Connecting People and Nature for Coastal Sustainability
Coastal regions connect land and sea and support closely linked ecological and socioeconomic processes. They sustain biodiversity, underpin regional economies, and contribute to climate mitigation and adaptation. Yet climate change and intensifying human activities are degrading coastal ecosystems and the services they provide. Understanding how these systems change, and how economic development can be coordinated with conservation and restoration, is central to coastal sustainable development.
Our research focuses on the sustainability of coastal social–ecological systems. We examine interactions and feedbacks between people and coastal ecosystems to identify effective strategies and inform decisions about conservation, restoration, and sustainable use.
Understanding coastal social–ecological system dynamics
Restoration is often assessed through ecological indicators alone, leaving its economic and social outcomes less well understood. We developed a framework to evaluate ecological and economic outcomes across global mangrove restoration studies and identify factors influencing their effectiveness. This work provides a basis for examining restoration within broader social–ecological systems.
Building on this framework, our case studies in Xiamen Bay, Quanzhou Bay, and the Zhangjiang Estuary combine remote sensing, surveys with large samples, interviews, and choice experiments. These studies assess ecological suitability, ecosystem service values, and implications for human well-being, while examining differences in the long-term trajectories of mangrove social–ecological systems. Together, they inform restoration planning that accounts for ecological conditions, economic considerations, and social needs.
We are currently collecting long-term ecological data and conducting socioeconomic surveys across coastal China. This work aims to identify the drivers of system change and assess system stability and the capacity to recover from disturbance across different environmental and development contexts.
Examining coupled systems and feedback processes
Mangrove loss and recovery are closely connected to regional development and community livelihoods. Understanding these relationships requires attention to the ecological processes, resource-use decisions, and economic activities that link mangroves and people. We apply large language models and complex network analysis to synthesise evidence on interactions and feedbacks within mangrove social–ecological systems.
To address conflicts between mangrove conservation and aquaculture, we combine spatial analysis and field surveys to trace changes in mangrove–aquaculture systems across China and develop a typology of integrated mangrove–aquaculture (IMA) systems. Case studies in Beihai, Zhanjiang, Fuding, Cangnan, and Yueqing represent different IMA types and assess their ecological, economic, and social outcomes through long-term ecological monitoring and socioeconomic surveys.
These data will inform system dynamics and agent-based models to identify the mechanisms and feedbacks that shape these outcomes. We pay particular attention to feedbacks and thresholds that influence whether the ecological, economic, and social benefits of restoration persist over time.
Optimising conservation and restoration planning
Coastal wetland restoration in China is increasingly expected to deliver multiple benefits alongside gains in restored area. However, outcomes vary across restoration approaches, locations, and designs. Planning therefore needs to consider where interventions can be implemented, which measures are appropriate, and how their effectiveness can be improved.
One strand of our research addresses these questions through cost-minimisation models that identify priority areas for shoreline conservation in China. This work examines how conservation objectives can be achieved while accounting for opportunity costs. For mangrove restoration and sustainable use, we are developing multi-objective spatial optimisation models to explore alternative allocations of restoration strategies under uncertain climate and socioeconomic conditions. The aim is to support planning that balances multiple objectives and remains responsive to future change.
Our future research will combine climate and socioeconomic scenarios to explore how coastal systems may respond to alternative conservation, restoration, and resource-use strategies. By assessing long-term benefits, risks, and implementation conditions, we aim to support planning that advances biodiversity conservation, climate resilience, and sustainable development under uncertainty.
Developing nature-based solutions for coastal sustainability
Nature-based solutions use ecosystem conservation, restoration, and sustainable management to address societal challenges while benefiting biodiversity and human well-being. Our current research focuses on climate mitigation and adaptation, sustainable livelihoods, and coastal development.
We assessed the ecological and economic outcomes of engineered, ecosystem-based, and hybrid coastal defence measures. Our meta-analysis found that soft and hybrid measures were more cost-effective than hard engineering, with benefits for risk reduction and climate mitigation that depend on the reference ecosystem and risk context. This research helps evaluate the effectiveness, benefits, and trade-offs of nature-based approaches and how they can complement engineering.
We have also studied climate adaptation pathways across aquaculture value chains, identifying 53 adaptation options and barriers to their implementation. Drawing on this evidence, we aim to identify the conditions that enable nature-based solutions to be adopted and sustained in coastal settings.
Our future research will evaluate the long-term benefits and trade-offs of nature-based solutions under changing climate and socioeconomic conditions, and identify the governance and financial conditions needed for their adoption and sustained effectiveness. We will use this evidence to inform how these approaches can support biodiversity conservation, climate resilience, and sustainable livelihoods.