Governing beyond protected areas: OECMs as outcome-oriented governance in fragmented coastal wetlands

Coastal wetlands are increasingly shaped by overlapping land–sea uses and fragmented governance, which challenges conservation approaches based on statutory protected areas. Although Other Effective Area-based Conservation Measures (OECMs) have been introduced as an outcome-oriented complement under the Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, their institutional applicability in complex coastal settings remains underexplored. This study develops a theory–empirics integrated framework to assess the governance feasibility of OECMs. The framework combines conceptual differentiation between protected areas and OECMs with an empirical case study of the Yingkou coastal wetland in northern China, using a refined International Union for Conservation of Nature–World Commission on Protected Areas (IUCN-WCPA) Site-Level Tool. The results indicate that, although the site meets international wetland criteria, landscape fragmentation and intensive human pressures constrain formal protected area designation. Nevertheless, biodiversity outcomes have been maintained through adaptive management arrangements. These arrangements link legal foundations, accountability mechanisms, interdepartmental coordination, and sustained restoration investment. Together, they enable OECMs to function as outcome-oriented, open, and adaptive governance instruments under complex land–sea use conditions. Importantly, OECMs neither compromise conservation objectives nor replace protected areas. Instead, they operate as complementary mechanisms that reinforce protected areas conservation frameworks through positive feedback. These findings provide empirical evidence for a governance shift from designation-based protection toward outcome-oriented conservation and contribute to a deeper understanding of the role of OECMs in coastal wetland governance and in achieving global biodiversity 30 × 30 targets.