Chester River is an interstate freshwater river in the United States, with a total length of about 40 miles. Most of them are located in Maryland and enter the sea from chesapeake bay. Historically, this river is home to all kinds of wild animals and is considered as one of the most important waterfowl areas in chesapeake bay. However, with the increase of agricultural non-point source pollution in the basin, most sections of Chester River are listed as "damaged waters" by Maryland environmental department. More than 74% of nitrogen, 72% of phosphorus and 88% of sediment pollution come from agriculture. MudfordFarm, Maryland is located at the source of Chester River, covering an area of 274 acres, including woodland 1 13 acres. Before 2005, mulford Farm, like other farms in this area, leased the land to the farm manager, who cultivated all the non-forest land, mainly planting corn, wheat and soybeans, but the production efficiency of farmland was not good. The environmental assessment of the farm shows that most of the soil in the farm is poorly drained. In order to restore the wildlife habitat in the farm and further protect the biodiversity, in 2005, the biophiliphia Foundation of the United States purchased the ownership of the farm in mulford, and cooperated with ChesapeakeWildlifeHeritage Protection Organization (hereinafter referred to as CWH) to carry out the ecological compensation project of the farm in mulford. By participating in the US Department of Agriculture's Protected Area Enhancement Plan (hereinafter referred to as CREP), some farmland with poor benefits will be restored to wetlands, grasslands and riparian buffer zones, and the generated wetland credit and water quality credit will be sold to carry out fee hunting activities, so as to realize diversified and market-oriented ecological product values, thus promoting Mafu Farm to obtain stable economic returns from the restored ecosystem services.
(B) the operating mechanism of eco-product value realization tools
1. Land fallow
Intensive Plan Land fallow intensification plan (CREP) is managed and implemented by the Agricultural Service of the US Department of Agriculture, and is a branch of the largest land environment improvement plan "Land Protection Reserve Plan" (CRP) in the United States. As a voluntary land fallow plan, CREP aims to help agricultural producers implement ecological protection of environmentally sensitive land, reduce land erosion, restore wildlife habitats, and protect groundwater and surface water. Farmers who participate in this plan need to sign a CREP contract with the government, stipulating that their land will not participate in agricultural production in the next 10- 15 years, and the government will provide annual rent to eligible participants, including maintenance incentives and cost sharing of up to 50% required for contracted agricultural practice. In addition, the project usually provides registration incentives for participants to encourage them to implement agreed agricultural practices. The Federal Financial Services Administration uses special funds to pay a certain proportion of the project costs, and the state government or other non-federal government organizations provide the remaining funds. Countries and private groups involved in this work provide technical support and other services at the same time. CREP also supports increasing protection measures, such as filter belts and forest buffer belts, which help protect streams, lakes and rivers from sediments and agricultural tail water.
2. Wetland credit
The credit for selling wetlands represents the ecological value of wetlands, and the wetland bank in the United States is a typical representative of the credit mechanism for wetland compensation. Please refer to the notice of the General Office of the Ministry of Natural Resources on printing and distributing the Case of American Wetland Mitigation Bank for its operation mode and specific practices. 3. Water quality is sold on credit. The Clean Water Act of the United States requires controlling point source and non-point source pollution to reduce the impact on water quality; Article 30 1 (b) of the law sets clear requirements for water quality standards; Article 303(d) authorizes the US Environmental Protection Agency to assist states to determine the waters that still fail to meet the water quality standards through technical control, and states give priority to these waters, and formulate the "Maximum Daily Discharge Load" (TMDL) for the priority waters, that is, the maximum amount of pollutants allowed in the water under the premise of meeting the water quality standards. TMDL can be used as a starting point or planning tool to restore water quality and determine some water pollutant reduction targets. The Clean Water Law stipulates the water quality standards, pollutant discharge requirements and the overall framework of water quality trading. On this basis, EPA began to explore water quality trading based on river basin from 1996 to solve the problem of insufficient market mechanism in water pollution control, and formed the final water quality trading policy in 2003. In 2004, the Manual of Water Quality Transaction Evaluation was issued, hoping to promote market-oriented water quality transaction and realize the goal of "meeting the requirements of water quality and pollutant discharge at more economical cost". The trade of water quality mainly includes the trade of total nitrogen, total phosphorus and sediments, and the US Environmental Protection Agency also supports the trade of other pollutants, but it must be subject to stricter scrutiny. In order to ensure the improvement of water quality, all water quality transactions must be carried out in areas or river basins where TMDL has been established and the boundaries are clear. The emission limits used in water quality trading include reference value, minimum control level and trading limit. Transaction types mainly include point source and point source transactions, point source and non-point source transactions. The former includes two-point source transaction, multi-point source transaction and one-to-many source transaction. The latter includes single source and non-point source transactions, as well as non-point source transactions. The general idea of water quality trading is as follows: in the same basin or region, the emission reduction costs of various pollution sources are different, and the actual emission of emission sources with low emission reduction costs is more likely to be lower than the allowable limit, and the difference between them is the emission difference; After the sewage balance is multiplied by the transaction ratio, water quality credit can be formed, and the market subject with sewage balance becomes the seller of water quality credit transaction; When the emission sources with high emission reduction costs reach the minimum control level, they will become buyers, that is, they will offset their emissions exceeding the baseline by purchasing water quality credits. The buyer's benchmark value can be determined by calculating the maximum daily load (TMDL), thus reducing the overall pollution cost of the river basin or region and improving the water quality.
(3) Specific practices
1. Aisheng Foundation with clear property rights purchased Mafu Farm in 2005, which clarified the ownership of Mafu Farm, and provided basic conditions for the farm to take ecological restoration measures, participate in the land fallow enhancement plan, conduct credit transactions on wetlands and water quality, and create a more economical and feasible market operation mode. 2. Ecological Restoration With the help of the farm protection project of the United States Department of Agriculture and some support funds from Maryland, Aisheng Foundation carried out ecological restoration in Mafu Farm. The specific restoration activities were designed and completed by the Sapik Wildlife Heritage Protection Organization (CWH), including many restoration activities such as improving aquaculture management, building buffer zones and wetland restoration. The repair structure is shown in the figure.
Fig. 2 Repair structure diagram of Marford Farm (translated according to relevant information of Aisheng Foundation) (1) Traditional cultivated land transformation. Aisheng Foundation and CWH divided the cultivated land of Marford Farm according to income, reserved 80 mu of land with the highest yield, continued to plant corn, wheat and soybeans, and implemented new cultivated land management practices, which had a positive environmental impact. (2) Buffer Belt Construction: 40 mu of buffer belt, including filter belt and field edge belt, is designed and planted along the farm farmland boundary. Among them, the filter belt composed of 25 mu of warm season grassland provides a good habitat for wild animals such as waterfowl, quail and wild turkey. (3) Wetland Restoration The wetland restoration of Marford Farm consists of two parts. Part of it is the construction of wetland in the west of the farm 10 mu, which is used to build a wetland disaster reduction bank and generate wetland credit; The other part is to restore 30 mu of wetland in the southwest of the farm to protect the water quality in this area. (4) Water quality protection utilizes ecosystem services such as water purification generated by the restored 30 mu wetland and partial vegetation-covered buffer zone (about 6 mu), effectively blocking nitrogen, phosphorus and sediments from flowing into nearby rivers, reducing the adverse impact of agricultural activities on river water quality, thus generating certain water quality credit.
3. Take measures to promote the realization of the value of ecological products.
By organically combining the ecological restoration of Marford Farm with traditional farming, land fallow enhancement plan, wetland and water quality credit transaction, profitable hunting activities and other trading mechanisms, the project party has promoted the realization of the value of ecological products.
First, traditional farming promotes the realization of the value of agricultural products. By selling the corn, wheat and soybean on the reserved 80 mu of high-quality cultivated land directly to the local poultry company at the market price, the value of the material supply products is realized.
The second is to participate in the land fallow enhancement plan to achieve land improvement and habitat improvement. According to the plan supported by the land fallow enhancement plan, Maford Farm has transformed cultivated land, built filter belts, forest buffer belts and restored wetlands, effectively protecting environmentally sensitive land in the farm, restoring waterfowl habitats and improving the water quality of Chester River.
Thirdly, the credit transaction of wetlands and water quality has promoted the embodiment of ecological value. In terms of wetland credit transaction, Maford Farm generated 65,438+00 acres of wetland credit through wetland restoration. In the aspect of water quality credit, the research results of Water Management Company (WSI) show that the wetland restoration and buffer zone construction in Marford Farm can reduce the emission of nitrogen 1.8 lb and phosphorus 1.0 lb each year.
The fourth is to carry out ecotourism such as hunting. The construction of buffer zone provides habitats for wild animals such as waterfowl, quail and wild turkey, increases the number of waterfowl, and provides hunting and tourism services for hunting enthusiasts.
4. Establish a long-term protection mechanism
In 20 12, Eisenia Foundation transferred Marford Farm to a private protection buyer, and the original ecological protection and restoration measures were kept and monitored for a long time, mainly including two aspects: on the one hand, the CREP contract signed by Eisenia Foundation and the US Department of Agriculture, in which all protection responsibilities and obligations were transferred to the farm buyer, and the Maryland government protected the restored habitat and most of the existing woodlands in 17 1 acre. On the other hand, according to the initiative of Maryland Environmental Trust and Chesapeake Wildlife Heritage Protection Organization, Aisheng Foundation only carries out farming activities on the most fertile 80 acres of agricultural land, and private buyers also need to abide by this constraint to ensure the continuous protection of the natural ecological environment in Madford Farm area.
(4) Main achievements
In terms of economic benefits, Marford Farm has only one economic income from traditional agriculture, and has become four incomes including traditional agriculture, ecological credit transactions, government compensation for fallow, and hunting tourism.
1. Madefu Farm has effectively improved the drainage of cultivated land, increased the yield of cultivated land, effectively improved the yield and quality of agricultural products through a series of measures, such as retaining high-quality cultivated land, soil improvement and conservation tillage, and brought about 1.5 million US dollars in income every year.
Second, through ecological restoration and participation in the land fallow enhancement plan, Maford Farm can get compensation funds of 12000 USD from the federal government and the Maryland government every year.
Third, some traditional cultivated land with poor benefits will be converted into ecological land such as buffer zone to restore or enhance the service function of wetland ecosystem, which can generate 10 mu of wetland credit and sell it to Maryland government at the price of $8,000 per mu through wetland credit transaction; By filtering pollutants such as nitrogen and phosphorus, water quality credit of about 18500 USD can be generated.
The fourth is to use the restored waterfowl habitat to carry out eco-tourism (hunting service), with an annual income of about 6,800 US dollars. In terms of social benefits, a win-win cooperation mechanism has been established. Aisheng Foundation relies on local partners such as CWH to design and implement its ecological protection and restoration plan, measure and verify the increase in the number of wild animals and the decrease in nutrient runoff, and introduce wetland credit and water quality credit into the market. Let regional experts participate in the protection plan, help establish ecological credit, and support local employment and labor training. At the same time, using the land fallow strengthening plan, government investment has driven many benefits and formed a multi-participation, diversified and sustainable ecological compensation mechanism.
In terms of ecological benefits, the wetland and buffer zone of mulford Farm will help to improve the natural ecological environment of Chester River and chesapeake bay. Each acre of riparian buffer can prevent 120 pounds of nitrogen, 10 pounds of phosphorus and 4000 pounds of sediments from polluting chesapeake bay waters every year. In addition, the restored wetlands captured 39% phosphorus and 23% nitrogen pollution in this area. In dry years, the ecosystem services provided by wetlands in filtering pollutants will double. At the same time, wetlands and buffer zones provide habitats for wild animals, and the number and diversity of wild birds on farms are increasing, realizing the function of species protection.