Analysis on mechanism of land resource security

Ecological Economy (2008)4:236-242Empirical StudyAnalysis on mechanism of land resource securityBao Haijun *, Xu BaogenDepartment of Land Management & Agricultural Economics, Zhejiang University of Finance & Economics, Hangzhou 310018, P R.ChinaAbstract: This paper probes into the relationship among individual benefis, benefits of *the country; common benefitsof all humans in land use and land resource securit: The fllowing balanced land use model is proposed: the harmo-nious and interactive relationship between man and nature, two main bodies of land ecological system, constitutesthe mechanism of land resources security. The feedback relationship between man and nature is the basis for the landresources security and the core is the relationship among people established for the benefit equilibrium in land use.The conflicts in land use stem from the rarity of land resource and the solution to those conflicts in harmony helpsland resource security.Keywords: Man and nature; Land use; Land resource; Land resource security1. Introductionespecially the ways of connection and function pro-cess among the different parts. The mechanism ofLand, the mother of everything on the earth, is the land resource security refers to the mutual relationsbasis for humans to evolve and develop. However, and function process of different subjects in land sys-the improper use of land resource has made the eco- tem, including man and nature.logical system gradually become weak and resultedThis paper focuses on this process in order to ex-in many problems in land resource security.plain the mechanism of land resource security.The research on land resource security can betraced back to the concept of“Iand health", put for- 2. The two-way feedback relationship between hu-ward by Aldo Leopold in1949 ". But land resource man and nature: the basis for land resource secu-security, as both a scientific concept and a research rityfield, is a new trend in recent years. Gu Shuzhong.et al defined land resource security as follows: land .2.1 From anthropocentric theory to ecocentric theoryresource security means the ability that a country ora region can get natural resource continuously, sta-Man struggle with the natural environment inbly and economically (2. Wu Cifang et al considered order to live and develop since they came into being.land resource security as an ability that a county or aMankind, having experienced agricultural civilizationregion can obtain land resource continuously and can and industrial civilization, is marching towards eCo-ensure the living things to produce and live healthily logical cilization. During the period of agriculturaland eficiently B.civilization, people hunted and gathered, and theirHowever, most of the present studies focus on productivity level stayed very low. And at that time,the severe situation, the necessity of the study and the natural capacity was big enough to satisfy thethe content of land resource security, etc. Few further demand of mankind and it can recover the man-maderesearches have probed into its operating mechanismdamage by itself. Certainly there are some opposite :and security system. In general, mechanism means examples, such as the decline and disappearance ofthe construction and working principle of machines,“American Maya Civilization" 4. During the periodof industrial civilization, mankind exploited exces-Received July 18, 2007; Accepted Sept. 11, 2007sively from nature by advanced science and technol-* Coresponding author. E-mail adressss bahaijumzufe.edu.cn ogy to satisfy their increased appetency. MeanwhileAuthor: Bao Haijun(1977- ), male, PhD, associate professor,the ecological environment has been destroyed seri-specialized in the research of land use and management.ously: many kinds of living things declined quickly,中国煤化工236MHCNMH G.Bao H., Xu B. / Ecological Economy (2008)4:236-242primeval forests decreased rapidly, soil eroded seri-to live and develop. On the other hand, being usedreasonably and protected carefully by hurfresh water was polluted and acid rain increased. . . the land ecological system evolves to a stable stage.The conficts between man and nature became veryEvery land use mode has its own fttest natural envi-sharp 5. Anthropocentric theory being the dominantronment. Therefore, Man should protect the environ-position in human activities is the main reason for the ment, the animals and plants 14. 5. Land is not merelyglobal land crisis and the uncoordinated development the object for human beings to develop and use. Onbetween man and environment.the contrary, in the process of land use, the land eco-Anthropocentric theory regards human being as logical system and its members are worth our carethe core of the universe and their benefits the most and protection.important 6. As a theory revealing the relationshipThe world is a live system and the whole earth isbetween human and nature, it is really powerful mor- a complicated and large ecological system made upal encouragement to the development of industrial of human beings, other living things and the naturalcivilization in the process of directing human being environment. They influence as well as restrain eachto know and change the world actively. But to someother. Human beings, other living things and the en-degree, considering human as the conqueror, it has vironment are all the main parts of this system. Notalready disregarded the existence and value of the na- only human beings but other living things and theture, which make the development of civilization goenvironment are the valuable subjects, and they alsoagainst man's original intention, that is, human beings have the right to live. As the goal of nature is try-set up barriers and traps for themselves in sustainable ing its best to support a complicated structure whiledevelopment when they are pursuing advancement.man's goal is to get more and more products, they areBeing subjected to the anthropocentric theory, land often contradictory. The economic developmentuse activities are inevitably human centered without is based on a certain ecological potentiality, so manenough consideration of the benefit of other living should not destroy the goal of nature in the processthings and the environment.of development. The pursuit for social and economicRealizing those problems, some insightful pundits development is in consistency with protecting andput forward the Ecocentric theory, which considersimproving the ecological environment. Oppositely,that man is the product of nature and they dependthere is no healthy society if the natural environmenton each other. Human beings should respect and is unhealthy.protect natural environment rather than consideringTherefore, in land use practice, we should givethemselves to be the master. Human beings and otherenough moral care for other living things and naturalliving things are equal to each other. Human beings environment from perspective of ethics. Otherwise,have no right to destroy the living environment of it will cause some risks of security operation in landother organisms. On the contrary, apart from caringresource use and even lead to the disappearance offor themselves, they should care for the natural envi- human civilization just like the Maya civilization.ronment such as soil, water and atmosphere resource[10-13]2.2 The ethical land useIn the process of land use, man should also re-spect nature. Being a member of the living things inThe concept of ethical land use might be tracedthe world, man is not born superior to other living back to the thought put forward by great Confu-things. As a matter of fact, they cannot fly like birdscian thinkers in ancient China that man and natureand don't have the function of photosynthesis, al- should develop harmoniously and coordinately. Forthough they have many technical abilities that other example, Lao Tze believed the“Tao" (way) is the ba-living things cannot master. It almost can be said thatsic principle to link up nature and human society. Inother living things can live without man, while man other words, although man and nature have differentcan not live without other living things. Human being characteristics, their basic principles are the same ".and land constitute an organic system. Land providesThe systematic explanation of ethical land use98% of the food for man, which is the basis for man was advanced by an American scholar Aldo Leopld中国煤化工237MYHCNMH G.Bao H, Xu B. / Ecological Economy (2008)4:236-242in 1940s. He was the first one who systematically this feedback relationship. With this feedback rela-ics. In the eyes of Aldo Leopld, ethics is not only a also the painful lessons learned from nature (such asphilosophical concept, but also belongs to the catego- the decline and disappearance of Maya cilization),ry social ecology. From the viewpoint of social ecol- man will gradually accept the Ecocentric theory andogy, ethics is a restriction to the freedom of behavior the ethical viewpoints of land use. A new age for landin life. Since long ago, the relation between man and use will come, that is, a secure age of land use. Ofland belongs to the economic domain in which land course, it would take a long time.is regarded as one kind of property and human beingslack morality in land use activities. So the relation- 3. The benefit equilibrium of interpersonal rela-ship between man and land resource, man and plants tionship in land use: the core of land resource se-or animals living on the land always lacks ethical de- curityscription 18. Aldo Leopld's ethical views regard manas an ordinary member, not as the conqueror.The above part discusses the basis for land re-The realistic land use decision-makings lies source security. The human could change land usemostly in economical, legal or political layer, few mode according to the feedback information fromdecision-makings include ethical choices. Besides the the nature and their own rational thought in practice.deviation in understanding, the most important is the However, it is far from enough just relying on thisconflict arising from human's benefits. For example, two-way feedback relationship. In land use practice,whether a plot near a river should be used as the besides considering the relationship between humanhabitat for the wild animals, avenues, industrial land and nature, the benefit relation among people shouldor housing uses, is a difficult ethical choice. However be considered as well. To a large extent, the benefitfrom the sustainable viewpoint, the following basic relationship among people is very important in landethical principles must be followed in land use 51: .use practice. Therefore, the benefit equilibrium ofprinciple of maximum public benefit, principle of fair interpersonal relationship in land use is the core andassignment, principle of minimum harm to the envi- key to land resource security. Fig. 2 shows this kindronment, and principle of fair.of relationship: In land eco-system, a certain land“We should not be too proud of our victory over use relationship is established by bargaining, thusnature. Nature revenged us on every such victory. the benefit distribution structure is formed. But withEvery victory was a real one on the first round, while the society developing and land resource becomingon the second or third there would be utterly different rarer and rarer, the confict of benefit distribution isor unexpected results which canceled the first victo- becoming sharper, new benefit distribution structurery." said Engles in Natural Dialectics. The feedback and land use relationship will come into being. Inrelationship between man and nature is the basis for such endless cycles, the operation of land resourceland resource security, as showed in Fig.1. Humans goes from insecure to secure.would act for their own benefits in land use if not for3.1 Human benefit and land resource security in landuseLand use modeThe benefit in land use can be divided into theFeedbackcommon benefits of all human beings, benefits of oneImprovementcountry and that of individuals.NatureHuman3.1.1 Individual benefits in land use and land re-source securityL--------In land use practice, as an independent person, heFig.1. The two-way feedback between man and naturewill pursue the maximum of utilization. Any decisionsin land usehe makes will be built on the basis of valid land use.中国煤化工238MYHCNMH G.Bao H, Xu B. / Ecological Economy (2008)4:236-242Let us see how a person's decision-making in Therefore, people should take the benefits of bothland use is made. Suppose a piece of land, located atthe country and the community into consideration inthe edge of the town can be used to build high-class their land use decision-making.residence and ordinary residence. If other factorsare the same, how it can achieve most valid use of3.1.2 The benefit of the country in land use and landland in deciding the area coverage of the two kinds resource securityof buildings. Through survey, the curve for marginalThe benefit of a country reflects the overall ben-utility of two kinds of properties is shown in Fig.3.efit of the whole society. In land use practie, theVI' represents the marginal curve of ordinary resi- benefits of the country are mainly showed as fol-dence.V2' represents the marginal curve of high-class lows: protecting cultivated land to ensure food safety,residence. y-axis represents marginal utility and x-axis strengthening the management of land assets to pre-represents the area. Assume that 0102=S, then linevent its running off, protecting the ecological envi-S would be divided into line SI and line S2 in Fig.3. ronment to prevent land pollution and degeneration,When the marginal utility of high-class residenceetc. To reach these goals, the country uses its powerequals to the marginal utility of ordinary residence,to make laws, regulations, and restrains the individualnamely V1' and V2' intersct at M0, it achieves most person's land use by means of controlling planning,valid use of land. Otherwise, if V1' and V2' intersct at monitoring by remote sensing, which lightens theM, the utility lost is the area of BCE.burden on the society caused by individual land use.Perhaps the above individual land use decision-In land use practice, attaching importance to themaking impacts lttle or no infuence to the benefts beneft of the country does not mean that the countryof the country and people, even help promote theirmanipulate all the land use activities, or forcing thebenefits. This is because the above land use strategy land use subjects to obey all the orders of the country.is in conformity with land use law in a certain social This is of significance to those countries in the pro-system and restricted by certain policies. If the indi-cess of transferring from planned economy to market-vidual land use decision-making ignores the mutualoriented economy. It should be pointed out that thebenefts between the nation and the people, tragedies realization of the benefits and goals of the countrymight appear in public land. In 1968, professor Hatin must rely on efforts of land user. If the benefit ofoffered a story that the public pastureland openingthe country is emphasized excessively, the commonto all people would inevitably subject to excessive benefits of all human beings and the security of landherding in Tragedy of public land . In this story, resource might be under threat.when people only make their marginal benefit to beequivalent to the marginal cost without considering 3.1.3 The common benefits of all humans in land usethe social cost caused by their behavior, they have to and land resource securitybear the economic system of overcrowded herding.The common benefits of all humans in land use_vV1'V2Relationship in landuse practiceHumanBenefit distributionAdjustmentstructureConflicts)1MReforms1 -Fig. 2. The benefit equilibrium of interpersonal relationshipFig. 3. Individual decision-making inin land useland use中国煤化工239MHCNMH G.Bao H.. Xu B. / Ecological Economy (2008)4:236-242are the satisfaction of man as a race in its survival beings' development. In order to realize sustainablebenefits of humans, never an abstract existence，self-discipline morality and follow sustainable de-came into being since the appearance of human velopment principles in land use practice. Any short-being. As a creature, man needs basic material re-term activities lacking of duties and intellects willsources. Apart from this common demand of humans bring disasters to their future generations.as a living race, they have the common demand asLand resource security needs coordination rela-animals. For instance, the emergence of countries is tionship between people and countries, countries andthe result of the satisfaction of this demand. Humans' countries, “home awareness" for human. Human be-pursuit for common demand accelerates the emer- ings are closely related to each other. The mistakengence of countries. But at that time, people had no development of some countries will affect the equi-consciousness of“common benefit"; they even took librium of global eco-environment, and do harm topeople in other countries as animals and enemies of other countries' benefits including some developedtheir benefits. So the emergence of countries is not countries. Any country that wants to develop itself byonly the result of humans to safeguard their com- plundering and exploiting other countries will affectmon benefits, but also the beginning of the split of its own development eventually.common benefits into group's, nation's and state's (20.Here man refers to human being including the pres- 3.2 The root for benefit conflicts in land use: the rar-ent generation and future generation, i.e. the equiva- ity of land resourcelence of intra-generation and inter-generation. Henceman's common benefit is an integral, long-term andThe supply of land, just like that of other re-fundamental benefit.sources, is restricted by nature. Compared with theWith the integration of global economy, elements economic development and man's demand, the totalsuch as economy, science and technology, culture,amount of land resource in a country is limited andmilitary and environment affect, contradict and scarce. As far as economic development is concerned,restrain each other, which make the whole human the relative scarcity of land resource is an importantrace an organic entirety. It ilustrates the problems cause of restraining and influencing the developmentand benefits involved faced by the human beings is of economy. The developing countries remain in thecommon, meanwhile it provides precondition for the stage of agricultural development or in the transi-human beings to take common measures to deal with tion period from agriculture to industry, where mostall kinds of crises. The theory of sustainable devel- people (80% of the whole population) live in the ru-opment ensures that any country cannot solve any ral areas. This fully ilustrates the economic develop-problem threatening the living of the human race by ment in the developing country is influenced by theitself, and any country has no possibilites to developamount of land resource to a large extent.itself without the common development of the hu-The rarity of land resource demonstrates itsman race (21. Now the problems encountered in their importance. As far as the final source of economicdevelopment has global characteristic such as eco- increase is concerned, William Petty considered theenvironment, population, resource, land and food, source of social economic increase only include landwhich all involve the benefits of human race and need and labor, and he put forward that labor is the fatherthe attention and cooperation of all the human beings of fortunes and land is the mother. Land is the groundto solve.for the human beings to produce and live, withoutIn land use process, the equivalence of intra-gen- which all will become cloud-castle. Hence no othereration and inter-generation reflects self- discipline.elements can substitute land resource.AIll development subjects are equal, and any develop-Just because of the rarity of land resource, a lotment subject cannot harm other subjects including the of benefit conflicts emerge in land use practice. Thebenefits of their future generations, which coordinates coordination and equilibrium process of those ben-the relationship of partial benefits and whole benefits,efit conflicts is the process for land resource securityshort-term benefits and long-term benefits for human from insecurity.中国煤化工240MHCNMH G.Bao H, Xu B. / Ecological Economy (2008)4:236. 242ImprovementHuman societyRelationship inLand use modeland use practiceHumanBeneft distributionstructureNatureAdjustmentConflictsReformFeedbackFig. 4. The security mechanism of land resource5. Conclusions .4. Balanced land use modelThe benefit equilibrium of interpersonal relation-From all the above, this paper draws to the con-ship in land use is based on the fedback rlationship clusion that the twoway fedback rlationship be-between human and nature. Therefore, the security tween human and nature is the basis for land resouremechanism of land resource is as follows (Fig.4). In .security; the benefit equilibrium of interpersonalthe bargaining between man and nature, man choosesrelationship in land use is the core of land resourcea certain way to developing and using land resource.security. The conflicts in land use stem from the rar-Within this framework, human beings establisheda iy of land resoure and the solution to those confictscertain kind of land use through bargaining and then in harmony help with land resoure security.the distribution structure of land use is set up. ButAcknowledgementswith the social development, the conflicts in benefitdistribution are becoming sharper and sharper, andthe land resource become less and less, which resultsThis paper is supported by the Natural Sci-in the social change that new benefit distributionence Foundation of Zhejiang Province (Grant No.Y606017).This process cycles all the time until the relationshipbetween man and nature changes. 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