Exploring social-ecological system resilience in South China Karst: Quantification, interaction and policy implication

China's Grain to Green Program (GTGP), one of the world's largest payments for ecosystem services, has shown significant ecological benefits but its impact on social-ecological system (SES) resilience remains understudied. A new study quantifying SES resilience in South China Karst reveals an upward trend in social resilience from 2000 to 2020, particularly in social development, while ecological resilience remained stable despite slight declines in ecosystem services and increased landscape fragmentation. Spatially, nearly half of the counties exhibited mismatched SES resilience distributions, with an inverted U-shaped relationship indicating a threshold effect. The study also identifies four distinct zones for SES resilience—key optimization for social systems, safety zones, restoration zones, and ecological optimization—which suggest adaptive adjustments to GTGP could maximize future SES benefits. While GTGP positively reduced regional SES trade-offs, its effectiveness is limited by the overemphasis on converting farmland to forest and grassland.

Chen, T., Wang, Y., & Peng, L. (2024). Exploring social-ecological system resilience in South China Karst: Quantification, interaction and policy implication. Geography and Sustainability, 5(2), 289–301. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geosus.2024.01.003