Cost-benefit analysis of ecosystem services in China

Environmental protection can maintain ecosystem health, improve the provision of ecosystem services, and increase human welfare. However, traditional calculations of the value of ecosystem services (VES) exclude their cost, thereby undermining plans to achieve a combination of environmental protection with sustainable socioeconomic development. To understand the difference between VES and the net value after accounting for costs (NES), we evaluated the evolution of the main ecosystem services in China. When costs are accounted for (i. e., when they are subtracted from VES), NES averaged 10.0 x 10(3) RMB.ha(-1).yr(-1) for China as a whole (35.1% of VES), with values of 39.0 x 10(3), -0.7 x 10(3), 27.7 x 10(3), and 13.0 x 10(3) RMB.ha(-1).yr(-1) for wetland, grassland, farmland, and forest ecosystems, respectively. These values represent decreases of 36.4, 114.9, 52.7, and 70.6% from the corresponding VES values. To achieve sustainable development and ecological restoration, China's government must base decisions on NES, not VES, to ensure that they account for the associated costs. Applying the present results in China and elsewhere in the world should increase the net benefits of ecological restoration while still permitting socioeconomic development.