China’s Wetlands: Conservation Plans and Policy Impacts

• DOI: 10.1007/s13280-012-0280-7
• Publication Date: 2012-03-28T10:48:56Z
• Authors: Zongming Wang; Jianguo Wu; Marguerite Madden; Dehua Mao
• Keywords: China; Conservation of Natural Resources; 13. Climate action; Wetlands; 14. Life underwater; 15. Life on land; 01 natural sciences; 6. Clean water; Environmental Policy; 0105 earth and related environmental sciences

Since the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands in 1971, wetland conservation (maintenance and sustainable use) and restoration (recovery of degraded natural wetlands) have been high priorities for many countries. China has the world’s fourth largest wetland area, which exceeds the whole territory of Great Britain. While the Chinese government has increasingly recognized the importance of wetland protection, particularly after joining the Ramsar Convention in 1992, natural wetlands in China have suffered great loss and degradation. To address this problem, China has implemented the National Wetland Conservation Program (NWCP)—one of the largest of its kind in the world—with ambitious goals, massive investments, and potentially enormous impacts. Furthermore, NWCP has global implications because it aims to rehabilitate habitats for water birds of international importance, enhance carbon sequestration, conserve soil and water, and protect important headwaters of international rivers and lakes.