Abstract
China’s forest restoration represents a proactive, state-led nature-based solution aligned with national climate commitments. Although previous studies assessed individual ecosystem services, few studies systematically evaluated the overall ecosystem services interactions across ecological engineering zones. Our review of 133 studies revealed strong carbon-soil-biodiversity synergies, yet water conservation varied and socio-economic benefits remained underrepresented. We highlight regional variability in these outcomes, emphasizing the need for tailored management strategies.
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Acknowledgements
J.P. is supported by the Guangxi Science and Technology Major Program (AA24263011). C.A. was supported by Alfred Deakin Postdoctoral Research Fellowship.
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Hu, T., Peng, J., Xu, Z. et al. Synthesizing the ecosystem services benefits, synergies and trade-offs of forest restoration in China.
npj biodivers (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s44185-026-00134-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s44185-026-00134-9
Source: Ecology - nature.com
