STUDY ON THE IMPACT OF FOREST CARBON SINK PROJECT ON THE INCOME OF FARMERS IN UNDERDEVELOPED REGIONS——EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE FROM 5225 HOUSEHOLDS IN SICHUAN PROVINCE
Realizing stable income increases of farmers is the key to consolidating the achievements of poverty alleviation in the"post-well-off"era.From the perspective of micro farmers,assessing the income-increasing effect of forest carbon sink(FCS)poverty alleviation projects is of great practical significance for testing the poverty reduction effect of project development and further optimizing the project implementation plan.Based on the field survey data of 5 225 registered households in 4 pilot counties of forest carbon sequestration projects in 2020,the mechanism of FCS affecting farmers'income was constructed from the perspective of income structure,and the instrumental variable method was used for the empirical test.The results showed that:(1)FCS had an obvious poverty elimination effect.(2)Compared to poverty relief households,FCS had a greater income increase effect on registered households who had been lifted out of poverty,and mainly came from the forest care process.(3)The FCS mainly reduced the property and agriculture income of registered households,increased transfer income and wage income,and affected their household economic income directly or indirectly through forest land investment and labor investment mechanisms.However,there were differences in this mechanism between the two types of poverty-attribute registered households.Therefore,poverty relief households not only can obtain carbon sequestration transfer income but also can rely on labor endowment advantages to obtaining wage income to compensate for the loss of property and agriculture income,thus increasing family income.However,due to the lack of labor capacity and strong agricultural dependence on poverty relief households,it is difficult to make up for the loss of income through the FCS,which ultimately leads to welfare damage.This shows that after 2020,the FCS can effectively promote the stable income increase of poverty alleviation households and serve as an important tool to consolidate the achievements of poverty alleviation.