Benefit-Sharing Mechanism of Hydropower Development:Nujiang Prefecture in Yunnan

Southwestern China contains rich hydropower resources and a high concentration of impoverished people. The acceleration of hydropower development is an important way for promoting the development of impoverished areas and improving the livelihood assets of rural households. Taking Nujiang Prefecture as our focal area we conducted enterprise interviews and government discussions to arrive at a benefit-sharing mechanism for hydropower development. We found that heavy tax burdens on enterprises, low compensation standards, unreasonable electricity prices and weak development conditions are the main reasons that hydropower development is not accompanied by local economic development and improvement in the livelihoods of rural people. Based on a specific factor model and the theory of persistent income, a theoretical model is proposed and used to assess the scenario before relocation and the scenario after relocation. On this basis, policy recommendations for benefit-sharing mechanisms of hydropower development are proposed.

Aesthetic Perception of Residential Landscapes in Nujiang Lisu Autonomous Prefecture,Yunnan Province

The aesthetic perceptions of local residents towards residential landscapes are significant to the protection and sustainable development of regional landscapes, especially in underdeveloped areas with landscape resources of higher aesthetic value. Using Nujiang Lisu Autonomous Prefecture in Yunnan Province as a case study, we conducted questionnaires with 620 local residents and a logistic regression model to determine aesthetic perceptions and factors affecting these perceptions. We found that local residents in Nujiang hold a relatively high perception of their residential landscapes. A majority of respondents, 75.81%, believe their residential landscapes are beautiful. Eight factors were found to influence the aesthetic perception. In direct influential factors, administrative village located in the protected areas and the standard deviation of the elevation around the administrative village have positive influence; distance from administrative village to county town, the ecological environment has changed in recent years, whether tourism development has a negative impact and wish to live in the city have negative influence. In indirect influential factors, both residential house type and have a television at home have positive influence. Based on these results, we discussed relevant policy suggestions to maintain the aesthetic perceptions held by local residents of their residential landscapes and promote the protection and sustainable development of this valuable landscape in Nujiang.