Role of various types of eco-compensation in ecological protection and restoration of mountains-rivers-forests-farmlands-lakes-grasslands

Eco-compensation plays an important role as an environmental policy tool in environmental protection and restoration, and it supports ecological protection and restoration of mountains-rivers-forests-farmlands-lakes-grasslands. This study explored the role and mechanism of major types of eco-compensation in ecological protection and restoration of mountains-rivers-forests-farmlands-lakes-grasslands, the means to achieve it, and the different scenarios in which it can be applied, and discussed the respective roles of government-funded ecological compensation, market-based ecological compensation, and public-private partnership ecological compensation. The following conclusions were drawn: government-funded ecological compensation is a fundamental source for ecological protection and restoration, and is especially applicable to restoration activities in environmental protection redlines; however, they do not receive much attention from financial institutions because of the non-profit nature of the activities. Market-based ecological compensation can contribute to the resolution of financing problems and improve compensation efficiency, and it is applicable to fields in which profits can be generated. It also expands the means for investment of private capital in this business. The public-private partnership ecological compensation can extend full support to the government′s overall coordination role and market resource allocation in the promotion of ecological protection and restoration.