National Science Review

REVIEW 10: nwad033, 2023

https://doi.org/10.1093/nsr/nwad033
Advance access publication 21 February 2023

EARTH SCIENCES

Special Topic: Coupling Human and Natural Systems

Ecological restoration for sustainable development
in China
1 State Key Laboratory

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of Urban and Regional Bojie Fu1,2,∗ , Yanxu Liu2 and Michael E. Meadows3,4,5
Ecology, Research
Center for
Eco-Environmental
Sciences, Chinese ABSTRACT
Academy of Sciences, Facing the need for transdisciplinary research to promote ecological restoration that achieves both social
Beijing 100085, China; and ecological benefits, research on past restoration efforts that have directly or indirectly contributed to
2 State Key Laboratory
regional or national sustainable development warrants reassessment. Using China as an example, in this
of Earth Surface
review, we address three basic research questions that can be summarized as follows: ecological
Processes and
Resource Ecology,
restoration—of what, for whom and to what purpose? Accordingly, a ‘landscape pattern—ecosystem
Faculty of service—sustainable development’ co-evolutionary framework is proposed here to describe landscape-scale
Geographical Science, ecological restoration and its impact on landscape patterns and ecological processes, ecosystem services for
Beijing Normal human well-being, sustainable livelihoods and socioeconomic development. From the strategic pattern of
University, Beijing national ecological security to the pattern of major projects to protect and restore major national
100875, China; ecosystems, the spatial pattern of China’s ecological restoration is more geographically integrative. From
3 School of Geographic
major function-oriented zoning to systematic ecological protection and restoration, and for the purpose of
and Oceanographic achieving the Beautiful China Initiative, there are three stages of ecosystem services management:
Sciences, Nanjing classification, synergy and integration, respectively. The difference in geographic processes should be
University, Nanjing
considered in the key requirements of ecological restoration for China’s five national strategies for regional
210023, China;
4 College of Geography sustainable-development strategies. Deepening understanding of the relationship between humans and
and Environmental
nature in different geographical contexts is a scientific prerequisite to support policymaking related to
Sciences, Zhejiang ecological restoration. To promote greater harmony between humans and nature, we propose four
Normal University, important research directions: (i) understanding coupling processes among key components,
Jinhua 321004, China (ii) identifying ecosystem service flows, (iii) evaluating social-ecological benefits and (iv) supporting
and 5 Department of adaptive management for regional sustainable development.
Environmental and
Geographical Science, Keywords: social-ecological system, landscape pattern, ecological process, ecosystem services, sustainable
University of Cape livelihoods, policymaking
Town, Rondebosch
7701, South Africa
INTRODUCTION goals (SDGs) [2]. Considering the need for trans-
Ecological restoration, defined as the process of as- disciplinary research on ecological restoration that
∗ Corresponding yields social and ecological benefits in the context
sisting the recovery of an ecosystem that has been
author. E-mail:
degraded, damaged or destroyed, is aimed at re- of the UN Decade [3–5], a retrospective of past
[email protected]
covering ecosystem integrity that includes personal, restoration efforts is needed at the national or re-
cultural, socioeconomic and ecological values to- gional scale to guide the future research agenda to-
ward increasing social–ecological resilience [1]. The ward the goals of Agenda 2030 [6–8].
Received 22
UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, from 2021 The contribution of ecological restoration to
November 2022;
Revised 7 February through 2030, delivers a rallying call for the pro- sustainable development relates mainly, although
2023; Accepted 9 tection and revival of ecosystems for the benefit of not exclusively, to SDG15 (Life on Land) [9,10].
February 2023 people and nature, and accordingly, it promotes the Ideally, the SDGs will be achieved holistically,
timely achievement of the sustainable development although it is clear that, while there are synergies


C The Author(s) 2023. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of China Science Publishing & Media Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative

Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted reuse, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original
work is properly cited.
 Natl Sci Rev, 2023, Vol. 10, nwad033

between the goals, there are also tradeoffs [11,12], and arbitrary [19]. Three systematic, scientifically
and these need to be considered in relation to based steps are necessary to achieve sustainable de-
ecological restoration. Moreover, given the marked velopment from ecological restoration: first, recipro-
differences between nations and regions, the follow- cal effects between pattern and process need to be
ing question arises: how can ecological restoration quantified; second, ecosystem services among var-
systematically promote sustainable development ious ecosystem functions should be identified, and
under different geographical contexts [13]? The the corresponding contribution of ecosystem ser-
social-ecological system concept, which lies at the vices to human well-being must be acknowledged;
core of sustainability science, emphasizes that peo- and finally, adaptations and actions to regulate nat-
ple, communities, economies, societies and cultures ural conditions should be harnessed for the promo-
are all embedded components of the biosphere tion of sustainable development [20,21]. Although

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across local and global scales [14]. To integrate eco- ecological restoration precisely represents this kind
logical, economic and social processes in ecological of regulating action, not all restoration approaches
restoration, the social-ecological systems approach have the ability to promote sustainable develop-
has been widely employed, such as in (or in relation ment. The co-evolution of social-ecological systems
to) social-ecological restoration or social-ecological can be considered to comprise the abovementioned
recovery [3]. Nevertheless, a synthetic conceptual three steps, corresponding to the questions of eco-
framework in the social-ecological system context logical restoration—of what, for whom and to what
that incorporates co-evolution from the landscape purpose (Fig. 1).
pattern through to sustainable development and in- The first step in the co-evolution framework is
corporating adaptive decision-making in ecological ecological restoration on landscape pattern. The
restoration is still lacking. With the ultimate goal of term ‘pattern’ generally refers to the spatial struc-
achieving sustainable development from a social- ture of landscape components, including their prop-
ecological perspective, three basic research objec- erties of size, type, number and distribution [22]. As
tives can be identified as: ecological restoration—of opposed to merely describing the size of a restora-
what, for whom and to what purpose? tion area or recording the number of trees [23], cou-
China is addressing the issue of ecological pling landscape patterns and ecological processes
restoration nationally, as it regards this as an impor- yields more constructive, process-based guidance
tant element of so-called ecological civilization [15]. for ecological restoration measures at the landscape
While significant progress on land-system sustain- scale. For instance, the dynamics of soil erosion,
ability appears to have been achieved [16], reflecting carbon and hydrological cycle processes, and flow–
on China’s ecological restoration experience, and its sediment relationships in response to changes in
social-ecological effects, may yield some important landscape patterns, should be considered the key
practical lessons for future adaptive restoration to monitoring the biophysical impacts of restora-
efforts toward the goal of sustainable development. tion efforts, such as the Grain-for-Green Program in
However, although particular geographical areas China’s Loess Plateau [18].
may have been the object of such consideration, The second step in the co-evolution framework
e.g. the Loess Plateau [17,18], there are few reviews focuses on ecological restoration for ecosystem
of China’s ecological restoration for sustainable- services and also for human well-being. Ecological
development actions at the national scale to date. processes are too often ignored or mismanaged, but
Based on a social-ecological perspective, this review landscape components can be structured to deliver
aims to summarize China’s progress in ecological ecosystem services that maintain key ecological
restoration for sustainable development and to processes while simultaneously meeting human
propose a scientifically based ecological restoration needs and well-being [24]. For instance, significant
agenda that promotes greater harmony between conversions of farmland to woodland and grassland
humans and nature in the country. resulted in enhanced soil conservation and carbon
sequestration in China’s Loess Plateau [25]. The
research challenge lies in understanding the spa-
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ECOLOGICAL
tially different and often cross-scale relationships
RESTORATION AND SUSTAINABLE between ecosystem services and human well-being
DEVELOPMENT following ecological restoration, since there are
Social-ecological systems have powerful reciprocal teleconnections between them, while the flow from
feedback and act as complex adaptive systems. The the ecosystem service supply to fulfilling human
term ‘social-ecological’ emphasizes the integration needs is often unclear [26].
of humans in nature and stresses that the delineation The final step in the co-evolution framework is
between society and the environment is artificial ecological restoration to sustainable development

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 Natl Sci Rev, 2023, Vol. 10, nwad033

Ecological restoration in social-ecological systems

Cross-scale
issues Decision-making
Of what? For whom? To what purpose?

Coupling landscape Ecosystem service Sustainable livelihoods

pattern and flow for human and socioeconomic
ecological process well-being development

Landscape pattern Ecosystem service Sustainable development

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Formation Benefit

Geographic context Co-evolution

Harmony between humankind and nature

Figure 1. Conceptual relationship between ecological restoration and sustainable development.

with cyclical decision-making for adaptive manage- projects were based on terrestrial ecosystem types,
ment, which moves toward the ongoing dual out- including forest, grassland and cropland [16]. In ad-
comes of sustainable livelihoods and socioeconomic dition to those components, the wetland, marine and
development. Social and economic issues, such as coastal landscapes have recently received attention,
limited access to markets and input resources, weak and large-scale ecological restoration projects have
governance and lack of knowledge around alterna- been established. During the selection of these pro-
tive production technologies, frequently constrain grams, we found that the terms ‘reclamation’ and
the options available to communities in degraded ‘restoration’ were not explicitly separated in some
landscapes [27], such that ecological restoration of the plans at the time of their implementation,
may encourage local investment and lead to employ- e.g. the National Land Consolidation Program; note
ment opportunities under adaptive management that the mining land reclamation programs are not
combined with socioeconomic development [28]. included in this review.
In addition, the costs of improving ecosystem service In China, the integrality of landscape patterns
delivery in an ecological restoration project may be was described as ‘a community of life including
considered, at least partially, as leverage for local sus- mountains, rivers, forests, farmlands, lakes, grass-
tainable livelihoods [29,30]. It should be noted that lands and deserts’. From 2016 to 2020, 26 pilot
the contribution of ecological restoration to mar- projects, collectively named the Ecological Protec-
kets and livelihoods is not unidirectional, as the is- tion and Restoration of Mountains, Rivers, Forests,
sues in sustainable livelihoods and socioeconomic Farmlands, Lakes and Grasslands Program, were im-
development also drive decision-making in ecologi- plemented, aiming at integrative ecological restora-
cal restoration. Therefore, if the vision of ‘harmony tion of landscapes. With the success of the pilot
between humankind and nature’ is to be realized, projects, 19 projects, collectively named the Integra-
co-evolutionary pathways should be highlighted, in- tive Ecological Protection and Restoration of Moun-
cluding both the flow of ecosystem services from na- tains, Rivers, Forests, Farmlands, Lakes, Grasslands
ture to humans and decision-making around ecosys- and Deserts Program, were implemented in 2021
tem services delivery from humans to nature. and 2022.
The achievements of China’s ecological restora-
tion projects are apparent. Based on the Chinese
PROGRESS OF ECOLOGICAL government’s white paper of Forest and Grassland
RESTORATION IN CHINA Resources and Ecological Status in China 2021 [31],
Ecological restoration effects on China has 231 million hectares of forest, with a for-
landscape pattern est coverage rate of 24.02%. The grassland area is
264.5301 million hectares, the comprehensive veg-
Since the Three-North Shelterbelt Development etation coverage of grassland is 50.32%, and the to-
Program began in 1978, China has implemented tal output of fresh grass is 595 million tons. The to-
more than a dozen interprovincial ecological restora- tal carbon storage of forest and grass is 11.443 billion
tion programs (Box 1). Most of the main landscape tons. In addition, China has 56.2938 million hectares
components of China’s major ecological restoration of wetlands.
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 Natl Sci Rev, 2023, Vol. 10, nwad033

Box 1. China’s major ecological restoration programs. 10. The Sandification Control Program for Areas in
the Vicinity of Beijing and Tianjin
1. The Three-North Shelterbelt Development Pro- Aims: Improve and optimize the ecological environ-
gram ment and reduce the risk of sandstorms.
Aims: Halt desertification and improve the environ- Planned investment: 143.66 billion yuan (1st
ment. Round and 2nd Round).
Planned investment: 57.68 billion yuan (1st Phase Start time: 2001
to 4th Phase). 11. Ecological Protection and Construction on
Start time: 1978 Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (Ecological Protection and
2. National Key Construction Program for Soil and Construction at the Three River Source Region in
Water Qinghai, and Protection and Construction of the Eco-
Aims: Control soil erosion, improve agricultural pro- logical Security Barrier in Tibet)
duction conditions, ecology and the environment.

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Aims: Reduce desertified land and degraded grass-
Planned investment: 14.54 billion yuan (1st Phase land, and increase forest coverage.
to 5th Phase). Planned investment: 143.66 billion yuan (1st
Start time: 1983 Round and 2nd Round).
3. The Shelterbelt Development Program in Five Start time: 2005
Regions (Yangtze River Shelterbelt, Coastal Shel- 12. National Wetland Protection Program
terbelt, Pearl River Shelterbelt, Taihang Mountain Aims: Maintain the ecological characteristics and
Greening and the Plain Greening) basic functions of the wetland ecosystem.
Aims: Arrest the deterioration of the ecology and en- Planned investment: 90.04 billion yuan (2006 to
vironment of the Yangtze River, Pearl River and their 2010).
coastal areas. Start time: 2006
Planned investment: 258.42 billion yuan (1st Phase 13. Rocky Desertification Comprehensive Treat-
to 3rd Phase). ment Program in Karst Areas
Start time: 1987 Aims: Curb the expansion of desertification in rocky
4. Comprehensive Agricultural Development Pro- environments, improve the ecological environment
gram and maintain national ecological security, promote
Aims: Raise the quality of life in the countryside, and national unity and social harmony.
expedite land reform and long-term food security. Planned investment: 11.9 billion yuan (1st Phase).
Planned investment: 32.65 billion yuan (1st Phase). Start time: 2008
Start time: 1988 14. The Grassland Ecological Protection Subsidies
5. National Land Consolidation Program and Awards Program
Aims: Manage the area of cultivated land, improve Aims: Protect national ecological security, promote
its utilization and increase land revenues. the development of pastoral areas and herders’ in-
Planned investment: 2.633 trillion yuan (1st Phase comes, maintain national unity and stability in the
and 2nd Phase). border area, coordinate the development of urban
Start time: 1997 and rural areas.
6. Natural Forest Conservation Program Planned investment: ∼77 billion yuan (1st Round).
Aims: Protect and restore natural forests. Start time: 2011
Planned investment: 320.22 billion yuan (1st Phase 15. Cultivated Land Quality Protection and Promo-
and 2nd Phase). tion Program
Start time: 1998 Aims: Enhance national food security, and the qual-
7. Grain for Green Program ity, safety and ecological sustainability of agricultural
Aims: Increase forest cover, alleviate soil erosion, production.
conserve biodiversity and increase rural household Start time: 2015
income. 16. Marine Ecological Protection and Restoration
Planned investment: 212.81 billion yuan (1st Program (Blue Bay Initiative)
round). Aims: Improve the ecological environment function
Start time: 1999 of coast, sea area and island.
8. Program of the Base Construction of Fast- Planned investment: 3 or 4 billion yuan per city.
Growing and High-Yielding Timber Forest Start time: 2016
Aims: Remedy the decline in timber supply. 17. Integrative Ecological Protection and Restora-
Planned investment: 71.8 billion yuan (1st Phase tion of Mountains, Rivers, Forests, Farmlands,
to 3rd Phase). Lakes, Grasslands and Deserts Program
Start time: 2001 Aims: Enhance the overall self-recovery capacity,
9. Central Government Forest Ecosystem Com- stability and quality of natural ecosystems, as well
pensation Fund Program as the overall enhancement of the supply capacity of
Aims: Protect species, improve the living environ- ecological products.
ment and maintain ecological balance. Planned investment: ∼5 billion yuan per project.
Planned investment: 80.1 billion yuan (2001 to Start time: 2016
2014).
Start time: 2001

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 Natl Sci Rev, 2023, Vol. 10, nwad033

Northern Sand Prevention Belt Northeast Forest Belt Northern Sand Prevention Belt Northeast Forest Belt

Key Ecological Areas Coastal Belt

Qinghai-Tibet Plateau of the Yellow River
Ecological Barrier

Key Ecological Areas

of the Yangtze River
Undefined LEGEND

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Qinghai-Tibet Plateau International boundary
Ecological Barrier Boundary of province,
autonomous region, or
municipality directly under
the central government
Loess Plateau-Sichuan-Yunnan Boundary of special
Ecological Barrier administrative region
Southern Hilly Mountain Belt Southern Hilly Mountain Belt
: GS (2023)0651

Figure 2. The strategic pattern of national ecological security and the pattern of major projects to protect and restore major national ecosystems.

The studies also clearly demonstrate changes China’s territory was covered by areas of ecological
in landscape pattern and related ecological pro- red lines, which are believed to powerfully relieve
cesses emanating from China’s large-scale ecologi- or reverse ecosystem degradation in ecologically im-
cal restoration projects. Satellite data at the national portant and sensitive landscapes.
scale (2000–2017) show that vegetation green- Moreover, from the strategic pattern of national
ness in China has greatly increased in the last two ecological security to the pattern of major projects
decades, and the country alone accounts for 25% of to protect and restore major national ecosystems,
the global net increase in leaf area, of which 42% the pattern of China’s ecological restoration is be-
is from forests [32]. Wang et al. used Landsat im- coming more geographically integrated (Fig. 2).
ages to demonstrate a substantial increase in salt China’s Master Plan for Major National Projects to
marsh areas since 2012 in China’s coastal wetlands, Protect and Restore Important Ecosystems (2021–
driven by reduced anthropogenic activities and in- 2035) has demonstrated a national pattern of ‘three
creased conservation and restoration efforts [33]. It key areas and four belts’. This pattern considered
has been reported that >45% of China’s drylands ex- the integrity of geographical units more than the
perienced statistically significant land improvement past strategic pattern of national ecological secu-
or vegetation greenness from the 1980s to 2015, at- rity, abbreviated as ‘two barriers and three belts’.
tributable to, among other interventions, afforesta- Based on hierarchical ecological restoration plan-
tion and desert regeneration efforts in 13 ecolog- ning across nation, province, prefecture-level city
ical conservation and restoration programs [34]. and county, China’s landscape pattern will continue
Based on sediment load observations, Wang et al. to be optimized by ecological restoration until 2035,
demonstrated that large-scale vegetation restoration mainly in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau Ecological Bar-
in the Loess Plateau substantially reduced soil ero- rier, Key Ecological Areas of the Yellow River, Key
sion from the 1990s onward [35]. Ecological Areas of the Yangtze River, Northern
Toward longer-term conservation of entire land- Sand Prevention Belt, Northeast Forest Belt and
scapes, the establishment of ecological red lines can Coastal Belt.
safeguard China’s vast biodiversity, environmental Although the main aims of these programs were
resources and ecosystem services [36]. Protection of to improve the environment and enhance human
areas by ecological red lines is part of the newly re- livelihoods, the approach adopted was not always
vised Environmental Protection Law of China and compatible with comprehensively achieving sustain-
is listed as one of the priority actions to achieve able development. Indeed, the social-ecological sys-
ecological civilization [37]. The ecological red lines tems approach was not typically employed in the
can be defined as the minimum space that needs planning and implementation of most of these pro-
the strictest protection to improve ecological func- grams, so that they cannot be regarded as the final
tions, to ensure the sustainable supply of ecologi- word on China’s contribution to ecological restora-
cal goods and services [38,39]. By 2022, >25% of tion, which remains a work in progress. In the

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 Natl Sci Rev, 2023, Vol. 10, nwad033

following sections, we consider both the contribu- be considered, and the coupling mechanism be-
tions and limitations of these programs on the basis tween humans and nature in a geographic context
of the scientific literature. should be scientifically revealed to holistically bene-
fit human well-being. From major function-oriented
zoning to systematic ecological protection and
Ecological restoration for ecosystem restoration toward achievement of the Beautiful
services China Initiative, we consider three stages of ecosys-
The ecological restoration programs in China have tem services management: classification, synergy
greatly influenced ecosystem services, especially car- and integration (Fig. 3).
bon sequestration, soil retention and water yield, The first stage was China’s major function-
and their interactions, and it is clear that some oriented zoning in 2010, which was planned to

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spatiotemporal trade-off relationships need to be classify regional major functions for human well-
considered. being in a geographic context [48]. This plan can
Ecological restoration has brought about exten- provide a classification of ecosystem services for
sive increases in carbon sequestration in China. Lu geographical zones. The optimized-oriented zone
et al. estimated that a carbon drawdown of 74 Tg is an urbanized area that requires optimization of
C y−1 resulted from the implementation of China’s the supply–demand relationship of ecosystem ser-
six national key ecological restoration programs be- vices to maintain human well-being. The prioritized-
tween 2000 and 2010 [40]; while in a more re- oriented zone is an urbanization area with high
cent study, mitigation arising from natural climate potential for development under the appropriate
solutions was estimated at 0.6 (0.5–0.7) PgCO2 e harnessing of ecosystem services. The restricted-
yr−1 between 2000 and 2020 [41]. As an exam- oriented zone is the source area of provision services
ple, Zhang et al. reported that depopulation in rural and regulation services. The prohibited-oriented
China (−14 million people yr−1 between 2002 and zone is a vulnerable area where resource exploitation
2019) was associated with the development of a sub- damages local ecosystem services. However, this
stantial aboveground carbon sink of 0.28 ± 0.05 PgC stage took only a zoning perspective with regard to
yr−1 [42]. Liu et al. estimated that the 1st Phase of the classification of nature and humans, while trade-
the Natural Forest Conservation Program provided off relationships and flows were not adequately con-
12.71 Tg C·yr−1 net carbon sequestration; and the sidered in this classification.
Grain for Green Program provided 18.50 Tg C·yr−1 The second stage is the implementation of
net carbon sequestration [43]. China’s Master Plan for Major National Projects to
However, increased water consumption related Protect and Restore Important Ecosystems (2021–
to ecological restoration programs has been a cause 2035), which promotes systematic ecological pro-
for concern, especially in drylands. Cao et al. esti- tection and restoration at the landscape scale.
mated that at the national scale, China’s afforesta- Guided by the ecological civilization concept of
tion may increase water consumption by 559–2354 ‘a community of life including mountains, rivers,
m3 /ha annually compared with natural vegetation forests, farmlands, lakes, grasslands and deserts’, re-
without restoration [44]. Zhao et al. observed the cent ecological restoration projects have the poten-
significant depletion of terrestrial water storage fol- tial to enhance the synergy of typical ecosystem ser-
lowing ecological restoration in the Mu Us Desert vices in landscapes at different scales. During this
[45]. Based on estimates of evapotranspiration and stage, a cascade perspective on the flow from na-
human water demand, Feng et al. estimated that ture to humans is constructed. Synergy is advocated,
net primary productivity was close to growth lim- since the flow from ecosystem service supply to the
its (∼400 g C m−2 yr−1 ) considering the water re- fulfillment of human needs is still unclear in many
source capacity in revegetated areas of the Loess of China’s ecological restoration projects, and how
Plateau [46]. Considering the temporal aspects of these synergetic benefits then provide enduring in-
trade-offs, Li et al. conclude that while soil erosion centives (or not) for good management has not been
has been reduced by afforestation in the Haihe River well understood.
Basin, surface runoff has declined significantly after a The third stage is achieving the Beautiful China
time lag of 18 years, substantially limiting the overall Initiative in 2035, when the integration of ecosys-
desired benefit [47]. tem service supply, demand and flows for co-benefits
China’s ecological restoration has improved can be realized. The integration of ecosystem ser-
multiple ecosystem services and therefore has the vices is not an elimination of trade-off relation-
ability to benefit human well-being. With regard to ships but an integrative enhancement of all required
the spatiotemporal trade-off relationships between ecosystem services for co-benefits involving hu-
ecosystem services, geographical differences should man well-being in a geographical context. Towards

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Figure 3. The three stages of ecosystem services management from major function-oriented zoning to systematic ecological
protection and restoration and onwards to the achievement of the Beautiful China Initiative.

this stage, a co-evolutionary perspective on social- quality and had a large positive effect on herder in-
ecological systems is required for understanding comes [51].
how the benefits of ecosystem service flows are trans- However, ecological restoration programs are
lated into social, economic and policy incentives, so not always universally beneficial. Li et al. outline how
that locals may benefit from the restoration actions significant short-term costs for poorer households
and thus act to support adaptive management, rather prevented residents from participating because
than passively accepting the policy. A new set of eco- they lacked the resources to afford relocation in the
logical restoration practices that explicitly considers Relocation and Settlement Program in the south-
human–nature dynamics to ensure these incentives ern Shaanxi Province [52]. In contrast, resettled
are maintained in perpetuity should emerge at this households transformed livelihood activities from
stage. traditional agriculture and forestry labor to off-farm
activities that yielded increased income after relo-
cation, which is a win−win situation [53]. Cao et al.
Ecological restoration for the purpose proposed an income threshold associated with the
of sustainable development poverty trap, whereby sustainable livelihoods may
Research suggests that there existed local win−win be uplifted to achieve a win–win solution if their
synergies between ecosystem health and sustainable incomes are raised above a particular minimum
livelihoods and/or socioeconomic development. amount [28].
However, the identification of such win−win solu- There is also some local evidence that synergies
tions for regional policymaking is still in progress, as exist between ecosystem health and socioeconomic
benefits and incentives change across scales. development. Following the implementation of a
There is clear evidence that at least some ecolog- water diversion project in the Heihe River Basin,
ical projects have successfully benefited local liveli- the deterioration of ecosystems downstream was
hoods. In critically evaluating the Paddy Land to Dry substantially alleviated, sustaining both ecological
Land Program in Beijing, Zheng et al. report that health and socioeconomic development [54]. Cao
both regulating services and household income ben- et al. estimated that the returns on investment from
efited from implementation of a system whereby wa- the Three-North Shelter Forest System Project,
ter users pay upstream landholders [49]. Similarly, the Natural Forest Conservation Program and the
Zheng et al. simulated alternative land-use scenar- Grain-for-Green Program were 29.3%, 328.9% and
ios to identify win–win outcomes for regulating ser- 77.0%, respectively [55]. However, quantitative
vices and rubber production in the Ecosystem Func- cost−benefit analyses of China’s numerous ecologi-
tion Conservation Area of Hainan Island [50], and cal restoration programs are largely lacking.
Hou et al. concluded that China’s Grassland Ecolog- Taking the five national strategies for regional
ical Compensation Policy improved both grassland sustainable-development strategies as examples,

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 Natl Sci Rev, 2023, Vol. 10, nwad033

Ecological Protection and High-quality : GS (2023)0651

Development of the Yellow River Basin

Water retention
Soil conservation
Wetland conservation
Joint prevention and
control of pollution

Coordinated Development of the

Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Region

Construction of eco-friendly
development demonstration area

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Integrated development of
the Yangtze River Delta

LEGEND
Undefined
International boundary
Boundary of province, autonomous
region, or municipality directly under
the central government

Restoration of
water ecosystem Development of the Yangtze Construction of Guangdong Hong Green and low-carbon
and environment River Economic Belt Kong Macao Greater Bay Area development

Figure 4. The key requirements for ecological restoration for the five national strategies for regional sustainable-development
strategies.

geographical differences in the key requirements gain to those who may lose, especially in the context
for ecological restoration for regional sustainable of regional sustainable-development strategies.
development are highlighted (Fig. 4). For the
strategy of Ecological Protection and High-Quality
Development of the Yellow River Basin, upstream FUTURE RESEARCH NEEDS
water retention, midstream soil conservation and
Considering China’s vast terrestrial area, diversity
downstream wetland conservation were high-
of ecosystem types and large differences in the
lighted. For the strategy of the Development of
levels of rural development, an in-depth scientific
the Yangtze River Economic Belt, the restoration
understanding of the human–nature relationship
of the water ecosystem and environment is more
in different geographical contexts is a prerequisite
extensive, e.g. a fishing ban for a decade (2021–
for supporting policymaking on ecological restora-
2030). Joint prevention and control of pollution
tion for sustainable development. Accordingly, four
is the primary environmental requirement in
geographical research perspectives for integrative
the strategy of Coordinated Development of the
ecological protection and restoration are highlighted
Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Region. The construction
here, including establishing the nature of cou-
of an eco-friendly development demonstration
pling processes among key components, identifying
area is an objective of the strategy of integrated
ecosystem service flows, evaluating social-ecological
development of the Yangtze River Delta, and green
benefits and supporting adaptive management for
and low-carbon development is an objective of the
regional sustainable development (Fig. 5).
strategy of construction of the Guangdong Hong
Kong Macao Greater Bay Area. Although these
three regional requirements cannot be solved solely
by ecological restoration, enhanced ecosystem
Coupling processes among key
services, such as carbon sequestration, water quality components
purification and heat regulation, can contribute to Selection of the most relevant components in estab-
regional sustainable development. Given that ben- lishing coupling processes is essential for minimizing
efit flows, and their recipients, change across scales possible measurement errors in a social-ecological
in ecological restoration [44–47], research should system. However, selecting the correct components
focus on how to transfer benefits from those who engaged in ecological and social processes in a

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Figure 5. Research needs for ecological restoration in a geographic context.

particular geographical context and understanding change. However, human well-being is still inade-
the coupling relationships among these processes quately explored. The concept of ecosystem service
is generally impossible at the start, since social- flow is not in itself new [57], although spatially ex-
ecological systems are complex systems. In work- plicit flows have rarely been included in ecological
ing towards the goal of ecological restoration, set- restoration research. Therefore, to uncover the real
ting clear hypotheses, establishing a monitoring and contribution of restoration projects to human well-
learning regime to test and track these hypotheses being, establishing the details of ecosystem service
over time, and using these to drive (and constrain) flows is an essential research objective.
an adaptive management (and policy) approach are Considering geographical connections and flows,
needed. we propose two frontiers. First, it is imperative
Based on different geographical components, to identify ecosystem service flows from a social-
three frontiers of coupling can be identified in ecological network perspective. This involves mea-
the above-mentioned approach. The first is how suring dispersal-related flows, such as animal polli-
to decide, initially, what the key components nation and migration, or material flows, such as the
engaged in coupled processes are. For example, extraction and transport of sand for building mate-
what components form part of the ecological health rials [58], and it must also include measurement of
index—and how/why were they selected? The the potential flow of ecosystem services to house-
second is in the monitoring and learning regime; holds [59]. The second frontier is detecting poten-
how would key feedback from ecological restoration tial ecosystem service trade-offs at different spatial
relating to, for example, biogeochemical cycles scales, from local to national, and across short and
or social behavior be identified? Relationships long temporal scales, based on ecosystem service
between restorative actions on ecosystem attributes, flows. Depending on the spatial scale, ecosystem ser-
such as water resources or carbon sequestration, vice supply and demand can be linked to establish
generally require further research [56]. The third internal matching of proximal benefits and cross-
frontier lies in understanding how ecological and regional matching of longer-range benefits, which
social processes influence landscape patterns after can then be used to determine the costs of ecosys-
ecological restoration for adaptive management; for tem services in an ecological restoration project.
example, disturbances, such as warming, irrigation
and grazing, further affect the restored landscape
and thus impact ecosystem stability. Evaluation of social-ecological benefits
Social-ecological benefits need to be evaluated in
a holistic, geographical context. If, as may be the
Identification of ecosystem service flows case, restoration ecologists and social scientists re-
Research on the response of ecosystem services to main strictly within their own research field, this
ecological restoration in China has focused mainly may prevent the kind of comprehensive assess-
on how they have been influenced by landscape ment of restoration efforts on ecosystem health and

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socioeconomic sustainability that a social-ecological on the environment and on society under different
perspective requires [60]. Building a systematic geographic contexts. Second, adaptive planning
model including all the essential components in a strategies should be based on lessons learned from
social-ecological system is advocated so that any previous sustainable-development outcomes. In ad-
change in a particular factor reveals the associated re- dition to collaboration among ecologists and social
sponses of both ecological and social benefits in the scientists, good communication is needed with pol-
restoration program. icymakers, managers and practitioners for effective
Over and above the usual challenges of data ecosystem management that promotes sustainabil-
acquisition and complexity of coding in model ity in the broader context. Geographically feasible
development, there are two frontiers in appraising policymaking should meet the needs of practitioners
any geographical context-specific benefits. First, and policymakers in related fields, such as natural

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there is the context-specific parameter rule, in- resource management, environmental protection,
cluding both community-level parameters within animal husbandry and rural development.
household information and landscape-level pa-
rameters within geographical features [61]. The
second frontier involves elucidating the primary ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
and secondary relationships of benefits. Focusing We thank Dr. Xutong Wu (Beijing Normal University) for helpful
on the enhancement of prior ecosystem services to discussion.
meet global and local demands of current and future
social-ecological benefits, ecologists and social sci-
entists participating in model development should
FUNDING
understand the primary relationships of benefits and This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foun-
gradually improve the standard analytical process dation of China (42041007) and the Second Tibetan Plateau Sci-
entific Expedition and Research Program (2019QZKK0405).
for multi-objective ecological restoration [62],
which should not ignore sufficient communication Conflict of Interest Statement. None declared.
with policymakers and practitioners.

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