Study on wetland loss and its reasons in China

Abstract

Wetlands are ecosystems with many functions. But the general public and government lack a comprehensive understanding of the importance of wetland benefits, thus making blindly exploitation, wetland resources decreasing and losing biodiversity. So wetlands in China, as in most countries, have suffered heavily from the pressure of development and have confronted with the threats of loss. The paper takes Sanjiang Plain marshes, lakes in the middle reaches of the Changjiang (Yangtze) River, coastal wetlands and mangroves as cases to study wetland loss in China, and puts forward main existing reasons of wetland loss, such as blindly reclamation and exploitation of wetland resources, over-exploitation of bio-resources in wetland, etc. More recently, there has been a growing recognition of the benefits of wetlands and a wide range of legal and regulatory initiatives have been undertaken which are designed to improve wetland management and conservation. On the basis of the above analysis, the paper brings forward some suggestions on wetland conservation.