Abstract: Interactions among natural resources, socio-economic and ecological systems makes the resources, socio-economic and ecology as a coupled system. We here introduced the coupled resources – socio-economic–ecological (RSE) system and the cognitive connotation for ecological protection and restoration from the perspective of the coupled RSE system. Based on the frontier research of coupled social- ecological system and the above cognitive connotation, we summarized three shortcomings of ecological restation which were mainly reflected in the insufficient systemic nature of elemental association, insufficient spatial-scale integrated linkage and insufficient synergy with social sustainable development objectives. Therefore, we proposed the strategies for the transformation from coupling perspective in three aspects, including (1) strengthening systematic goals for pattern and pattern optimization; (2) strengthening spatial linkage coordination among different scales, and (3) enhancing matching with sustainable developing in high-quality synergy.