In order to improve the regional environment in light of the socioeconomic development that has taken place in China's coastal regions, ecological engineering construction projects must be designed and implemented, including (but not limited to) (1) the use of artificial beach restoration technology, (2) the construction of coastal protective forest belts, (3) the development of a shoreline farmland shelterbelt network, (4) the establishment of new mangrove forest areas, and (5) the restoration and protection of wetlands. The implementation of such projects can help prevent and mitigate against natural disasters, whilst at the same time protecting the environment, sheltering the land against wind and sand damage, conserving water and soil, preventing aquatic pollution, ensuring waterway security, purifying the atmosphere, and conserving biodiversity, ultimately forming an ecological barrier to achieve regional ecosystem balance. Therefore, the construction of coastal ecological engineering projects is crucial to securing ecological safety and improving the environmental status of coastal areas; plus, it is of great importance to the promotion of coordinated socioeconomic development in these regions.

Semi-natural grasslands and their diverse biota are threatened by changes in land-use like afforestation, abandonment of traditional practices, urban development or conversion into intensive agricultural land. Extensive loss and fragmentation of semi-natural grasslands consequently affects ecosystem functioning inherit to open landscapes and the sustainable provision of ecosystem services. Ecological restoration of grasslands has potential to halt further decline and hopefully reverse some of the damage done to the grasslands and vital ecosystem services they provide. By assessing grasslands before and after the restoration, we evaluated how restoring overgrown and forested semi-natural grasslands to open grasslands impacts nine ecosystem services: habitat maintenance, soil condition maintenance, soil carbon storage, pollination, pest regulation, provision of wild food and medicinal herbs, forage production, wood production and recreation. We also analyzed the relationship between ecosystem multifunctionality and species richness of multiple organism groups. We found that already few years after restoration, restored grasslands exhibited rapidly increasing biodiversity and ecosystem service provision. Similarly, the overall ecosystem multifunctionality increased significantly after restoration in previously overgrown and afforested grasslands. However, while a robust and strong positive relationship between multitrophic diversity and ecosystem multifunctionality existed before restoration, this relationship was somewhat weakened after restoration. We propose two potential explanations: first, the previously distinct condition classes became more similar, starting to resemble open grassland habitats in their species richness and composition. Second, the relationship may have been weakened by the temporarily disrupted and transitional nature of the ecosystem post-restoration, due to varying recovery rates among different species groups and ecosystem services. Notably, soil-related services (carbon storage and soil maintenance) take longer to respond to restoration, compared to other services. In addition, we detected significant negative impact of prolonged drought on pest regulation and forage production service in both restored and unrestored areas. Semi-natural grasslands are both biodiversity and ecosystem service hotspots in European landscapes and restoring these habitats significantly increases the provision potential of important ecosystem services. However, restoration planning must consider landscape history, regional characteristics and the importance of long-term monitoring for getting the most accurate results.

Drylands are limited by water and nutrients and exposed to high solar radiation, which result in sparse vegetation cover, soil erosion, and subsequent land degradation. Land degradation affects human wellbeing, causing health and environmental problems, migrations and increasing socio-economic instability worldwide. The restoration of degraded drylands by induced biocrusts has recently gained increased scientific interest. However, harsh environmental conditions can slow down biocrust development. Thus, it is necessary to investigate and develop methods for the mitigation of harsh environmental factors. This survey and assessment reviews studies on environmental barriers to biocrust development and technological achievements in the acceleration of artificially induced biocrust development through the mitigation of harsh environmental conditions. Climatic conditions, and soil and inoculum properties have been identified as major factors that influence the acceleration of biocrust development and which should be considered when dryland restoration is planned. Activities such as watering, shading, soil stabilization and fertilization, as well as further measures for the survival of the cyanobacterial inoculum have promoted biocrust establishment. The restoration of degraded substrates requires the alignment of amelioration techniques with environmental conditions and inoculum requirements. This study has also identified the need for further optimization of watering and shading technologies, better understanding of the importance of soil properties in biocrust growth, as well as further studies on the most appropriate inoculum type and techniques for mass cultivation and application at field scale. The proposal of a multifunctional solution is proposed that could contribute to the restoration of land and cleaner air and water, by providing an inoculum and suitable microsite environmental conditions for the accelerated establishment of viable biocrusts leading to further development, survival, and to the succession to higher organisms under a wide range of environmental conditions.

Changes in land use significantly impact landslide occurrence, particularly in mountainous areas in northern Thailand, where human activities such as urbanization, deforestation, and slope modifications alter natural slope angles, increasing susceptibility to landslides. To address this issue, an appropriate method using soilbags has been widely used for slope stabilisation in northern Thailand, but their effectiveness and sustainability require assessment. This research highlights the need to evaluate the stability of the soilbag-based method. In this study, a case study was conducted in northern Thailand, focusing on an area characterised by high-risk landslide potential. This research focuses on numerical evaluation the slope stability of soilbag-reinforced structures and discusses environmental sustainability. The study includes site investigations using an unmanned aerial photogrammetric survey for slope geometry evaluation and employing the microtremor survey technique for subsurface investigation. Soil and soilbag material parameters are obtained from existing literatures. Modelling incorporates hydrological data, slope geometry, subsurface conditions, and material parameters. Afterwards, the pore-water pressure results and safety factors are analysed. Finally, the sustainability of soilbags is discussed based on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The results demonstrate that soilbags effectively mitigate pore-water pressures, improve stability, and align with several SDGs objectives. This study enhances understanding of soilbags in slope stabilisation and introduces a sustainable landslide mitigation approach for landslide-prone regions.

Part 1 of this review synthesizes recent research on status and climate vulnerability of freshwater and saltwater wetlands, and their contribution to addressing climate change (carbon cycle, adaptation, resilience). Peatlands and vegetated coastal wetlands are among the most carbon rich sinks on the planet sequestering approximately as much carbon as do global forest ecosystems. Estimates of the consequences of rising temperature on current wetland carbon storage and future carbon sequestration potential are summarized. We also demonstrate the need to prevent drying of wetlands and thawing of permafrost by disturbances and rising temperatures to protect wetland carbon stores and climate adaptation/resiliency ecosystem services. Preventing further wetland loss is found to be important in limiting future emissions to meet climate goals, but is seldom considered. In Part 2, the paper explores the policy and management realm from international to national, subnational and local levels to identify strategies and policies reflecting an integrated understanding of both wetland and climate change science. Specific recommendations are made to capture synergies between wetlands and carbon cycle management, adaptation and resiliency to further enable researchers, policy makers and practitioners to protect wetland carbon and climate adaptation/resiliency ecosystem services.