Politics between Local Government and Local People under Current Ecological Compensation Program : Case Study of Longji, Guangxi, China

Abstract: In today’s China, which puts priority on economic growth, balancing economic growth and environmental preservation is always an important issue. This paper focuses on ecological compensation in China. The current ecological compensation program faces numerous issues concerning the rationality behind the amount of compensation, the compensation period, and the zoning of areas eligible for compensation. Consequently, in many areas, local residents are dissatisfied with the government and sometimes clash with it. The main issues involve forest preservation policies and the designation of national nature reserves, as reflected in projects for natural forest protection and forest restoration （from overcultivation）. These policy measures are aimed at preventing destruction of the natural environment and land deterioration. Another policy tool is ecological compensation that promotes preservation of unique landscapes that are still in a good condition. In the Longji Rice Terraces Area, which is the focus of this paper, local residents receive from the government various types of ecological compensation that are aimed at preserving the vast terraced paddy landscape which has been a tourism resource. Local residents are dissatisfied with restrictions on their daily life imposed by strict government regulation, as well as with small amounts of compensation. Generally, attention is ocused on this problem. However, is the situation of the area characterized by a strong government and weak local residents who are obedient to the government? One can consider that while government regulation exists, local residents increasingly tend to take advantage of government policy and strategically bring rural landscape preservation into play in order to increase their income