus integrated complex ecological model
• Near urban: green food production

2. Strengthen the self-management system of ecological agriculture

3. Encourage women engagement and empowerment through education and infrastructure improvement

Financial

1. Increase investment in ecological agricultural infrastructure construction

2. Development of a multi-level ecological agricultural financial system

Political

1. Full implementation of policies related to ecological agribusiness: subsidy, compensation, tax reduction, Corporate social responsibility (CSR), etc.

2. Improve laws and regulations and formulate ecological agriculture development strategies in line with the actual situation, support systems, and product certificate systems

3. Follow the Free, Prior, Informed, and Consent (FPIC) mechanism in decision-making process

Strategic

1. Raise awareness of ecological agriculture and promote clean agricultural production by training local workers

2. Adjusting industrial structure and strengthening agricultural technology development

3. Enhanced attention to changes in the watershed or regional scale climate patterns and their relationship to extreme weather and hydrological events