Wetland restoration in China

Abstract

China has the fourth largest area of wetland in the world. China has many types of wetland, but because of the environmental damage, many wetland areas were lost or converted to other land use such as farmland. As the biodiversity of wetland declined, many species disappeared including many rare species. Since this century, China has started to restore wetland areas. Many farmlands were returned to the wetland condition, and water pollution was controlled. Wetland plants, fishes and birds are three indicators that can justify the quality of the wetland restoration efforts. Population and species data collected from four wetlands across the country demonstrate the results of wetland restoration in China. Possible solutions for biodiversity increase in the wetlands in China are examined. After data analysis, all wetlands showed increased biodiversity after restoration. The wetland restoration of returning farmlands and residential areas to wetland seems to be successful for water pollution control will have a significant effect of increasing biodiversity.