This paper is the result of environmental geological survey engineering.
[Objective] As one of the countries with the most diverse types of wetlands, China has a wetland area of 53.60 million hectares, ranking fourth in the world. However, with rapid population growth and economic development, China is facing conflicts between wetland protection and economic development in recent decades. Analyzing the current status of wetland resources and development, as well as the reasons for their degradation in China, is a prerequisite for discussing wetland management strategies.
[Methods] Based on the analysis of the characteristics and current status of wetland resources in China, this article systematically summarized the driving factors of wetland loss and degradation, and proposed wetland management recommendations.
[Results] China is rich in wetlands, which not only provide functions such as water purification, flood control, climate regulation, but also provide rich resource guarantee for local economic development, thereby developing a series of utilization modes with good economic and social benefits. At the same time, China attaches great importance to wetland protection and has issued and implemented a series of wetland protection policies and projects, with a wetland protection rate of 52.65%. However, under the dual impacts of human activities and climate change, wetland shrinkage in China is still widespread, and there are still many scientific issues need to be resolved in wetland protection and restoration management practices.
[Conclusions] The current trend of wetland loss and degradation in China is still severe. To further strengthen wetland protection, it is necessary to strengthen comprehensive multidisciplinary research on the earth system and consider the constraints of economic feasibility and social demands, in order to formulate a sustainable management plan that meets the requirements of social and economic development and ecological science.