Abstract
A green forestation plan (GFP) is expected to promote the reforestation of plains totaling
60,000 ha within the first 8 yr in Taiwan. Annual subsidies for landlords, is NT$120,000 (US$ 4,000)
per hectare, and NT$2.4 million for 20 yr. In this paper, we surveyed landlords’ opinions towards
the GFP in an attempt to understand their incentives to participate in the GFP and their levels of
concern and agreement towards the policy design. According to the results of this paper, there was
still a relatively high proportion of respondents who were not aware of the GFP; more than 50% of
landlords were neutral or willing to participate given high reforestation subsidies; approximately
30% of landlords were unwilling to participate. In terms of the period of this policy, 52.7% of
respondents indicated that it should be shortened to ≦ 15 yr. In terms of the amount of the subsidy,
41.7% of respondents said that it should be raised to approximately NT$250,000/ha. Some
policy suggestions are provided as follows: (1) many landlords are still unaware of the GFP so the
government should enhance the promotion of the policy; (2) many landlords are unwilling to participate
in GFP mainly because they do not own enough land to be eligible, hence the government
should consider adjusting its requirements for the minimum agricultural land area; (3) for subsequent
promotions of the GFP, the government may consider targeting landlords with high incomes
and high levels of education; and (4) because the subsidy of this policy alone provides limited help
to landlords, the government should help landlords explore other revenue possibilities from afforestation
in addition to the existing subsidies and raise the participation incentives.