Enhancing coastal resilience with nature-based solutions: Policy-driven restoration of a high-energy beach (Changle Airport Beach, China)

High-energy dissipative coasts deliver essential ecosystem services for people and nature, including recreation, shoreline protection, and habitat provision. Yet, coasts are highly vulnerable to sea-level rise, storm surges, and intensifying human pressures. Addressing these challenges requires nature-based solutions (NbS) integrated with supportive coastal governance. This case study presents the Changle Airport Beach (Fujian Province, Southeast China) as a policy-driven case of ecological restoration on a high-energy coast. We examine the enabling role of national and provincial marine spatial-planning policies, including Marine Function Zoning, the Marine Ecological Red Line, and Coastal Beach Resources Protection Planning, in supporting restoration and shaping management priorities. Field implementation applied hybrid measures, including beach litter remediation, large-scale beach nourishment, and backshore vegetation replenishment, to enhance morphological stability, biodiversity, and coastal defense. One year of post-restoration monitoring showed rapid gains in beach width, dune stabilisation, vegetation cover, and habitat value, confirming the effectiveness of nature-based solutions in restoring coastal ecosystem functions. The case from China illustrates how policy-driven ecological restoration, aligned with site-specific design, can deliver significant short-term ecological gains and inform long-term Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM). Our findings represent one of the first comprehensive accounts of hybrid nature-based solutions implemented on a high-energy beach. They contribute to the expanding global body of evidence suggesting that the integration of marine spatial planning with nature-based restoration may offer a viable pathway to enhance coastal resilience in the face of climate change.