AUTHOR=Niu Xiang , Xu Tingyu , Wang Bing 

TITLE=Payments for forest ecosystem services in China: a multi-function quantitative ecological compensation standard based on the Human Development Index

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Earth Science

VOLUME=Volume 13 - 2025

YEAR=2025

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/earth-science/articles/10.3389/feart.2025.1447513

DOI=10.3389/feart.2025.1447513

ISSN=2296-6463

ABSTRACT=Forest ecosystems provide many ecosystem services, and payment for these ecosystem services has recently become a policy-relevant issue. This paper puts forward a multi-function quantitative standard (MQECS) for forest ecosystem services based on the Human Development Index and the six distinct forest ecosystem service values. Using the MQECS method, the MQECSi and total ecological compensation amount (TECAi) for forest ecosystem services in Guangdong and Liaoning provinces in 2012 were calculated. The MQECSi of Guangdong and Liaoning were 663.02 and 225.27 RMB·hm−2, and the TECAi of these provinces were 66.82 × 108 and 13.67 × 108 RMB, respectively. The MQECSi of Guangdong is approximately three times that of Liaoning, and the government needs to increase investment per unit forest area by 176.25% and 50.20% of the current compensation amount in Guangdong and Liaoning to achieve the target quantitative compensation standards. Additionally, the MQECS method was also applied to calculate the ecological compensation for forest ecosystem services of different cities in Guangdong and Liaoning. The MQECS method not only considers the local government's ability to pay but also incorporates factors influencing human wellbeing and the valuation of distinct forest ecosystem services. It is suitable for application to current forest management in China.