Experience and Future Research Trends of Wetland Protection and Restoration in China

Wetlands are important natural resources for humans and play an irreplaceable ecological function in the terrestrial ecosystem.To curb the continued loss of wetlands glob-ally,international organizations and many countries have taken a series of major conserva-tion and restoration measures.This work reviews these wetland conservation and restoration measures,interprets China's wetland conservation and restoration management policies,and proposes that future research on wetland resources in China should be conducted from the aspects of international frontiers and national strategic plans,socioeconomics,and smart services.The results show that the 27 International Wetlands Days from 1997 to 2023 pro-vided new goals and tasks for the protection and management of wetlands.The important topics and outcomes of the 14 Conferences of the Contracting Parties to the Convention on Wetlands from 1980 to 2022 provided new directions and new challenges for wetland de-velopment.In the future,we should enhance wetland ecological functions,promote sustain-able wetland development,and overcome the technical bottleneck of fragile wetland eco-system restoration.From 1992 to 2022,China embarked on a new phase of wetland protec-tion and restoration.The overall experience of wetland protection and restoration in China has been formed through national strategic deployment,legal policy establishment,and pro-ject planning and implementation.The needs to provide for and plan the long-term protection of wetlands at the national level,to innovate restoration and management techniques and application systems,and to effectively address the complex issues of wetland protection and restoration through collaborative division of labor among multiple departments were empha-sized.Research on the future trends of wetlands should be directed towards the exploration and practice of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and several international conventions in support of sustainable wetland development.Wetland protection,restoration,and management services should be promoted for national strategic needs and local,high-quality social and economic development.In addition,research on cross-integration and academic innovation should be enhanced for disciplinary development,global supervision,comprehensive assessment,and smart decision making.