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Shuqing An, Harbin Li, Baohua Guan, Changfang Zhou, Zhongsheng Wang, Zifa Deng,
Yingbiao Zhi, Yuhong Liu, Chi Xu, Shubo Fang, Jinhui Jiang and Hongli Li
China’s Natural Wetlands: Past Problems,
Current Status, and Future Challenges
Natural wetlands, occupying 3.8% of China’s land and
providing 54.9% of ecosystem services, are unevenly
distributed among eight wetland regions. Natural wet-
lands in China suffered great loss and degradation (e.g.,
23.0% freshwater swamps, 51.2% costal wetlands) be-
cause of the wetland reclamation during China’s long
history of civilization, and the population pressure and the
misguided policies over the last 50 years. Recently, with
an improved understanding that healthy wetland ecosys-
tems play a vital role in her sustainable economic
development, China started major efforts in wetland
conservation, as signified by the policy to return re-
claimed croplands to wetlands, the funding of billions of
dollars to restore degraded wetlands, and the national
plan to place 90 % of natural wetlands under protection by
2030. This paper describes the current status of the
natural wetlands in China, reviews past problems, an d
discusses current efforts and future challenges in pro-
tecting China’s natural wetlands.
INTRODUCTION
Healthy natural wetland ecosystems play a vital role in
sustainable development of China, which has been recognized
by the Chinese government (1, 2). Natural wetlands occupy 3.8%
of China’s terrestrial area (1), with the total wetlands areas
estimated at 8.0% (compared with 6.0% in the world). Natural
wetlands in China provide 54.9% of the annual ecosystem
services for the country (3, 4). In addition, 54% of endangered
species of ducks and geese in Asia have been recorded in China’s
wetlands (2, 5). Despite their importance as natural resources
and as natural regulators to environmental problems (3, 4);
however, natural wetlands in China suffered great losses and
degradation, not only because of wetland reclamation during the
country’s long history of civilization but also because of the
severe population pressure and the misguided policies over the
last 50 years (1, 5). In this paper, we will describe the current
status of the natural wetlands in China, review past problems
(especially over the last 50 years), summarize current efforts, and
discuss future challenges in protecting China’s natural wetlands.
Our goal is to provide a synthesis and the basic information
about the natural wetlands in China so that people from
institutions of scientific research and organizations of conserva-
tion abroad can learn and join in our efforts of wetland
protection and help us develop effective conservation strategies
for the science-based decision making by the government. It
should be pointed out that the Chinese government uses a
broader definition of wetlands than the Ramsar Convention (6)
in that deep lakes and large rivers are regarded as wetlands.
CURRENT STATUS OF NATURAL WETLANDS
IN CHINA
Natural Geography
China is a large country (9.6 million km
2
), with diverse
geomorphology (7, 8). Her vast territory is marked by many
unique geomorphological features: the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in
her southwest (2.5 million km
2
; the highest and largest plateau,
known as the ‘‘roof of the world’’), the Tarim basin in her west
(0.4 million km
2
; the largest basin in the world), the Gobi desert
in her north (1.3 million km
2
; one of the largest hot deserts in
the world), and the Huang Tu plateau in the midwest (0.3
million km
2
; the largest loess plateau in the world) (Fig. 1) (7,
8). The aquatic system of China is composed of many rivers and
lakes, and a long coastline (18 000 km) in the east and
southeast, including the four largest rivers (and their associated
lakes), i.e., the Yangtze River (Change Jiang) in central China
(6300 km; the third longest in the world), the Yellow River
(Huang He) in the northern China plains (5464 km; ‘‘the cradle
of the Chinese civilization’’), the Songhua River in t he
northeastern plain (2308 km), and the Pearl River (Zhu Jiang)
in the south (2214 km) (Fig. 1) (7, 8). In general, the western
part of China is dominated by highlands, mountains, and
deserts, whereas the eastern part of China contains almost all
low-lying areas and supports dense populations and industrial
and agricultural bases of the country.
Main Types and Distribution Patterns
China has all of the 26 natural and 9 human-made wetland
types delineated in the Ramsar Convention (1, 9). The natural
wetlands in China are unevenly distributed among eight wetland
regions (9, 10): i) the northeast region dominated by freshwater
swamps; ii) the northwest region by saline lakes and swamps in
dry climate; iii) the southwest plateau region by subalpine lakes;
iv) the south and southeast region by rivers; v) the coastal
region by tidal swamps, salt marshes, and mud-lands; vi) the
middle-lower Yangtze River region by lake groups and river
systems; vii) the middle-lower Yellow River region by lake
groups and river systems; and viii) the Tibet plateau region by
alpine lakes and swamp groups (Fig. 1). Freshwater swamp is
the largest wetland type in area, most of which is located in
northeastern China (68 000 km
2
; dominated by species of
Carex, Phragmites, Juncus, Scirpus, Acorus, Cyperus) and the
Tibetan Plateau (55 000 km
2
; dominated by species of Kobresia,
Carex, Pedicularis, Phragmites, Blymus, Cyperus). Note that the
Tibetan Plateau possesses specific wetland types where the
average elevation is more than 3000 m. The top five largest
freshwater lakes of China (10 800 km
2
; dominated by species of
Potamogeton, Prgamites, Acorus, Juncus, Ranalisma, Brasenia,
Miscanthus, Vallisneria, Cyperus) are all distributed in the
middle and lower tributaries of the Yangtze River (e.g., Poyang
Lake, Dongting Lake), and many saline lakes exist in the
Tibetan Plateau and northwestern China. The tidal wetlands
(21 000 km
2
; dominated by species of Phragmites, Scirpus,
Spartina, Imperata, Typha, Suaeda, and Zoysia; with additional
850 km
2
of mangrove) are found along the coast, especially near
the estuaries of big rivers (11).
Ecosystem Services
China’s natural wetlands, occupying only 3.8% of the land,
provide a significant amount of ecosystem services, including
Ambio Vol. 36, No. 4, June 2007 335Ó Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences 2007
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freshwater supply, flood regulation, wastewater storage and
natural purification, wildlife habitat, and aquatic life preserve
(3, 4). Based on the suggested values of all the major ecosystem
types (3, 4), the total value of natural wetlands could account
for 54.9% of the estimated 903 thousand million dollars (USD)
of annual ecosystem services in China (3). For example, the
freshwater resources in China are estimated at 2800 km
3
,of
which 82.1% is contained in wetlands (i.e., swamps, rivers,
lakes) and 17.9% in 85 000 reservoirs (12). Based on previous
studies (10, 13–16) and our own calculations, wetlands provide
pollution control by removing 4.6 trillion gram (Tg) of total
nitrogen (TN) and 0.6 Tg of total phosphorus (TP) from water
resources in China, and carbon (C) storage of 0.35 quintillion
gram (Eg) (mostly in 13 000 km
2
of the peat lands). In addition,
China’s natural wetlands are important to migratory bird
conservation, providing habitats for 60% of the species of cranes
(e.g., Grus, Anthropoides, Rallus, Crex, Porzana, Otis) and 26%
of the species of geese and ducks (e.g., Anser, Branta, Cygnus,
Tadorna, Anas, Netta, Aythya, Aix, Mergus) of the world (2,
17). In particular, more than 90% of individuals of white crane
(Grus leucogeranus), red-crown crane (Grus japonensis), and
swans (Cygnus cygnus and Cygnus olor) winter in the coastal
wetlands and lakes in China (2, 18).
Current Threats
China’s natural wetlands are under great threats from
reclamation, water diversion and dam construction, pollution,
resource overuse, biological invasion, and desertification and
climate change. The government has recognized 323 natural
wetland areas in China as being of national importance (1, 2).
These natural wetland areas of national importance account for
39.6% of the total area of natural wetlands, including 149 lakes
(with a total area of 42 800 km
2
), 92 swamps (73 500 km
2
), 60
costal wetlands (21 000 km
2
), and 22 rivers (5300 km
2
). Among
them, however, about 60 lakes, 18 swamps, and 15 coastal
wetlands are still in great danger t o reclamation, water
pollution, and overharvest of fisheries, whereas about 89 lakes
and 26 swamps are being threatened by excessive water
diversion and 64 lakes by sedimentation (1, 18, 19). These and
other emergent threats (e.g., biological invasion, global climate
change) must be eliminated or minimized to preserve the natural
wetlands in China.
PAST PROBLEMS OF NATURAL WETLANDS
IN CHINA
Loss of Wetlands and Their Ecological Services
Unfortunately, China’s natural wetlands suffered tremendous
loss over the past 50 years. In terms of the total area, the country
lost 23.0% of freshwater swamps, 16.1% of lakes, 15.3% of rivers,
and 51.2% of costal wetlands (Table 1). Such large-scale wetland
destruction may have caused an estimated annual loss of
ecosystem services by 1.57 thousand million dollars (USD)
(Table 1). For example, the lost areas of swamps, lakes, and
Figure 1. Distribution patterns of
natural wetlands in the mainland of
China. The natural wetlands in
China are grouped into eight re-
gions: the northeast region domi-
nated by freshwater swamps, the
northwest region by saline lakes
and swamps in dry climate, the
southwest plateau region by sub-
alpine lakes, the south and south-
east region by rivers, the coastal
region by tidal swamps, salt
marshes, and mud-lands, the Tibet
plateau region by alpine lakes and
swamp groups, and the regions
along the middle-lower sections of
the Yangtze and Yellow rivers by
lake groups and river systems.
336 Ambio Vol. 36, No. 4, June 2007Ó Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences 2007
http://www.ambio.kva.se
rivers may have amounted to a reduction of water storage
capacity by 237 km
3
(i.e., 8.5% of their total storage capacity) (12,
19, 20), whereas during the same time, the construction of 85 000
or so reservoirs increased water storage only by 36 km
3
.In
addition, the five largest lakes in the middle and lower tributaries
of the Yangtze River alone lost 44 km
3
of their volumes and
resulted in increased flooding frequency from once every 50 years
to once every 10 years (18). Given that, on average, swamps
(including lacustrine and riverine wetlands) can remove TN by
29.8 g m
2
y
1
and TP by 3.8 g m
2
y
1
and costal wetlands
(including tidal swamp, salt marsh, and mud-land) remove TN
and TP by 25.0 and 5.0 g m
2
y
1
, respectively (10, 13, 14), the
loss of these wetlands may have led to an annual reduction of
water purification capacity by 2.8 Tg TN and 0.4 Tg TP in China.
These lost water purification capacities amounted to 151.4% of
TN and 64.0% of TP discharged in 2000 from the industrial and
domestic activities in China (21). The loss of wetlands also
resulted in extinction of many species that required wetlands as
their vital habitats (Table 2). Among the known animal species
that became extinct over the past 100 years or so, most of them
were wetlands species (Table 2), including Xinjiang big-head fish
(Aspiorhynchus laticeps), estuary crocodile (Crocodilus porosus),
phoenix-head sheldrake (Tadorna cristata), and wild David deer
(Elaphurus davidianus). Most of the extinctions were because of
the loss of habitats caused by wetlands destruction (22). Another
extraordinary loss of wetlands species was the wild rice (Oryza
meyeriana), which was discovered in the swamps of the Hainan
Island of Southern China in 1970s and was used to create a
hybrid rice; this new crop increased the rice production by 3.0
quadrillion gram (Pg) in China (23), but wild rice populations
disappeared from its natural environments (10, 23).
In addition to direct destruction of wetlands, there were
other problems associated with wetland health and conserva-
tion, such as water pollution, C storage loss, and biological
invasion. These problems were just as severe as the wetland loss
in China.
Water Pollution
Water pollution, from bo th point and nonpoint sources,
presents serious problems that not only damage wetlands and
other natural resources but also threaten public health and
livelihood. One doggerel by local people vividly depicts the
dynamics of water pollution in Eastern China over the last 50
years: ‘‘Cleaning rice and vegetable in the 1950s; washing cloth
in the 1960s; becoming dirty in the 1970s; disappearing of fish
and shrimp in the 1980s; causing bodily injury in the 1990s.’’ In
the early 1970s, water quality began to show effects of increased
discharge of wastewater from industrial and domestic activities
and runoffs from nonpoint sources, such as fertilizers used in
agriculture. Over the period of 1980–2000, the wastewater
discharge increased by 180% from industry and 380% from
residential sources (24), and much of the wastewater was poorly
treated or untreated and full of pollutants (21). During 1950–
2000, the annual consumption of fertilizers in China increased
by 530 times, whereas the area of aquatic culture increased by
6.3 times and its production by 125 times (Fig. 2) (25). Much of
the fertilizers (50%–70%) ended up in the natural wetlands either
by direct discharge or by accumulation of runoffs (21, 25).
Exce ssive nutrient loading and poorly treated wastewater
discharge greatly affected water quality of rivers and lakes.
Among the 1200 monitored rivers, 70.8% was polluted and
Table 2. The numbers of species that live or are extinct in natural wetlands of China.
Taxon
No. species Species lost or endangered
Wetland China Percentage Wetland China Percentage
Plants
Moss 270 2200 12.3 15 40 37.5
Fern 70 2400 2.9 25 110 22.7
Gymnosperm 20 250 8.0 5 65 7.7
Angiosperm 1200 30 000 4.0 75 1000 7.5
Subtotal 1560 34 850 4.5 120 1215 9.9
Animals
Mammal 30 580 5.2 60 135 44.4
Bird 270 1250 21.6 85 180 47.2
Reptilian 120 380 31.6 15 20 75.0
Amphibian 280 280 100.0 10 10 100.0
Fish 1040 3860 26.9 170 200 85.0
Subtotal 1740 6350 27.4 340 545 62.4
Total 3300 41 200 8.0 460 1760 26.1
The species data for wetlands were based on the first national wetland inventory from 1996 to 2003 (2, 5), with minor corrections made based on recent publications (9–11, 15, 17, 18). The
species data for China come from ‘‘National Report of Biodiversity of China’’ (1998) (22).
Table 1. The losses of the natural wetlands and the associated ecosystem services in China over the last 50 years.
Wetland Type
Area in 1950
(10
3
km
2
)
Area in 2000
(10
3
km
2
)
Area loss
(10
3
km
2
)
Area loss
(%)
Ecosystem services
(10
3
USD km
2
y
1
)
Value loss
(10
9
USD y
1
)
Freshwater swamps 178 137 41 23.0 1958.0 80.3
Lakes 143 120 23 16.1 849.8 19.6
Rivers 95 82 13 15.3 849.8 11.1
Coastal wetlands 43 21 22 51.2 2091.8 46.0
Total 459 360 99 21.6 — 157.0
The data for wetland area in 2000 came from the first national wetland inventory (1) and those in 1950 were reconstructed by the authors based on the refs. 1, 5, 9, 11, 14, 15, 17, 18, 19, 26, 28,
29, 31–35, and 46. The average estimates of ecosystem services in US dollars were cited from references 3 and 4, and the value loss was calculated as the product of the lost area and the
average ecosystem service value. The freshwater swamps include typical swamps, wet meadows, and saline marshes of northwestern regions; the lakes include open water area at mean water
level and the lacustrine swamps; the rivers include river courses and riverine swamps; and the coastal wetlands only include tidal swamps, salt marshes, and mud-lands. The shallow sea
wetland was excluded from the coastal wetlands in this table because the data are questionable. The inventory data contain only those that are more than1km
2
in area for wetlands and 10 m in
width for rivers.
Ambio Vol. 36, No. 4, June 2007 337Ó Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences 2007
http://www.ambio.kva.se
63.1% were severely polluted (5). Fishes and shrimps disap-
peared from 33% of the total length of these rivers. The Huaihe,
Haihe, and Liaohe in temperate China were among the most
polluted rivers (14). It was reported in 2000 that 75% of lakes
were eutrophic and that 20% of these lakes lost their basic
ecosystem functions, especially those nearby the cities with
rapid economic development (5). The Chaohu, Taihu, and
Tianchi lakes were severely polluted, and their ecosystem
structure was almost collapsed (18). The gloomy picture of
the polluted wetlands can be translated into an alarming crisis
of public health, because of the limited freshwater resources in
China. China has 2800 km
3
freshwater resources (i.e., about
2206 m
3
per person) (5, 12). However, because of water
pollution, only 40%–50% of the freshwater resources can be
used directly for human consumption (12, 20), which makes
China one of the lowest per capita freshwater use in the world
(below the United Nations level of water stress at 1700 m
3
or
less per person annually) (2, 12, 20). How to effectively use the
freshwater resources (e.g., by increasing wetland areas and,
thus, storage, or by cleaning up the polluted waters) will remain
a daunting challenge for China in the years to come.
Loss of Carbon Storage
Wetlands, especially peat lands, are major carbon (C) sinks
among different ecosystem types (3, 4). There are 13 000 km
2
of
peat lands in China, most of which are distributed in the
Tibetan Plateau (79%) and the northeastern China (21%) (9).
Most of peat lands are dominated by grass and sedge species,
and have a mean C content of 28.2% in weight (15). The rate of
peat accumulation is 0.48 mm y
1
in the Tibetan Plateau and
0.40 mm y
1
in northeast China (26). Peat mining for uses as
fertilizers and cement additives was the primary cause of peat
land destruction in China. With 5.0 Tg of peat mined annually
and 4500 km
2
of peat land destroyed during the last 50 years
(15), peat mining resulted in a C release of 1.48 Tg y
1
.In
addition, large areas of the swamps, including 75.6% of swamps
in the northeastern China, were converted to croplands (Fig. 3).
The (nonpeat) swamps are mainly dominated by Phragmites,
Acroras, and Carex, and have high organic carbon content in
the soil because of their low decomposition rate. For these
swamps, the C content is 1.5% on average (with a range of
0.3%–5.0%), and the mean bulk weight is 1.22 g cm
3
(with a
range of 0.28–1.44 g cm
3
in the top 25 cm of soil) (15, 16, 26).
The conversion of the swamps to croplands alone led to the C
storage loss of 4.58 Tg y
1
. The total loss of C storage (6.06 Tg
y
1
) from peat mining, and swamp destruction accounted for
0.8% of C emission of China in 2000 (21).
Biological Invasion
The official statistics indicate that 127 alien invasive species
have been detected in China, including 10 animals and 11 plants
found in wetlands (27). The Environmental Protection Admin-
istration of China declared 16 notorious invasive species,
including 5 wetlands species. These 16 species may cause 7.0
thousandmilliondollars(USD)ofdirecteconomicloss
annually, much of which is attributed to the 5 species that
invaded wetlands (24). For example, alligator weed (Alter-
nanthera philoxeroides) was first recorded in the suburbs of
Shanghai in 1892, and water hyacinth (Eichhornia crasssipes)
was introduced into China in 1901 as a garden flower (24, 27).
Native to South America, both species were used as forage from
1950 to 1980, and currently occur in most lakes and rivers in
eastern China (Fig. 4). Smooth cord grass (Spartina alterni-
flora), native to the Atlantic coast of North America, was
introduced in 1979 to protect coastal dikes and to reduce coastal
erosions from tides, and it is currently distributed in 1120 km
2
of coastal areas. It was estimated that these three invasive
species may have caused a total annual economic loss of 2.0
thousand million dollars (USD) (2, 22, 27) in terms of jammed
coastal waterways and economic species loss from habitat
conversion and ecosystem collapses (10, 27).
CAUSES OF THE WETLANDS PROBLEMS IN CHINA
Numerous factors contributed to the loss and degradation of
natural wetlands in China. The most important among them
were land demands by a large population, a lack of
understanding of wetland values, a misguided reclamation
policy, a lack of environmental laws and regulations, and water
diversion needed because of rapid economic growth. Here, we
discuss three main causes for wetland loss over the years:
reclamation, misguided policy, and water diversion.
Reclamation
Reclamation was the primary cause for wetland loss (1, 2).
Reclamation of wetlands has a long history in China. For
example, lakes along the midsections of the Yangtze River were
firstly reclaimed about 2000 years ago (28), Jianghan-Dongting
lakes in the middle Hanjing Dynasty (AD 25–380), and the
Poyang Lake in the late Han Dynasty (BC 202 to AD 220).
Figure 3. Wetland destruction in the Sanjiang Plain and Dongting
Lake. The Sanjiang Plain swamps used to be the largest freshwater
swamps in China, whereas Dongting Lake used to be the largest lake
in China; but both of them became the second largest because of
large-scale reclamation. The data for the Sanjiang Plain swamps
came from refs. 15, 26, 34, with the area data in 1825 and 1900
reconstructed by the authors based on the information reported in
refs. 17, 18, and 33. The data for Dongting Lake came from refs. 12,
19, 23, and 28–30.
Figure 2. The changes in agricultural activities during the last 50
years in China. The data for irrigated cropland area and fertilizer use
came mainly from refs. 25 and 35, with the modifications of the data
before 1970 by the information in refs. 12 and 40. The data for
aquatic culture and production were obtained mainly from refs. 40
and 41, with minor corrections based on refs. 12, 35, 42 and 43.
338 Ambio Vol. 36, No. 4, June 2007Ó Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences 2007
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Through history, additional waves of reclamation occurred
during late Song (AD 1250–1276), Ming (AD 1470–1560), late
Qing dynasties (AD 1780–1910), and the last century (mostly
from 1950–2000) in the Dongting Lake, and during early Tang
(AD 620–650), late Song (AD 1130–1270), late Qing dynasties
(AD 1780–1910), and late last century (AD 1950–2000) in the
Poyang Lake. The Dongting Lake, once the largest lake in
China, shrank from the surface area of 18 730 km
2
1500 years
ago to the current size of 2625 km
2
(Fig. 3) (28–30). The lakes
lost a total area of 13 000 km
2
to reclamation during the last 50
years alone, with most of the loss occurring along the Yangtze
River (e.g., 41.0% loss in Poyang Lake, 34.2% loss in the lake
group of Jianghan-Dongting) (17, 19). Other wetland types also
suffered a great loss. Coastal wetlands in the Northern Jiangsu
Province, the largest in China, were reclaimed since the late Han
dynasty (BC 202 to AD 220). In addition, much of the 30 000
km
2
coastal lands generated during the last 4000 years by the
sediment buildup near the mouths of major rivers in Jiangsu
Province was reclaimed; only 900 km
2
of these newly created
wetlands remained undeveloped (31, 32). The largest swamps in
China, the Sanjiang Plain, lost 83.7% of its total area during
1825–2000, with most of the reclamation taking place during the
last 50 years (Fig. 3) (15, 33). It was estimated that a total of 133
500 km
2
of croplands, fishponds, salt ponds, and residential
lands was obtained from the conversion of coastal wetlands in
China (32). Overall, reclamation alone may account for 82% of
the total wetland loss in China.
Misguided Policy
The accelerated loss of lakes, coastal wetlands, and swamps
because of reclamation in the last 50 years (Fig. 3) was primarily
the outcome of the reclam ation pol icy by the Chinese
government in that period (5, 10, 33, 34). As a country of
agriculture, China has more people but less arable lands (122
million hectares) than the United States (638.8 million hectares)
(35, 36). It was always (and still is) a struggle to produce enough
grain for the population. As mentioned above, land reclamation
had been regarded as a key solution, either from mountains
(e.g., rice terraces) or from lakes and swamps. Thus, the strive
for food security was the force that drove the reclamation policy
of the Chinese government, and the large-scale reclamation
during the last 50 years was sponsored by the government
because building networks of levees and ditches required the
kind of financial support and manpower that only governments
could provide. However, recent natural disasters (e.g., the
Yellow River dried up in 1997, the Yangtze River floods of
1998, Beijing’s sandstorms of 2000s) brought the attention of
the government and the public to the severe environmental
problems caused by the policy of economic growth at all cost.
The realization of environmental consequences of misguided
policies also led to a change of attitude toward the environment
in general and wetlands in particular (1, 2, 5). As a result, it is
safe to say that large-scale reclamation will not be allowed, even
though the coastal wetlands and natural swamps are still under
threat, because many local governments continue to consider
them as potential land resources.
Water Diversion
Decreased water recharge was another key cause for natural
wetland loss in China (1, 10, 30). Water diversion to agricultural
and industrial uses greatly reduced water flow into wetlands
over the last 50 years. The area of the irrigated croplands
increased by 340% from 1950 to 2000 (Fig. 2), and much of the
water was lost because of low water use efficiency of irrigation
(15%–35%) (12, 25, 35). The excessive use of water by
agriculture and other industries resulted in the extremely low
river flow in the lower sections of many rivers (e.g., Yellow,
Talimu, Heihe); for example, a stretch of the lower Yellow
River (704 km) had no water flow for 226 days in 1997 (12, 37).
Meanwhile, more than 120 000 dams were constructed, with
46 000 dams and 7000 water gates along the Yangtze River
alone (including the Three Gorges Dam, the biggest dam in the
world) (12, 23). These dams and water gates not only isolated
70% of the natural lakes from rivers but also interrupted the
migration routes of aquatic species and drastically changed the
fauna of lakes (38, 39). In western China, lake areas are
encroached by the desertification process caused by droughts
and the loss of vegetation cover (1, 9, 17, 18). The lakes of
Figure 4. The distribution of three
important invasive plant species in
China’s natural wetlands. The lo-
cations for the smooth cord grass
are based on ref. 10, whereas the
locations of both alligator weed
and water hyacinth came from ref.
27, with minor corrections based
on refs. 2 and 24.
Ambio Vol. 36, No. 4, June 2007 339Ó Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences 2007
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Manasi, Luobupo, Juyanhai, and many others dried up and
became desert in northwest China, and the water levels in the
lakes on the Tibetan Plateau decreased by 1.0–1.5 m, primarily
because of global warming (17, 18). Qinghai Lake, the biggest
lake on the plateau (4305 km
2
), decreased by 17.2 cm y
1
in
water level and by 8.4 km
2
y
1
in area during 1908–1956 and by
10.8 cm y
1
and 9.7 km
2
y
1
during 1957–1988, whereas the
desert area around the lake increased to 1670 km
2
from 450 km
2
during the past 50 years (17, 18).
CURRENT EFFORTS TO PROTECT THE WETLANDS
The severe environmental problems associated with wetlands
loss were recognized by the Chinese government in early 1970s
(5, 10), even though it did not appreciate the importance of the
full range of ecosystem services provided by wetlands until
recently (2, 10). The government passed the first environmental
law in 1972 (10) and started taking a series of actions to remedy
the problems (5, 18), including establis hment of natural
reserves, wetland restoration, water pollution control, fish
population conservation, newly originated wetland protection,
and invasive species management. These actions have shown
promising results in reversing the trends of wetland loss and
degradation (2). In China, natural wetlands are protected under
a three-class system: the wetland reserves (i.e., full protection
from development and most human activities), the wetland
parks (i.e., full protection from development but use for
ecotourism), and the scenic parks (i.e., protection from
development but open to the public for recreation). We
highlight some of these important actions taken or to be taken
by the government in protecting, r estoring, and creating
wetlands in China.
Wetland Reserves
A wetland reserve is composed of a core area, in which human
activities are prohibited, and a buffer zone, in which some
human activities may be allowed upon approval. The Chinese
government started to establish natural reserves of wetlands in
the early 1970s. By 1980, 14 wetlands reserves, with a total of
5970 km
2
, were under protection (2, 24). By 2003, 477 reserves
were established to protect wetlands and rare and endangered
aquatic animals and plants (Fig. 5), including 69 managed by
the national government, 166 by the provincial governments,
and 242 by the local governments; the total conservation area
has reached 425 000 km
2
, including 145 000 km
2
of wetlands,
280 000 km
2
of marine and terrestrial ecosystems adjacent to
the wetlands (2). In addition, the government plans to establish
225 new wetland reserves by 2010 and another 135 by 2030
when about 90% of natural wetlands in China will be under the
protected status (2).
Wetland Restoration
China began restoring degraded wetlands in the early 1990s. To
date, it has funded more than 200 pilot programs with 20.7
thousand million dollars (USD) to protect and restore existing
natural wetlands, to create wetlands that have been lost, and to
address other wetland-related issues (2, 5). During 2000–2005, a
total of 36 projects were funded by the ‘‘863’’ environmental
action plan, including 25 to restore water quality of natural
lakes and rivers, and 11 to restore pollution purificati on
capacity of urban wetlands (24). Funding has also been planned
for at least 100 thousand million dollars (USD) to start another
53 large programs by 2030 that will restore and recreate
additional 14 000 km
2
of natural wetlands (1, 2, 5). The new
policy to return some of the reclaimed croplands to the original
wetlands or lakes is in effect (2, 23). According to the National
Program of Wetland Protection Engineering issued in 2003, the
Chinese government will allocate 112.5 million dollars (USD)
during 2006–2010 to restore the degraded wetlands and to
establish wetland parks and wetland reserves (2). For example,
the government of Jiangsu province has started working on
many projects, including restoration of Taihu Lake, Hongze
Lake, and swamps along the Yangtze River; establishment of
wetland parks at Qinghu Lake, Yangcheng Lake and Qinghuai
River; and establishment of wetland reserves of the Big Canal,
Hongze Lake, and Taihu Lake.
Water Pollution Control
A wastewater control action plan (24) was implemented to
improve water quality and to protect the wetlands in the late
1990s, specifically to treat the heavily polluted rivers of Huaihe,
Haihe, and Liaohe; the lakes of Chaohu, Taihu, and Dianchi;
and the coast of the Bohai Sea. The action plan focused on
point and nonpoint source pollution control, wastewater
purification, and water resource and discharge management,
and was composed of 2420 projects, with the total funding of
23.5 thousand million dollars (USD) in the last five years. The
plan called for, but has not fulfilled, a reduction of chemical
oxygen demand by 5.0 Tg, including 50% from domestic
wastewater, 40% from industrial wastewater, and 10% from
rural areas by the year 2005. In addition, numerous laws and
regulations about water quality have been enacted by the
national, provincial, and local governments.
Fish Population Conservation
The regulation to prohibit fish harvesting in reproductive
periods was implemented in Poyang Lake and Taihu Lake in
1986, in Dongting Lake in 1995, and in the Yangtze River
estuary and marine fishing grounds in 2002 (40–43). The action
plan to restock wetlands with fingerlings from hatcheries was
started in 1999, and 245 thousand million individuals, including
both commercial and endangered fish species, had been released
into lakes, rivers and marine wetlands by 2005 (40–43). In
addition, the Worl d Wildlife Fund (WWF)-China funded
projects that were to reconstruct free migration channels among
four selected lakes (Zhangdu Lake, Hong Lake, and Tian’e
Lake in Hubei Province, and Baidang Lake in Anhui Province)
and the Yangtze River (23).
Protection of Newly Originated Wetlands
Protection of newly created wetlands is one of the national
wetland action plans in China (2, 5). The runoff of 1570 km
3
y
1
into the sea (59.0% from the Yangtze River) carries 15.3
Figure 5. Wetland protection efforts as depicted by the increase in
the number and area of natural reserves in China. The data came
from refs. 2, 5, and 17.
340 Ambio Vol. 36, No. 4, June 2007Ó Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences 2007
http://www.ambio.kva.se
thousand million tonne of sediments into the estuaries each
year, including 6.4 thousand million tonne from the Yellow
River, 5.2 thousand million tonne from the Yangtze River, 1.6
thousand million tonne from the Haihe River, and 0.9 thousand
million tonne from the Pearl River (12, 44, 45). From the
sediments, 10 000 to 15 000 km
2
of new wetlands may originate
in the estuaries of major rivers and nearby coasts in the next 50
years (31, 32, 37, 46). It is also estimated that over 100 000 km
2
of submerged alluvial deposits off the coast of the Yellow Sea
may become terrestrial lands within 50–100 years if the current
sedimentation rate remains unchanged (45). In addition, at the
completion in 2008, the Three Gorges Dam will create a giant
artificial lake of 1150 km
2
of surface area, with additional 460
km
2
of permanent wetlands and 4900 km
2
of transient wetlands
near the lake shores because of high soil moisture (12, 23). The
South-to-North Water Diversion project is also expected to
contribute to the fresh wetland generation in Northern China
(2, 21). The National Program of Wetland Protection Engi-
neering calls for protection of the newly created wetlands by
establishing natural reserves and wetland parks (2).
FUTURE CHALLENGES FOR CHINA’S WETLANDS
Despite all that has been done, many challenges remain in terms
of wetland policy, management, and science. First, success in
wetland conservation requires science-based policies and effec-
tive laws and regulations. China still needs a specific law for
wetlandprotection,whichisinaslowprocessofbeing
established. Current laws and regulations can be effective in
stopping wetland loss and water pollution at large scales, i.e.,
protecting wetlands from reclamation and point-source pollu-
tion. However, cleaning up of water pollution will take a long
time, and the water-resource shortage will remain a problem for
years to come. Therefore, it will be a major challenge to the
Chinese government to maintain a consistent policy on and a
long-term commitment to wetland conservation and water-
quality control. In addition, a system for monitoring and
assessing at the national scale will need to be developed to
ensure the effectiveness of the implementation of the policies,
laws, and regulations, and the accountability of the funded
programs. Second, effective implementation of the national
wetland action plan requires a concerted efforts at all levels. The
policies, laws, and regulations may fail to produce the expected
outcomes unless new ideas and incentives are developed to
provide local people with alternative ways of livelihood that will
not cause disturbances to wetlands. It will be a challenge to find a
balance between protection of wetlands and revitalization of the
local economy in wetland regions. Significant obstacles to
wetland preservation, such as local bureaucracy, lack of trained
managers, misuse of wetland funding, and lack of appreciation of
the ecosystem management principle, will also need to be
removed. Educational campaigns to increase public awareness
about wetland-related issues just started, but it will take a long
time to change peoples’ attitudes. Third, science is needed to
provide the information for decision making and for training
wetland professionals to manage natural reserves and wetland
parks, and to educate local people. China lacks the scientific
expertise and technical know-how in wetland restoration and in
water pollution control and clean-up. Efforts to enhance
scientific exchanges and communications will be needed to
narrow the gaps and to generate scientific advancements to solve
many of the problems. Another major challenge is the lack of
graduate programs for wetland sciences in universities, which is
the main reason for the lack of trained researchers and managers.
There are only a few such wetland graduate programs in China.
Sustainable development in China requires new attitudes,
sound policies, and great efforts in protecting natural wetlands
and preserving their valuable ecosystem services. The natural
wetlands in China are still under great threats by the large
population and rapid economic growth. In fact, the economic
miracle of China in the last 20 years came at the huge expense of
the environment, especially the natural wetlands (1, 21). To
reverse the trends, China faces enormous challenges. However,
significant actions are being taken, including the plan designed
to place 90% of the natural wetlands under protection by 2030,
the policy to return reclaimed croplands to wetlands (swamps,
lakes), and the funding allocated to restore natural wetlands (2,
5, 17). These actions will ensure that natural wetlands are
protected and damages to wetlands in the past are repaired so
that the country receives the full benefits of the ecosystem
services provided by wetlands in the years to come. The future
of China’s wetlands looks promising, because China under-
stands that protecti ng wetl and ecosystems is a national
imperative to guarantee a sustainable development of the
economy of the country.
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48. First submitted 25 September 2005. Accepted for publication 30 October 2006.
Dr. Shuqing An, the corresponding author, is a professor of
wetland science at Nanjing University, and his research interests
include wetland ecology, invasive species management and
biogeochemical cycles. Addresses: The State Key Laboratory of
Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, Nanjing University,
Nanjing 210093, China; The Institute of Wetland Ecology and
School of Life Science, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093,
China.
E-mail: anshq@nju.edu.cn
Dr. Harbin Li is a research ecologist with USDA Forest Service,
and his research interests include wetland ecology and manage-
ment, quantitative landscape ecology, ecological modeling, and
ecosystem management with decision-support tools. Address:
USDA Forest Service Southern Research Station, Center for
Forested Wetlands Research, Charleston, SC 29414, USA.
E-mail: hli@fs.fed.us
Baohua Guan is a postdoctoral fellow. Address: The State Key
Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, Nanjing
University, Nanjing 210093, China; The Institute of Wetland
Ecology and School of Life Science, Nanjing University, Nanjing
210093, China.
E-mail: bhguan@nju.edu.cn
Changfang Zhou is an associate professor with a PhD. Address:
The Institute of Wetland Ecology and School of Life Sciences,
Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China.
E-mail: zcfnju@nju.edu.cn
Zhongsheng Wang is an associate professor with a PhD.
Address: The Institute of Wetland Ecology and School of Life
Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China.
E-mail: wangzs@nju.edu.cn
Zifa Deng is a doctoral student. Address: The Institute of Wetland
Ecology and School of Life Science, Nanjing University, Nanjing
210093, China.
E-mail: dengzf@nju.edu.cn
Yingbiao Zhi is an associate professor with a PhD. Address: The
Institute of Wetland Ecology and School of Life Sciences, Nanjing
University, Nanjing 210093, China.
E-mail: yingbiaozhi@nju.edu.c n
Yuhong Liu is a doctoral student. Address: The Institute of
Wetland Ecology and School of Life Science, Nanjing University,
Nanjing 210093, China.
E-mail: liuyuhong@nju.edu.cn
Chi Xu is a doctoral student. Address: The Institute of Wetland
Ecology and School of Life Science, Nanjing University, Nanjing
210093, China.
E-mail: xuchi@nju.edu.cn
Shubo Fang is a doctoral student. Address: The Institute of
Wetland Ecology and School of Life Science, Nanjing University,
Nanjing 210093, China.
E-mail: shubofang@nju.edu.cn
Jinhui Jiang is a doctoral student. Address: The Institute of
Wetland Ecology and School of Life Science, Nanjing University,
Nanjing 210093, China.
E-mail: dg0230075@nju.edu.cn
Hongli Li is a doctoral student. Address: The Institute of Wetland
Ecology and School of Life Science, Nanjing University, Nanjing
210093, China.
E-mail: honglili@nju.edu.cn
342 Ambio Vol. 36, No. 4, June 2007Ó Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences 2007
http://www.ambio.kva.se
