Theoretical foundation and implementation pathway for the holistic ecological conservation and restoration of mountains, rivers, forests, farmlands, lakes, grasslands, and deserts.

Over the past decade, initiatives such as the Shan-Shui Initiative, the "Three-North" Project, and the construction of nature reserve system, have accumulated valuable experience of ecological governance for the ecological conservation and restoration, thereby establishing a solid foundation for achieving deeper "holism", including full-factor integration and full-cycle monitoring. To promote theoretical advancement and model optimisation of holistic ecological conservation and restoration, we applied a three-in-one analytical framework of "problem, theory, and pathway" to develop a collaborative governance logic system, alongside a five-in-one implementation pathway based on the induction of practical challenges. The results showed that holistic ecological conservation and restoration is confronted with structural gaps that urgently need to be addressed in terms of objective transmission, organizational collaboration, and process control. By coupling theories from fields such as ecological environmental science, management, geography, systems theory, and cybernetics, a governance logic system comprised of "objective collaboration, organizational collaboration, and process collaboration" can be established for holistic ecological conservation and restoration. The governance form of holistic ecological conservation and restoration is expected to evolve from "physical combination" to "organic fusion", wherein the implementation pathway encompassing "strategy, planning, design, implementation, and management" serves as the pivotal mechanism for translating theory into practice. Collectively, the proposed governance logic and implementation pathway contribute to the establishment and improvement of a governance model characterized by "unified understanding, unified implementation, and unified management", thereby providing systematic theoretical guidance and structured model references for the in-depth development for practical activities of holistic ecological conservation and restoration.