Ecological redline policy strengthens sustainable development goals through the strict protection of multiple ecosystem services

China’s stringent ecological redline (ERL) policy, which delineates minimum areas for strict protection, aims to safeguard crucial ecosystem services (ES) and advance sustainable development goals (SDGs). However, the relationship between ERL policy and SDGs remains unclear. Using a land use/land cover (LULC)-ES-SDGs analysis, this study explored the impact of ERL on SDGs in Baisha Li Autonomous County, a tropical mountainous region in Hainan, China, under ERL and business-as-usual (BAU) scenarios. Our findings reveal that under the BAU scenario, rubber plantation expansion at the expense of natural forests leads to a trade-off between product production and regulating services. This results in positive contributions to SDGs related to poverty and hunger and negative impacts on goals such as clean water and sanitation, and biodiversity conservation. However, the ERL scenario effectively reduces natural forest loss and rubber plantation expansion, leading to a decrease in product provisioning services and a substantial increase in regulating services. Consequently, the ERL scenario demonstrates decreased positive contributions to poverty and hunger-related SDGs while mitigating negative impacts on goals related to environmental sustainability. These results highlight the importance of ERL policies in balancing conservation and development, providing valuable insights for other regions seeking to achieve SDGs while safeguarding natural resources. • This study examines the effects of China's ERL policy on SDGs in a tropical mountainous region. • The study utilizes a LULC-ES-SDGs analysis to comprehensively assess the policy's impacts. • Rubber plantation expansion harms ES and SDGs under BAU scenario. • ERL policy reduces forest loss, improves regulating ES and SDGs related to environment. • This study demonstrates that ERL policy effectively balances conservation and development and strengthens SDGs.