Recently, the Ministry of Finance issued the revised "Measures for the Management of Key Ecological Protection, Restoration and Governance Funds", which stipulates the budget management, support scope, allocation methods, etc. of funds for key ecological protection, restoration and governance, which will improve the efficiency of fund use and promote the ecosystem Conservation restoration.
The "Opinions of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council on Comprehensively Promoting the Construction of a Beautiful China" issued at the end of last year proposed to "accelerate the implementation of major projects to protect and restore important ecosystems and promote the recuperation of grasslands, forests, rivers, lakes, and wetlands."
Funds for key ecological protection, restoration and management are arranged by the central budget and used to carry out ecological protection and restoration work such as integrated protection and restoration of mountains, rivers, forests, fields, lakes, grass and sand, and remediation of abandoned industrial and mining land left over from history, so as to enhance the diversity, stability and sustainability of the ecosystem.
In recent years, the central government has continued to increase investment and systematically promote ecosystem protection and restoration.
The central government will take overall consideration of all elements of natural ecology, proceed from the integrity of the ecosystem, implement policies according to local and time conditions, and implement regional and classified policies. It will use financial power to promote the overall protection, systematic restoration, and comprehensive management of the ecological environment, and use points to lead lines and lines to form lines. In all aspects, we will continue to promote the overall improvement and comprehensive improvement of ecosystem quality.
The 2023 budget report shows that the central government has allocated 17.2 billion yuan in key ecological protection, restoration and management funds.
“Since the 13th Five-Year Plan period, the central government has selected 52 pilot projects for integrated protection and restoration of mountains, rivers, forests, farmlands, lakes, grass and sand, and arranged a total of more than 100 billion yuan in reward and subsidy funds, and the cumulative area of systematic management has been approximately 5.37 million hectares.” Gao Jinxing, director of the Department of Natural Resources and Ecological Environment of the Ministry of Finance, said that in general, with the support of the central government, the systematic ecological protection and restoration work has achieved significant ecological, economic and social benefits, and the diversity and stability of the ecosystem have been , sustainability has been significantly improved, and the ecological foundation supporting Chinese modernization has been further solidified.
The revised "Management Measures" stipulate that the use and management of governance funds should follow the principles of adhering to the direction of public welfare, rational division of powers, unified use of funds, and open and transparent fund arrangements.
Governance funds are managed by the Ministry of Finance in conjunction with the Ministry of Natural Resources and other departments, which organize the implementation of budget performance management of governance funds, strengthen performance target management, monitor performance operations, and organize performance evaluations.
The scope of governance fund support is mainly used in two aspects: integrated protection and restoration projects of mountains, rivers, forests, fields, lakes, grass and sand, and remediation of abandoned industrial and mining land left over from history.
Governance funds should be used first to solve outstanding problems in the ecosystem, and should not be used for the following expenditures: projects that do not meet national control requirements such as natural protected areas, ecological protection red lines, and cultivated land protection red lines; projects with clear restoration responsibility entities; projects that have been established by the central government Projects supported by financial funds; construction of tourist facilities such as parks, squares, sculptures, and landscape engineering projects such as "bonsai" projects.
Governance funds are allocated using the project method. Projects with a total investment of 1 billion to 2 billion yuan (excluding 2 billion yuan) for integrated protection and restoration projects of mountains, rivers, forests, fields, lakes, grass, and sand will be awarded a subsidy of 500 million yuan; projects with a total investment of 2 billion yuan to 50 Projects with a total project investment of 5 billion yuan (excluding 5 billion yuan) will receive a subsidy of 1 billion yuan; projects with a total investment of 5 billion yuan or more will receive a subsidy of 2 billion yuan.
Projects with a total investment of 500 million yuan or more in the remediation of abandoned industrial and mining land left over from history will be awarded a subsidy of 300 million yuan.
The Ministry of Finance will work with the Ministry of Natural Resources and other departments to publicly select the best projects to support through competitive review.
Fan Yixia, a researcher at the Resource Environment and Ecological Civilization Research Center of the Chinese Academy of Fiscal Sciences, believes that under the situation of tight fiscal balance, the supporting role of central fiscal funds in key ecological protection, restoration and governance continues to increase, and the "Management Measures" help to use fiscal funds where possible. We will promote systematic ecological protection and restoration work accurately and scientifically.
"The central government focuses on key areas and key links such as ecological protection and restoration. It not only strengthens fiscal fund guarantees and policy support, but also focuses on further improving the efficiency of fund use through the construction of long-term mechanisms, which reflects the overall requirement of improving the quality and efficiency of fiscal funds." Fan Yixia said.
Zeng Jinhua
(Economic Daily)