Key points

Anthropogenic impacts have destroyed many salt marshes and mangroves; we are now trying to rebuild them for the ecosystem services they provide; although individual studies and experiments may not answer all questions, they provide valuable insights to effective restoration means; appropriate experiments lead to best methods for achieving high success rates; mesocosms can provide information on effects of future impacts from sea level rise, pollution and biological invasions; more global collaboration with experimental efforts is required to reduce wasted time, energy and finances on overlapping ‘trial-and-error’ experiments and evaluators of success; examples are given of various coastal wetland restoration and construction projects worldwide; there is also strong need for individual research teams to search current subject literature and collaborate with multidisciplinary teams to achieve the best outcomes efficiently and economically.