Review, assessment and recommendations on environmental policies in Western China

Reviewing the existing environmental policies in Western China, we find that: in time sequence, the characteristics of China’s western environmental policies shift from “development drive governance” to the full implementation of environmental protection and construction; and in spatial sequence, the ecological, social, and economic development of Western China reach to coordination through the nature reserve setting, ecological migrants, fiscal transfer payment and differentiated ecological environmental policies. Due to the implementation of the policies and projects, environmental degradation trends in the western ecological environment were alleviated significantly, the living conditions of farmers and herdsmen were improved, and many successful experiences were explored. However, future ecological environmental construction in Western China requires further improvement in integrated planning, eco-compensation mechanism, and policy assessment. This paper concludes with specific recommendations such as...