Watershed eco-compensation (WEC) is considered a significant environmental policy instrument for watershed ecological protection and management. However, in the legislation and practice of eco-compensation in China, the development of the WEC mechanism is still in the initial stages. In this paper, the institutional opportunities and challenges of WEC are analyzed from the existing policies, laws, and economical instruments. Theoretically, WEC in China has seen a combination of punitive-based “Watershed Ecological Damage Compensation (WEDC)” and incentive-based “Watershed Ecological Protective Compensation (WEPC)”. Through a comparative analysis of domestic and foreign watershed compensation practices, the results demonstrate that most of China’s WEC projects have an insufficient legal basis, a single compensatory subject, insufficient compensation funds, and an imperfect market-oriented compensation mechanism. To improve watershed eco-compensation in China, it is recommended to strengthen legislation, select diversified eco-compensation approaches, and establish a market-based and systematic eco-compensation mechanism for watersheds.

The changing climate represents a large challenge for farmers, and adaptation responses are necessary to minimize impacts. Mixed approaches, which involve the analysis of meteorological data, web-based surveys, and face-to-face interviews, explore producers’ barriers and pressing needs to enhance climate resilience based on the Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) approach in semi-arid north-western China. According to the main categories of farming activity, 85 crop farmers, 68 animal farmers, and 81 agro-tourism operators were interviewed. We found that most of the producers perceived climate impacts, and they encountered multiple adaptation obstacles, of which institutional and normative obstacles were more serious, such as farmers unable to obtain resources or government incentives, lacked scientific, and efficient coping measures. The survey also observed that crop farmers had a pressing need for agricultural subsidies, while animal farmers and agro-tourism operators had a strong enabler for animal housing infrastructure and credit facilities, respectively. Given the heterogeneity of the context and climate change experience of different categories of farmers, it is necessary to formulate flexible adaptation strategies and adjust them according to specific climate stress and farming conditions. To achieve the Sustainable Development Goals and implement the 2015 Paris Agreement, policymakers should plan and introduce appropriate adaptation strategies to minimize the adverse effects of climate change such as improving irrigation and weather forecasting system through technological advancement, cost reduction of farm inputs, ensuring availability of information, providing agricultural subsidies to the farmers, and increasing the access to agricultural markets.

Worldwide most agroecosystems effort to increase production and yields and leads to damages of a series of non-provisioning ecosystem services (ESs). To fill in the knowledge gaps pertaining to the understanding of complex relationship between agricultural harvests and other ESs, therefore this study aims to estimate the existence of Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) for agricultural ESs by incorporating the spatial factors. Based on the test of the spatial autocorrelation of agricultural ESs, the estimation results of spatial model are compared with general regression to explain the spatial effect of agricultural ESs. The results show that (1) contrary to expectation, the curve of the nonlinear relationship between agricultural ESs and annual household income is an inverted U-shape, and not an upright U-shape; (2) compared to non-spatial model, the turning point of the inverted U-shaped curve for agricultural ESs under the direct effect would happen earlier and happen later under the indirect effect; (3) years of formal education, vegetation coverage of field margin and cultivated land area have significantly impact on local agricultural ESs, and local perennial crops has significantly impact on agricultural ESs of neighboring villages. Results of this study have a promising application prospect to promote sustainable development of agriculture.

Concerted efforts towards integrating water, energy, food, and ecosystem services remain critical for managing natural resources and building resilience in developing economies. This study examines the interdependent relationships between the water–energy–food (WEF) nexus, focusing on factors that interplay to drive resource security and sustainability in Cameroon. Using national-level data from 2000 to 2021, we employ the simultaneous equation model (SEM) with structural equations and use the 2SLS estimator with instrument variables (IV) to evaluate the level of interaction between the nexus components. The results indicate that urban population growth significantly increases water consumption by 13.17%. Industrial and economic growth increase energy consumption by 0.39%, while an increase in energy supply per capita raises food production by 2.81%. System analysis indicates that population growth has a holistic impact on all subsystems, with significant negative effects on the water subsystem. Policy and Institutions for sustainable development and Cultivated Area, also generated holistic effects with positive impacts on the food subsystem. Water-use efficiency also forms a key nexus point, positively increasing food production and reducing water consumption. A major feedback loop occurs where an increase in food production leads to a decrease in water resources (− 0.82%), resulting in a reduction in energy production (− 0.51%) and a potential decline in food production (− 4.51%). This study enhances nexus modeling in developing economies, allowing for resource optimization through effective cultivated area management, water-use efficiency, and institutional advancement. A paradigm change towards effective WEF nexus integration is essential for maintaining resource security and high-level human development with minimal environmental impact in developing countries.

Hechuan wetland is located in the mid-Yellow River and at the intersection of Shaanxi, Shanxi and Henan provinces in China. It is the largest hot spring lake wetland in the Yellow River basin and the birthplace of Guanju, a famous poem in the Book of Songs. Based on field investigations and questionnaires, we valued Hechuan Wetland ecosystem services, considering use values and non-use values. The annual use value of Hechuan Wetland ecosystem services is 79.236 billion CNY. The contingent valuation method was applied to value the annual non-use value, which is 6.27 billion CNY. We examined how the historical and cultural value of the Book of Songs affected respondents' willingness to pay by establishing a control group. Results suggest that historical and cultural value does have a strong influence on willingness to pay.