The majority of river restoration initiatives are driven by new environmental policies. However, evaluation of management styles for ecosystem services (ESs) within river policies and their implications for restoration has been rarely investigated. This paper aims to evaluate the way in which environmental policy manages river ESs and river restoration initiatives. A content analysis-based approach applied to policy documents was undertaken on China’s River Chief (CRC) policy. ESs attributes were summarized according to categories, values, relationships, and stakeholders. Subsequently, a hierarchical evaluation indicator system, along with its graded keywords, was developed. The occurrence frequencies of these keywords in policy documents were then used to measure the policy regulatory degrees of ESs indicators. The reference values extracted from literature statistics of peer-reviewed papers served as a template to clarify the ESs management style. We found that the CRC policy primarily relied on the management of ESs categories and stakeholders, followed by ESs relationships, with extremely limited consideration of river ESs values. Moreover, the bundle of those ESs incorporated into the policy significantly differ from the typical structure of the ESs provided by rivers. For stakeholders, the CRC policy relies heavily on the authorities and the farm/business operators to manage the rivers. This case study showed a partial and pattern-mismatch management style of river ESs, which will hamper the holistic restoration of rivers. We concluded that the proposed policy document-based evaluation approach can help to identify the policy deficiency in relation to river ESs management, and river restoration possibilities.

Soil resources in East Africa are being rapidly depleted by erosion, threatening food-, water- and livelihood security in the region. Here we demonstrate how integration of evidence from natural and social sciences has supported community-led change in land management in an agro-pastoral community in northern Tanzania impacted by soil erosion. Drone survey data and geospatial analysis of erosion extent and risk, supported by communication of ‘process’ and ‘structural’ hydrological connectivity, was integrated with local environmental knowledge within participatory community workshops. Rill density data were compared between cultivated plots that had been converted from pastoral land recently and more established plots where slow-forming terrace boundaries were more established. Slope length and connectivity between plots were key factors in development of rill networks. At the two extremes, recently converted land had a rill density ca 14 times greater than equivalent established slow forming terraces. Direction of cultivation, regardless of plot boundary orientation with contours, also enhanced rill development. Evidence of this critical time window of hillslope-scale rill erosion risk during early phases of slow-forming terrace development successfully underpinned and catalysed a community-led tree planting and grass seed sowing programme to mitigate soil erosion by water. This was grounded in an implicit community understanding of the need for effective governance mechanisms at both community and District levels, to enable community-led actions to be implemented effectively. The study demonstrates the wide-reaching impact of integrated and interdisciplinary ‘upslope-downslope’ thinking to tackle global soil erosion challenges.