To protect forest land from loss and mitigate the global climate crisis, China has proposed a stringent natural forest protection plan, known as China’s natural forest logging ban (NFLB). This policy aims to halt the over-exploitation of natural forests, restore forest ecosystem functions, and promote regional green economic development. This study uses a regression discontinuity design (RDD) model to quantitatively and comprehensively assess the effectiveness of this policy in the key state-owned forest regions in Northeast China. Additionally, it analyzes the heterogeneity and structural characteristics of the policy’s effects on the internal composition of ecological and economic systems. The empirical results are as follows: (1) Ecological and economic impacts: The policy has successfully achieved its ecological objectives by significantly enhancing the quality and value of ecosystem services. However, it has also had a notable adverse impact on economic development, particularly in the timber supply sector, reducing the conversion efficiency of ecosystem service values into economic benefits. (2) Structural analysis: The logging ban effectively promoted the value of various ecosystem services, particularly enhancing regulatory and support functions, with a LATE estimate of approximately 8.47 units. The implementation of the policy caused a negative growth in the output value of supply-oriented ecological products, and the significance level was lower than 0.1. Conversely, the LATE estimates for different types of GDP indicate a negative growth in supply-type GDP due to the policy, with p < 0.1. (3) Heterogeneity: On the one hand, a simplistic and singular approach to logging prohibition may constrain the efficiency of enhancing ecosystem service values. On the other hand, although the policy disrupted the majority of traditional forest enterprise operations, business models focusing on quality and technology improvements were able to mitigate this impact.

To achieve a sustainable development path that harmonizes ecological and economic considerations, China has advocated the “two mountains” concept: “lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets”. This idea posits that those who protect the environment can economically benefit by selling pristine landscapes and utilizing rich ecological resources. This paper use “the equivalence factor method” to calculate ecological benefits, introduces a technical measure—the conversion rate of ecosystem service value—and analyzes its temporal and spatial evolution from 2003 to 2020 in the operational areas of 87 state-owned forestry enterprises in Northeast China. The findings show: (1) a significant improvement in ecosystem-service quality, with its value increasing from 404.7 to 850.2 billion CNY between 2003 and 2020. The restoration of the ecological environment in China’s KSFR provides a foundation for economic and social development. (2) A decrease in the economic gains derived by operators from developing protected ecosystems, with the most significant decline observed in economic benefits generated from the supply product, including timber harvesting. However, the industrial structure in KSFR shifted from being dominated by timber production to diversified development, with non-timber forest resources becoming an important part of regional economic growth. (3) Significant potential for realizing the value of ecosystem services, evidenced by an increasing trend in the conversion rates of cultural, regulatory, and supporting services. These findings underscore the effectiveness of China’s natural forest protection and restoration policies in optimizing forest ecology and realizing the “two mountains” concept through appropriate market transactions and ecological compensation mechanisms.

The shipping industry plays a significant role in China’s and the global pursuit of carbon neutrality, and it is essential to be cautious about the potential risks associated with the green paradox. This study incorporates Goal Setting Theory and Value Expectations Theory into the analytical framework of the green paradox and tests this framework through a strategic game research design. The study finds that, first, the green paradox of shipping companies presents hidden characteristics, and the loss caused by coping strategies is a necessary risk to be vigilant about. Second, the green paradox of shipping companies is mainly caused by the decision-makers’ goal perception of accessibility. Moreover, due to the motivation of long-term acceptance of green subsidies, decision-makers will delay the carbon neutrality process. Third, policies need to adopt a gradient increasing quota management strategy, and be accompanied by a variety of policy tools to reduce the risk of the green paradox. This study opens the theoretical “black box” of market expectations and provides a solution to reduce the risk of the green paradox.

In the face of the realistic background of population loss, resource constraints and factor constraints, it explores the high-quality development of forest areas, aiming to analyze the impacts of population exodus from forest areas on economic growth and high-quality development. The focus is on China’s key state-owned forest areas, especially in Heilongjiang Province, Jilin Province and Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. A set of indicators centered on the concept of green development is constructed and designed to measure the dynamics of high-quality economic development and the impact of population outflow in the three provinces and regions from 2000 to 2022. The study found that (1) Heilongjiang Province excels in high-quality economic development, followed by Jilin Province, while the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region lags behind. During the observation period, the high-quality development trend in the forest areas showed a steady upward trend until 2014 and then began to slow down or even decline. (2) The pulling effect of population mobility on economic growth in forest areas has gradually weakened; nevertheless, the effective agglomeration of labor and capital is still a key factor driving economic growth. (3) Population exodus poses an obstacle to high-quality economic development. Increased population mobility has a negative impact on both economic growth and high-quality development, exacerbating economic fluctuations, and is not conducive to stability and high-quality development. It is worth noting that although the population base plays a fundamental role in economic growth, the direct effect of population on development is not significant. On the contrary, there is a negative correlation between population outflow and high-quality economic development. Based on the findings, strategic recommendations are made with the aim of promoting a shift from a growth model that relies on population numbers to a development model that focuses on the improvement of population quality in forest areas, thereby realizing a fundamental innovation in the economic development model. This study enriches the theory of regional development in forest areas and is of great significance in promoting sustainable development in forest areas.