Xu et al. (2025): Impact evaluation of coastal protection forest program on carbon sequestration change in East China
Hanle Xu, Ting Zhou, Shunbin Yao, Qigang Xu, Guozhi Li, Wu Yang, IN: Journal of Environmental Management, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2025.126620
Forest carbon sequestration is an important nature-based solution for mitigating climate change. Despite significant investments allocated to the construction of coastal protection forests to mitigate climate change and environmental degradation, the effects of these conservation efforts have rarely been examined. This study evaluates the causal effects of China’s Coastal Protection Forest Program (CPFP) on carbon sequestration changes in East China, focusing on program impact itself, time lag, and spatial heterogeneity. Using long-term forest inventory data (1999–2018) from 300 permanent plots, integrating biophysical and socioeconomic variables, the authors applied quasi-experimental matching methods to isolate program impacts.