Although China has carried out research work on marsh wetlands in the early days of the founding of New China, and accumulated a lot of achievements, the management and research of the wetlands as a common ecosystem with attributes has begun after joining the Convention on Wetlands. . In 1992, my government joined the Wetlands Convention, which is an important milestone and promoted the process of China's wetland protection. In 1994, the Chinese government included the "China Wetland Protection and Rational Use" project into the "China's Agenda 21" priority project plan, and referred to China's wetland protection as a priority development. In 2000, the China Wetland Protection Action Plan was implemented and became a guide to the implementation of wetland conservation, management and sustainable use in China. In June 2004, the General Office of the State Council issued the "Notice on Strengthening the Management of Wetland Protection", which is the first time that the Chinese government has clearly regulated the protection and management of wetlands. Let us work together to protect the wetlands. In order to implement the spirit of the State Administration Notice, the National Forestry and Prairie Bureau held the “National Wetland Protection Management Work Conference”. In September 2004, with the approval of the State Council, the National Forestry and Grassland Bureau announced the National Wetland Protection Engineering Plan (2002-2030). In December 2004, Wetland International awarded the “National Wetland Protection and Rational Use Outstanding Achievement Award” by the National Forestry and Prairie Bureau of China. The achievements of China's wetland protection have been widely recognized by the international community. Now, the content of wetland protection has been included in the “Eleventh Five-Year Plan” for China's national economic development. In the next five years, the Chinese government will invest 9.5 billion yuan for more than 100 wetland protection projects. In recent years, the Chinese government has attached great importance to the protection of wetlands, and the protection of wetlands has been continuously strengthened. Significant achievements have been made in wetland surveys and research, legislation and planning, construction of nature reserves, restoration and reconstruction of wetlands, international cooperation and publicity and education. 

A wetland ecosystem is a dynamic system that, like everything in nature, is constantly in motion and change. Ecosystem degradation is a bad change in the components and their interaction processes in the system, and is the reverse succession of the system, leading to its functional degradation and system instability. While the area is lost and the landscape is fragmented, the wetland supply is declining and the wetland function is weakened or disappeared due to the reduction of water supply and the deterioration of water quality.Wetlands are currently the most threatened ecosystem. Due to the reclamation and reconstruction of wetlands, pollution, over-utilization of biological resources, sedimentation and unreasonable utilization of water resources, the wetlands are continuously degraded and disappeared, biodiversity is sharply reduced, soil erosion is intensified, and floods and droughts are frequent, resulting in huge Economic losses even threaten human health and life.China's wetland resources are very rich, but with the development of the economy and the acceleration of urbanization, predatory development and irrational use, siltation, pollution, excessive drainage, etc. lead to the reduction of wetland area and resources, the decline of functions and benefits, biodiversity Lost. Dryland wetland (photo by Lu Xianguo) The reduction of wetland and functional degradation not only cause serious damage to China's ecological environment, but also detrimental to the harmonious development of human and nature. Moreover, the deterioration of water quality of rivers and lakes and the reduction of available freshwater resources directly threaten China's water. The supply of resources is safe, which in turn affects the sustainable development of the entire economy and society, and even threatens the survival of mankind. In recent years, the frequent occurrence of natural disasters such as floods, droughts, red tides, sandstorms and desertification in China is closely related to the disappearance and degradation of many wetlands. For example, in 1998, the Yangtze River Basin experienced a major flood, with more than 2,000 dykes, 2.83 million mu of inundated land, and 2.53 million people affected by the disaster, causing huge losses to people's lives and property. The occurrence of flood disasters has a great correlation with the sharp decline of lake wetlands such as Dongting Lake and Poyang Lake. In fact, nature has already sounded the alarm for us. Wetland protection is an urgent task!Due to the lack of unified planning and argumentation, blindly unrestrained reclaiming and encircling wetlands, wetland drainage and urban expansion make the wetlands in jeopardy, and natural wetlands are facing a crisis of disappearance. According to statistics, in the second half of the 20th century, 50% of coastal wetlands in China have ceased to exist; about 13% of the country's lakes have disappeared.

Wetland is a unique ecosystem formed by the interaction of water and land on the earth. It is one of the most important living environments and the most biologically diverse landscapes in nature. It is resistant to floods, regulates runoff, replenishes groundwater, improves climate, controls pollution, beautifies the environment and maintains Regional ecological balance and other aspects have a role that cannot be replaced by other systems. Wetlands always provide a variety of services to human beings in obscurity. Human production and life are inseparable from wetlands.The wetland developed in different parts of the basin has different ecological service functions:◆Independent wetland is a habitat for waterfowl foraging and nesting. It provides land and wetland species habitats, buffers floods, and is beneficial to the absorption, transformation and deposition of sediments and nutrients. It has landscaping aesthetic significance.◆ In addition to the above-mentioned functions, the lakeside wetland also has the functions of removing sediments and nutrients from the water bodies in the basin, and is also a hatching area for fish hatching.◆ In addition to the independent wetland service function, the riverside wetland also has sediment control, stable river bank and flood drainage function.◆The estuary and offshore and coastal wetlands, in addition to the service functions of independent wetlands, can also provide fish, crustacean habitats and spawning areas, and provide marine fish.Nutrients to prevent the erosion of storm surges.◆ Island wetlands provide sandy habitats to prevent erosion of high-energy waves and have aesthetic significance.◆ Peat swamps, especially oligotrophic peat bogs, also have a special function, namely antisepsis and preservation. The bodies of humans and animals buried in the peat layer can be preserved for hundreds or even thousands of years. Trees that have been buried in peat for thousands of years can still be made into furniture.Wetlands that develop in different parts of the basin (Zhao Xuemin, 2005)

(1) Definition of wetlands in the Convention on WetlandsIn the past century, many scholars at home and abroad have given different definitions of wetlands from different angles, different research purposes and different national conditions. The original meaning of the Wetlands in both English and Chinese refers to the over-wet land. The concept of wetlands can be formed by describing the characteristics of wetlands, but there is only one strict scientific definition, which is an abstraction of the essential characteristics of wetlands.The Convention on Wetlands of International Importance, in particular as a habitat for waterfowl, signed in 1971 (the “Wetlands Convention”) gives the definition of wetlands, ie “wetlands” refers to swamps that are not natural or artificial, long-term or temporary. Ground, peatland or water zone with static or flowing freshwater, brackish water and salt water, including sea areas with a water depth of no more than 6 meters at low tide." At the same time, the Convention on Wetlands has developed a classification system for wetland types, including 42 types of natural wetlands and constructed wetlands, of which 32 are natural wetlands.The definition of wetlands in the Convention on Wetlands is considered to be a relatively authoritative concept of wetlands, and almost all States parties have referenced or directly cited the concept of wetlands under the Convention on Wetlands. China's wetland legislation should not only follow this concept, but also define the legal concept of wetlands from the national conditions of China, the actuality of wetland conservation management, and the needs of national economic and social development.(2) Definition of foreign wetlands1. United StatesThe United States is the first country in the world to propose and use the concept of wetlands. As early as the 1950s, the first wetland survey initiated by the US Fish and Wildlife Conservation Organization used the term “wetland” and defined wetlands as: shallow water or intermittent water. Covered lowlands; lakes and ponds where emergent plants grow, but stable water bodies such as rivers, reservoirs and deep-water lakes are not included. In the late 1970s, the United States further modified the above definitions: Wetlands refer to the transition zone between terrestrial ecosystems and water ecosystems, whose groundwater level usually reaches or is close to the surface or in shallow flooding.However, at the federal legal level, the United States has not clearly defined the legal concept of wetlands so far, but is scattered in relevant environmental laws and regulations. For example, the “Riverable Waters” concept was proposed in the Rivers and Ports Act, but the scope is too narrow. Later, with the development, the connotation of the navigable water body has been expanded, including a variety of wetland types. The Clean Water Act, amended in 1972, defines “airworthy water bodies” as “including the US water bodies within the territorial sea”.At the state and local government levels, there are no fewer than 25 states in the United States that have enacted laws on wetland protection. Some states have adopted the definition of wetlands in the Clean Water Act in legislation on wetland protection, but overall Coastal wetlands receive more attention than inland wetlands.2, CanadaThe National Wetlands Working Group of Canada defines wetlands as land that is flooded or that has a groundwater level close to the surface, or that is infiltrated for a period of time sufficient to promote wet or water processes and is characterized by aquatic soil, aquatic vegetation, and biological activities that adapt to the humid environment. Canadian scholars believe that wetland is a type of land, the main sign is that the soil is too wet, the surface water is less than 2 meters, the soil is peat soil or the submerged marsh soil, and aquatic plants are grown.The types of wetlands involved in the protection of wetlands in Canada include: protected areas for migratory bird habitats, terrestrial, internal water, territorial protection areas, coastal wetlands, marine habitats, fish habitats, and engineering. Mud ponds, swamps, mire and mud that require environmental assessment during implementation.3. JapanIn Japan, the range of wetlands protected by law is very wide. Only the "Natural Park Law" stipulates that in the national parks, activities involving the water level and water quantity increase and decrease of rivers, lakes and lakes are within the water system of designated lakes and wetlands. Activities to establish sewage or wastewater facilities within or within 1 km of the surrounding waters, as well as activities for landfill or extension of wetlands, must be approved by the environmental governor or governor of the prefecture. In Japan, scholars believe that the main characteristics of wetlands are first and foremost, followed by high ground water levels, and third, soil is saturated for at least some of the year.4, otherIn its Water Law, France defines wetlands as “developed or unexploited land that is permanently or temporarily filled with fresh or salt water”, and its Wetlands Convention is cited in its Wetland Action Plan. Wetland definition.Belgium adopts the definition of the Convention on Wetlands in the Protection of Nature and Natural Environment Order and its related decrees, although the latter applies only to wetlands of biological value;Denmark uses the enumerated method in the Nature Protection Law to stipulate the wetland of the habitat types of wild animals and plants such as lakes, waterways, swamps, peatlands and permanent wet grasslands.In the development of the National Environmental Action Plan, Armenia defined the scope of wetland adjustment as natural wetlands and constructed wetlands, permanent wetlands and non-permanent wetlands.5. General characteristics of foreign wetland definitionAnalysis of the definition of wetlands in foreign countries, we can find that countries and regions define the connotation and extension of their respective wetland concepts according to the actual conditions of their own or the wetlands in their own regions, and generally, in the legislation, The wetland gives a relatively abstract definition, and then adopts a positive enumeration method based on the definition, listing the various wetland types to be adjusted by the law, indicating that the type of the law is the law. Adjustments. This method of definition is more operative, and also has some flexibility and flexibility.