Economic Value Transformation of Soil and Water Conservation Ecological Products in Check-Dam-Controlled Watersheds: A Literature Review

DOI: https://doi.org/10.62517/jlsa.202607305

Author(s)

Qi Ren1, Yuefeng Guo1,*, Jing Feng2, Zhiqiang Shang2, Lina Gao2, Tiegang Zhang3, Wei Qi4

Affiliation(s)

1College of Desert Control Science and Engineering, Inner Mongolia Agricultural University, Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, China 2Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region Water Conservancy Science Research Institute, Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, China 3Institute of Animal Husbandry, Academy of Agricultural and Animal Husbandry Sciences, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, China 4Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region Water Conservancy Development Center, Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, China *Corresponding Author

Abstract

In addition to soil and water conservation, which is the primary function of check dams, the dams on the Loess Plateau produce other ecological products – carbon sequestration, arable land replenishment, flood regulation and biodiversity maintenance – that are multi-dimensional in nature. In the context of China's dual-carbon goals and the new system of ecological product value realization, the valuation and exchange of these products in the market has become a cutting-edge issue in the fields of soil and ecological economics. This paper will provide a structured review of the four dimensions: conceptual boundaries, valuation methodologies, economic transformation pathways and institutional safeguards. It integrates advances in emergy analysis, replacement cost approaches, spatially explicit modeling and carbon accounting approaches specifically developed for check-dam systems. Four fundamental transformation models are identified and analyzed using representative cases: carbon credit trading model, farmland quota trading model under requisition-compensation balance mechanism, concession-based watershed operation model and green financial collateralization model. The review also identifies several chronic gaps: the lack of integration of accounting standards, lack of mechanisms to aggregate value and share revenues across different scales, lack of empirical evidence on pricing efficiency, lack of benefit-reinvestment feedback mechanisms, and a virtual absence of research on value stability in the face of extreme-event shocks. The shift from demonstration to scale implementation has begun, but the field still faces significant challenges to make further progress and reach institutional maturity in the areas of standardized accounting frameworks, cross-agency governance arrangements, and long-lasting incentive-compatible mechanisms.

Keywords

Check Dam; Soil and Water Conservation; Ecological Products; Value Transformation; Carbon Trading; Payments for Ecosystem Services; Loess Plateau

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