Unlocking coastal restoration success: The urgent need for stronger technical standards in rapidly developing countries

Published in Ecology & Evolution
Unlocking coastal restoration success: The urgent need for stronger technical standards in rapidly developing countries
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As the world embarks on the United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration and adopts the ambitious Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, a critical question arises: can restoration practices truly reverse the severe degradation of ecosystems, particularly coastal ecosystems that support the well-being of billions of people living in world’s coastal regions? Despite the urgency, restoration practices in coastal ecosystems have often been carried out in a fragmented, inconsistent manner, lacking the necessary technical standards to ensure their effectiveness. This is especially true in developing countries, where pressures for economic development are high, and policies for ecosystem restoration remain to be fully developed. While technical guiding standards—such as guidelines, handbooks, and specifications—are being increasingly developed by many nations globally to enhance restoration performance, surprisingly, there has yet to be a comprehensive evaluation of how well these protocols are shaping real-world practices. This gap in understanding directly impacts the effectiveness of restoration efforts, making it essential to strengthen these guiding frameworks to truly achieve meaningful restoration outcomes. Taking the rapid evolution of coastal ecosystem restoration in China as a model system, i.e., being a good representative of a country that has developed rapidly over the last decades and which is home to a wide variety of coastal wetlands, this study investigates the alignment between technical standards and operational practices.

Our analyses reveal widespread discrepancies between restoration practices and established protocols in China over the past four decades, as mainly shown in the following aspects: i) over 60% of techniques implemented in restoration projects lacked detailed technical guiding-standards, especially for those targeting severely degraded coastal ecosystems, such as seagrass meadows, coral reefs, and salt marshes; ii) development of technical standards lagged significantly behind the implementation of restoration projects, leaving many initiatives to proceed without the benefit of clear, informed guidance; and iii) existing standards have predominantly centered on conventional monitoring, rather than guiding the making of good designs and adaptive management, which likely undermine the long-term performance and success of restoration. We also found that these widespread discrepancies occurred likely because the development of standards was mainly driven by restoration-related policies, rather than lessons from the success or failure of practices. Without appropriate and timely standards at each stage of the restoration process, the risk of failure escalates. In the worst cases, poorly designed interventions could emerge—pseudo-ecological efforts that not only fall short of restoration goals but also exacerbate ecosystem degradation. Actually, the misalignment of restoration projects from standards are challenges likely faced by many rapidly developing economies that are expanding ecological restorations, such as mangrove restoration in Southeast Asia, seagrass restoration in the Baltic Sea and Australia, salt marsh restoration in Africa and the Middle East, and coral reef restoration in Atlantic Sea islands.

Our findings suggest caution in enacting guidance strategies for coastal ecosystems that rely on restoration projects to reverse ecosystem degradation. Discrepancies between policies, standards, and practices can lead to a “cask effect” in restoration outcomes—where the shortest board among different restoration stages determines the final restoration results, especially since most effort goes to the monitoring stage and much less to up-front design, implementation, and post-management. To remedy such discrepancies, we finally proposed a coordinated framework to optimize policy-protocol-practice interactions, emphasizing enhanced feedback among the three, as well as comprehensive effectiveness evaluation throughout the entire restoration process. By fostering this holistic approach, we aim to improve the quality and consistency of restoration practices in coastal ecosystems.

Illustration for resolving the discrepancies between protocols and operational practices throughout the entire ecosystem restoration process, including up-front design, implementation, monitoring, and post-management. Credit: Zhonghua Ning and Tian Xie.

Nevertheless, it is noteworthy that China’s current policy priorities, shifting from rapid economic development to the concept of ecological civilization, offer great opportunities to address the challenges outlined above. A prime example of this is the Wetland Conservation Law, which came into force on 1 June 2022. This groundbreaking legislation, China’s first national law dedicated to wetlands, places a strong emphasis on “no net loss” protection targets and nature-based solutions, providing a solid legal basis for wetland restoration and conservation. Furthermore, China’s restoration guidelines introduced in recent years place greater emphasis on the importance of best technical practices, including a combination of feasible restoration site and technique selection, as well as the incorporation of long-term monitoring with adaptive maintenance options. Such national-level actions may be worthy of reference for other developing countries that are conducive to mitigating the degradation trend of global coastal ecosystems.

Best technical practices using adaptive planting techniques to restore the iconic "Red Beach" salt marsh landscape in the Liaohe River Delta (left) and the Yellow River Delta (right) in China. Credit: Tian Xie.

Fortunately, as most coastal ecosystems have not yet degraded to the tipping point where restoration cannot be reversed globally, and many countries are increasingly investing in ecological restoration, the windows of opportunity for systematic change remain open. Our findings from a coastal country facing significant development pressures can provide implications for other countries during this United Nations Decade of Ecosystem Restoration and Ocean Science for Sustainable Development, leading to greater opportunities to restore coastal ecosystems more effectively.

Publication

Tian Xie, Zhonghua Ning, Baoshan Cui, Qiang He, Cong Chen, Zhenchang Zhu, Yujia Zhai, Guogui Chen, Qing Wang, Shanze Li, Junhong Bai, Christopher B. Craft, Tjeerd J. Bouma, and Zhifeng Yang. Overlooked discrepancies in protocols undermine coastal restoration practices in China. Communications Earth & Environment, Doi: 10.1038/s43247-025-01995-x

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