In order to curb the phenomenon of grassland degradation caused by human activity, China has begun the exploration of grassland eco-compensation, setting an example for the ecological protection of grasslands and sustainable use of resources around the world. At this stage, China has invested more than 170 billion yuan in grassland eco-compensation, benefiting 12 million farmer and herder households. The related research involves various perspectives, scopes, and methods, but lacks systematic reviewing. This study reviews the relevant theoretical and practical research and explores the connotations and effects of grassland eco-compensation in China. In general, the current grassland eco-compensation in China is a large-scale ecological-economic institutional arrangement with the following five characteristics: (1) the goals are to maintain the grassland ecosystem services and increase the income of herder households; (2) the main bodies are governments and herder households; (3) the main method is financial transfer payments; (4) the compensation standards are based on the opportunity costs of the herder households’ responses as the lower limits and the grassland ecosystem service values as the upper limits; and (5) it is a comprehensive compensation system that requires legal, regulatory, technological support and long-term mechanisms. Since 2011, driven by the grassland eco-compensation policy, the income levels of herder households in each pilot area have generally increased, and the overall ecology of grasslands has slightly improved. However, there are still some areas where overload is common. Additionally, there are regional differences in the satisfaction degree of herder households, which is mainly affected by factors such as family income, compensation cognition and family holding grassland scale. Our analysis shows that the shortcomings of current theoretical research are mainly reflected in the low precision of scientific compensation standards, the lack of a basis for differentiated standards, and the single compensation method. The shortcoming of practical research is that most effect evaluations cannot reflect the role of eco-compensation in it. This study suggests that future work should focus on the response mechanism of herder households and the improvement of the compensation measures. At the same time, the scope of research should be expanded, and we should learn from advanced compensation experience in other fields.

China’s policy of subsidies and rewards for grassland ecological protection (PSRGEP) aims to maintain the ecological function of grasslands and increase the income of herder households. Since 2011, the Chinese government has invested more than 150 billion yuan in this policy, making it currently the largest grassland ecological compensation project in China. Based on a survey of 203 herder households in Xin Barag Left Banner, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, this study used the Lorenz curve and Gini index to describe the imbalance in the distribution of compensation funds. Then, the integrated livelihood capital scores before compensation were used as a baseline. The changes in ranking and standard deviation of the scores after receiving compensation funds were analysed to draw a conclusion about the impact on the income gap between herder households. Finally, we described the absolute income gap through a group comparison. The results show that the distribution of compensation funds is unbalanced (Gini index is 0.46). According to the order of compensation funds from high to low, the top 20% of sample herder households received 49% of the total funds. Given the unbalanced distribution, households with better family economic conditions received more compensation funds. After receiving the compensation funds, the change in the ranking of the household’s livelihood capital integrated score was small, but the standard deviation increased from 0.1697 to 0.1734, and the Gini index of the households’ capital integrated scores decreased from 0.35 to 0.34 (the coefficient of variation decreased from 0.66 to 0.63). The group with the highest integrated livelihood capital score received 3.6 times the compensation funds of the group with the lowest score. As a result, under the promotion of PSRGEP, the local absolute income gap has widened, but the relative income gap has reduced. This study evaluated the current distribution of compensation funds for PSRGEP, which could provide a scientific basis for managers to optimize the fund distribution in the future.

The Chinese government has already proposed to build a nature protected area system composed mainly of national parks and encourages the development of concession operations in national parks. The establishment of a long-term ecological compensation mechanism under the concession mode is of great significance to promoting the harmonious development of man and nature in national parks. This paper selects the Pilot Programs for Shennongjia National Park System (PPSNPS) as the research area and constructs a long-term ecological compensation mechanism under the concession model of tourism back-feeding communities in PPSNPS. Through the questionnaire survey (516 valid questionnaires in 2018), based on the Travel Cost Interval Analysis (TCIA) and Contingent Valuation Method (CVM), the landscape value of the study area is monetized. Combined with the investment cost of concession enterprises, we construct the quantitative distribution ratio of the ecological compensation standard and get the amount of ecological compensation. On this basis, a long-term ecological compensation scheme is constructed. This specific scheme content is as below: on the one hand, Shennongjia National Park Administration (SNPA) is the beneficiary of ecological compensation, and the Shennong Tourism Investment Group Co, Ltd. (STIC) is the provider of ecological compensation; on the other hand, the travel tickets income is the only source of ecological compensation funds (back-feeding funds). Specifically, the landscape value of PPSNPS in 2018 was 604,230.3 × 10⁴ yuan, the input cost of STIC was 140,696 × 10⁴ yuan, the income after deducting tax from tourism tickets was 15,200 × 10⁴ yuan, and the distribution ratio of back-feeding funds is 1:4.29 with the back-feeding funds provided to SNPA from STIC of 12,326.65 × 10⁴ yuan. Through this paper, we know that landscape value monetization can provide ideas for quantitative accounting of the ecological compensation standard for national park tourism concession. In the future, this subject needs more theoretical and practical research on multiple long-term ecological compensation mechanisms.

Environmental issues caused by energy consumption have become increasingly prominent in recent years. In some ecologically vulnerable areas of developing countries, the negative environmental effects caused by farmers’ household energy consumption are closely related to the local (and even global) ecological environment and human health. Taking a typical ecologically vulnerable area of the Mongolian Plateau as an example, we combined a regression model, energy popularity rate, and average energy consumption to explore the impact of livelihood diversification on herder households’ energy consumption structures. We also attempted to quantify the environmental effects of the energy transition in terms of greenhouse gas and air pollutant emissions. The findings show that the average consumption of livestock dung, gasoline, coal, liquefied gas, solar, and wind of livelihood diversification households (LDHs) is lower than that of pure herder households (PHHs), whereas the average consumption of electricity is higher than that of PHHs. As a result, the average emission of CO₂ by LDHs is 5.14 t/a lower than that of PHHs. And compared with PHHs, the average emission reductions of air pollutants by LDHs are ranked as follows: CO: 153.20 kg/a, PM₁₀: 36.56 kg/a (including PM_2.5: 32.94 kg/a), VOCs: 12.47 kg/a, SO₂: 3.14 kg/a, and NO_x: 3.06 kg/a. Therefore, livelihood diversification can help herder households on the Mongolian Plateau reduce emissions through energy consumption transitions. Strengthening education (especially language education) can help herder households engage in livelihood diversification. This study provides a scientific means for ecologically vulnerable areas in developing countries to resolve conflicts between farming households’ energy consumption and the environment.

Agricultural Heritage Systems (AHS) formed by the long-term synergistic evolution of the countryside and its environment carry significant ecological, cultural, and economic value. The protection and sustainable utilization of AHS has become a critical issue for promoting the sustainable development of heritage regions. This study aims to provide a comprehensive framework for research on value realization from ecosystem products of agricultural heritage system (EPAHS). The study establishes a systematic research paradigm, which includes “specialization analysis–value realization pathways–evaluation methods.” A dual classification system based on “functional and consumption attributes” is introduced. Based on the principle of attribute alignment, three primary value realization pathways are proposed: market-driven, government-driven, and market–government collaboration. Additionally, a dual-dimensional evaluation index system is developed, including total value and structural evaluation indicators, to quantify the composite value and conversion effects of EPAHS. The findings emphasize that EPAHS, due to their cultural attributes and regional uniqueness, differ from general ecosystem products. They require tailored value realization pathways that integrate agricultural production, community benefits, and AHS preservation. This study provides both theoretical and practical support for the sustainable protection and utilization of AHS and offers valuable insights for rural revitalization and the development of ecological civilization.