Afforestation projects in Qinghai Province: what are the benefits of ecosystem services?

Qinghai is a pivotal area for protection and ecological restoration, which is a unique plateau ecosystem composed of tundra, grasslands, Gobi, and the source of rivers. In response to afforestation projects, the government has successfully implemented the Sloping Land Conversion Program (SLCP), Natural Forest Conservation Program (NFCP), and Three-North Shelter Forest Program (TNSFP), etc. However, the ecological benefits after the implementation of the restoration project lack quantitative evaluation. In this study, we extracted farmland (slope> 25°) and wasteland as appropriate afforestation areas based on the ecological niche of tree species simulated by MaxEnt. Then, ecosystem services are selected as indicators to measure the benefits of restoration, with supply services and recreation services as direct benefits, and regulating services and supporting services as indirect benefits. We compared the impact of afforestation on ecosystem services, highlighting the benefits of ecological engineering. Under the assumption that all afforestation tree species survive, the appropriate afforestation areas are 549.25hm², mainly distributed in the northeast of Qinghai. Regulating services, supporting services and the attractiveness of recreation services have improved, while crop supply and the accessibility of recreation services have decreased. Our findings can enrich theoretical and empirical research on ecosystem services and have implications for afforestation management in similar areas.