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Wetland conservation belongs to a historical category. After thousands of years’ development， wetland conservation has been evolving into a global issue because of the “irrational thinking” behind the “heat of development”. China’s wetland has been ruined by the practice of reclamation of land for agriculture for decades and currently faces the severe challenge by urbanization and industrialization. Due to mankind’s ambition of conquering nature， the overall tendency of deprivation and deterioration of China’s wetland has not been restrained effectively. The Eighteenth National Congress of the Communist Party of China set up a grand objective of building a beautiful China. Therefore， wetland conservation has become the highest priority in reinforcing ecological civilization construction.
1. Fully Reflect Functions of Wetland with Ecological Benefits as Foundation
Wetland is one of the most important environmental capitals of mankind and also a highly productive ecological system with rich biodiversity. Opinions on the functions of wetland vary， mainly reflecting on three aspects， namely ecological functions， economic functions and social functions. The three functions develop in a conflicting process instead of a balanced one. Wetland conservation at this stage should be focused on maintaining ecological functions.
The degradation of wetland is the result of the development of human society. With the development of human society， especially the development of industrialized civilization， the wetland problem has evolved into a global issue that imperils human’s existence. The Four Great Ancient Civilizations all emerged along large river basins and many cities in the world have always been built along rivers. Therefore， located between water and land， wetland is known as the cradle of life and the cradle of city. Since human society came into being， mankind has been faced with the problem of how to deal with the relationship between mankind and environment. At early stage， in order to obtain necessary materials for livelihood， mankind had to rely on nature due to their limited strength and power. As our limited strength and space permitted， the degradation of wetland did not go beyond nature’s endurance， thus mankind could live harmoniously with wetland. Since the beginning of industrialized civilization， the relationship between man and nature has changed tremendously from harmonious coexistence to serious opposition， which brought about ecological problems and the wetland problem. The on-going “heats of development” have further highlighted ecological problems and wetland conservation entered our vision suddenly. The wetland can bring ecological， economic and social benefits to our society. Firstly， wetland has special ecological function. It plays an important role in maintaining biodiversity， including species conservation and biodiversity protection； it also functions outstandingly in controlling flood and regulating rivers， working as important vehicle to retain water， regulate river flow， supply ground water and maintain the water balance of a region； wetland also helps with degrading pollutants， like degrading and transferring toxic substance caused by industrialized production and other human activities and some natural processes like runoff.
Secondly， wetland can contribute to the economy. It supplies abundant animal and plant productions， important water resource， mineral resources and energies and water transportation for our life. Thirdly， wetland has prominent social functions. The direct functions lie in aesthetics as wetlands can be locations of sightseeing， travelling and entertainment. It also supplies objects， materials and test sites for education and scientific research. In general， wetland is a natural synthetic system with its three functions working alternately.
However， the three functions of wetland do not develop evenly. Wetland is a land area that is saturated with water. The ecological function is prior to the other two， owing to its special significance. To ensure economic and social functions of wetland， a good wetland ecosystem is needed. With a good ecosystem， the wetland can produce a lot of materials and production services to humans. It can also regulate the ecosystem and cultural service to humans. A healthy wetland gives important play to maintaining ecological balance， improving ecology， realizing harmony between man and nature and facilitating sustainable development of economy and society. Therefore， healthy wetland system is important part of ecological safety system and sets important foundation for the sustainable development of economy and society.
2. Enhance Historical Responsibility of Wetland Conservation from the Perspective of Historical Comparison.
Existence lies in comparison. In recent years， the awareness of wetland conservation has been improved in China and the protection has been proved to be effective. However， due to the influence of climate change and human activities， the tendency of wetland’s losing and function deterioration has not been restrained. According to the official data， China’s current natural or semi-natural wetland accounts for only 3.77% of the territorial area， well below the world average of 6%. At the same time， during urbanization and industrialization process there are some new issues worthy of attention. Firstly， the conflicts between people and land in the development process cause a sharp reduction of wetland area. China is rich in wetland resources with distinguishing features of multi-type， wide distribution， significant regional differences and rich biodiversity. According to statistics， the existing national wetland area is approximately 65.94 million hectares， accounting for 10% of the world’s wetlands， ranking first in Asia and fourth in the world. Of the total area， about 25.94 million hectares are natural wetlands， including about 11.97 million hectares of swamps， about 9.1 million hectares of natural lakes， about 2.17 million hectares of tideland and 2.7 million hectares of shallow waters； artificial wetlands are about 40 million hectares， of which the reservoir surface are about 200 million hectares and rice fields are about 38 million hectares. With growing population and rapid economic development， enclosing wetland for cultivation and overusing natural resources are increasingly severe. The wetland area in China has dropped more than 50% since the 1950s. According to the latest “Preliminary Assessment Report of Effectiveness of Chinese National Wetland Nature Reserve Protection” released by the Institute of Remote Sensing Applications， Chinese Academy of Sciences， the wetland area in natural reserves has decreased by 8152.47 square kilometers in China （not including Hong Kong， Macao and Taiwan） in the past 30 years. Under the new situation of the urban sprawl， industrial relocation， the general development of high-speed traffic， contradictions between people and land， cities and land continue to intensify and wetland area faces critical situation of further reduction.
Secondly， the double-edged effect of science development has accelerated the decrease of the wet-lands.
The development of science and technology always has double-edged effects. Industrial pollution， over-fishing， eutrophication， etc. further accelerate the decrease of the wet-land quality. For instance， the continuous water quality deterioration in the Dianchi Lake and Taihu Lake， coupled with the frequent blue-green algae issues， seriously destroy the ecological function of the wetlands. According to the expertise， since the “Fifth Five Years Period”， the Chinese government has invested a great deal in the treatment of the Lake blue-green algae in Dianchi and created more man-made wetlands， but their ecological function is weaker than that of the natural wetlands. Nanji Wetland National Natural Reserve of Boyang Lake， the biggest fresh-water lake in China， and the second biggest lake in China， has decreased from 5000 mu to 1000 mu， and 8 out of 9 its son-lakes have dried up， and its central part became a prairie in May， 2011. Honghu Lake， the biggest fresh lake in Hubei Province， has dried up in the same time. The experts estimated that the ecological wetland recovery of Honghu Lake needs at least 10 years. With the development of science and technology， people should not lose themselves in the conquest of the nature， but should respect and follow the rules of nature， properly use the science and technology， and prevent themselves from the destruction by human’s science and technology. Thirdly， separately law enforcement leads to the vacuum in wetland governance.
In 2007， the State Forestry Bureau established the wetland conservation and management center， and the National Committee of China Convention Performance established by 16 departments including the State Forestry Bureau， the Foreign Affairs Ministry and National Development and Reform Commission. Afterwards， many provinces and districts introduced local wetland conservation regulations one after another. But there are still loopholes in management and laws. Problems from reclaiming farmland from lakes， over fishing， developing the real estate， farming pollution etc. emerge endlessly. In 2010， a province in the south concluded as follows， “Only in the four years of the ‘11th Five Years Plan’， we reclaimed 47 mu of farmlands from lakes…” Reclaiming farmland from lakes is one of the main reasons for wetland degradation. In 2005， an auditing bureau in a northwestern city found 4047 hectares of illegally reclaimed farmlands during the forestry special fund auditing. The statistics show that wetland function degradation causes water and soil loss， and even desertification， while the waste stuff from industrial and farming production pollutes 40% of the wetlands a varied degree.
3. Strengthen Governments’ Responsibility of Wetland Conservation Under the Orientation of Ecological Civilization
In the report of 18th CPC， a whole section of it specifically dedicated to Ecological Civilization Construction. It says， “We must give high priority to making ecological progress and incorporate it into all aspects and the whole process of advancing economic， political， cultural， and social progress， work hard to build a beautiful country， and achieve lasting and sustainable development of the Chinese nation.” Wetland conservation is basic and strategical safeguard of achieving the mentioned goals.
A series of measures of wetland conservation taken by Chinese government are effective：
Firstly， the conservation network covering major important wetlands has been preliminarily formed. Ecological conservation of wetlands has developed rapidly through publicity， education， planning of actions， regulating laws and rules， performing projects， researching， monitoring， science study， institution construction， international exchanges and cooperation， etc.；
Secondly， wetland conservation and restoration are making remarkable progress. Through national projects of wetland conservation and ecological restoration， some degenerated wetlands are conserved effectively， and some of them are recovering gradually. The sustainable mode of wetland utilization is forming， and the ability of wetland science research and monitoring is improving； Thirdly， the foundation work of wetland conservation and management is further strengthened， and the awareness of wetland conservation is improving. At present， there are more than 550 natural reserves， more than 100 national wetland pilot-parks， more than 120 local wetland parks， and 37 wetlands of international importance in China. Statistics show that about 49.6% of the total wetlands， 17.95 million hectares， receive an effective conservation， which means that national wetland conservation and management has achieved new progress.
Take Wuhan City as an example， the government insists to prioritize wetland conservation by improving its overall foundation. Wuhan is one of the megalopolis with richest inland wetland resources in China. Wuhan is located in eastern Jianghan Plain， with rich rivers and lakes， which make up the widely dispersed wetlands， known as “River City” and “City of Hundred Lakes” in “Province of Thousand Lakes”. Ever since the new century， the wetland conservation has received high attention from Wuhan Municipal Government and won great support from Wuhan citizens. Some major experiences are learned：
Firstly， two rounds of wetland researches are needed in order to obtain a preliminary perspective of wetlands situation and lay a good foundation for rescuing and conserving wetlands. In 2009， the 13th World Lake Conference was held in Wuhan， under the theme "For the Rehabilitation of our Lakes： Global Challenges and Chinese Innovations—Constructing Resource-Conserving and Environment-Friendly Society." It ended with the Wuhan Declaration to call for governments and the world to combat lake pollution and promote lake rehabilitation；
Secondly， in order to meet the requirements of construction of resource-conserving and environment-friendly society， Wuhan firstly adopted a local legislation of wetland conservation in Wuhan Megalopolis. In Feb. 2nd， 2010， the National People's Congress Standing Committee of Wuhan declared the Regulation of Wuhan Wetland Natural reserve， the first regulation about Wetland Natural reserve in provincial cities；
Thirdly， wetland natural reserves are regarded as the main body， along with wetland-parks as supplementary body to form the diverse network system of wetland conservation. At present， in Wuhan there are 1 provincial wetland natural reserve， 4 municipal wetland natural reserves， 4 small provincial wetland natural reserves and 5 wetland parks， including 2 national ones and 3 provincial ones. The area of wetland conservation has developed from 6，801，47 hectares to 33，630，71 hectares， making up 3.56% of the total area of Wuhan. The national reserves conserve 21.54% of Wuhan nature wetland ecological system， 85% wild animal population， 65% of higher plant community， and main habitats of 38 sorts of precious and rare endangered wild animals and more than 20 sorts of precious plants. At the same time， Jiefang Park， Lingjiao Lake， Houxianghe Lake， Sha Lake and other artificial wetland ecosystems have been established to preliminarily form an urban wetland conservation network with different supervising-levels， combined with different management-protection-forms. Fourthly， they combine the wetland resource conservation with water ecology and water environment protection， building an original ecological， nature-approaching and citizen-friendly wetland ecological water network. Wetland conservation has been advanced to valleys from lake areas， and the East and West Hufu river wetlands have become the new highlights in Wuhan wetland conservation project.
China is now on the industrialization and urbanization highway， which requires us to take effective measures to conduct rescuing protection of natural wetland， keeping sustainable development， making legislation， building supervising system， monitoring research， promoting， education and other relevant aspects， further promoting the wetland conservation healthy development.
4. Further Strengthen the Conservation and Recovery of the Wetlands
The “Five-in-one” layout of socialist development with Chinese characteristics elevates ecological culture to an unprecedented level. According to this layout， the concept of respecting nature， conforming nature and protecting nature must be established to achieve the breakthrough in wetland protection. Furthermore， eco-civilization system construction should be enhanced， and protection for ecosystem and the environment should be intensified to build a beautiful China and eventually achieve the continuous and sustainable development of China.
（1）. Initiate a complete conceptual revolution and jump out of the traditional agricultural and industrial development pattern. The key point of the wetland conservation and recovery is to conceptually stick to the Eco-civilization Strategy raised in the 18th CPC National Congress. Building eco-civilization is the inevitable choice for humanity in the wake of the tremendous environmental and resource losses caused by urbanization and industrialization. In the future urbanization and industrialization progress， the traditional industrial development pattern which can be described as “pollution first， treatment later” must be abandoned and a new road for the new industrialization should be paved. With the industrialization trend threatening the original ecological lands， an alternative approach must be chosen to protect and recover wetlands and traditional agricultural and industrial civilization path should be forwent， and precautions should be taken to deal with industrialization， commerce and tourism that annex the wetlands. Furthermore， an appeal should be made to further intensify the public awareness， increase the governmental involvement in wetland conservation and recovery， alter the irrational exploitation of wetland resources， improve wetland supervising organization， consummate relevant legislations and elevate the wetland conservation to an unprecedented level. （2）. Take protecting measures and make conservation plans based on a larger area scale. First， building and consummating a river-basin protecting network like the Yangtze River Wetland Network， and enhancing the wetland ecosystem’s adaptive capacity to reduce the effects of environmental changes in wetlands. Yangtze River valley has the largest freshwater lake group in China， which means its well-being will have a far-reaching effect on China’s social development and climatic dynamics. Protecting the Yangtze River is to protect our own future. Second， building and consummating regional urban protecting network. Natural ecological city should not be seen as isolated. For example， Wuhan locates in Yangtze River and Hanjiang valley， and the tributaries of the two rivers are connected in both upstream and downstream. Besides， most of the lakes in Wuhan are jointly shared with adjacent cities， and therefore dividing ecosystem according to administrative regions is inappropriate. It would be better to follow the natural and geographic patterns and put Wuhan wetlands into a larger ecosystem， and build a Wuhan Metropolitan Area or even larger wetland conservation area to implement efficient protection. The “two types of society” experiment in Wuhan Metropolitan Area has been advanced for years. Wuhan is the spearhead and has implemented the Wetland Nature Reserve Ordinance in Wuhan Metropolitan Area. From the angle of eco-basin， building a coordination system and protecting the wetland ecosystem will eventually further strengthen Wuhan’s leading position in wetland conservation.
（3）. Introduce a large-scale reform in system and straighten out wetland supervision and operation mechanism. The fact that wetland supervising departments currently belong to Ministry of Forestry， which results in function overlapping， divided policies from various sources and diverged efforts with departments of agriculture， reclamation， fishery， ocean， oil， tourism and more， has considerably reduced the management efficiency. In order to solve this problem， Wuhan established Chen Lake Wetland Nature Reserve in Caidian District exclusively serving as a wetland-protecting division， which has received positive results and already been introduced into other districts. Therefore a national-level China Wetland Administration should be established to build and consummate wetland supervising legislation， coordinate wetland conservation and recovery and make relevant policies.
（4）. Raise the protection level to achieve the ecological upgrade from conservation to recovery. Wetland protection should be transformed to ecosystem recovery from simple conservation. Dividing boundaries and preventing damages are just the first steps of fulfilling wetlands’ value. Based on the new starting point in history， a greater goal of restoring ecology， prospering wild plants and animals and recovering biodiversity should be set. Due to the lengthy cycle for the natural recovery， the artificial methods should also be adopted. The wild reed coverage rate of 15，000 mu of wetland in Wuhan Chen Lake has been raised to 40% to 50% from 10%， and the plant density for Wild Lotus， Wild Water Chestnut， Floating Fern and other wild plants has reached 80% with stable syngen populations. In addition， White Cranes， Demoiselle Cranes， Barhead Gooses， Grus vipios， Dalmatian Pelicans Black-winged Stilt and other wild wintering migratory birds have recently been spotted， showing the breakthrough achieved with artificial methods. Sharing the valuable experience of successful combination of natural recovery and artificial methods will greatly elevate the wetland naturality level.
（5）. Widen fund-raising channels and implement the wetland ecological restoration compensating policy. The wetland ecological protection and restoration require operating funds. The governments at all levels should raise special funds to support the operations and ensure them being smoothly conducted.
Wetland conservation contributes to building a beautiful China and ensures its continuous and sustainable development. Along with the central cities’ building progress， the inland-wetland-resourceful city Wuhan will be under the guidance of Scientific Concept of Development， and actively contribute to the eco-civilization construction based on the wetland protection as a breakthrough.
（Ye Jinsheng， Researcher， Doctor， Director of Wuhan Yangtze River Ecological Civilization Research Center）
1. Fully Reflect Functions of Wetland with Ecological Benefits as Foundation
Wetland is one of the most important environmental capitals of mankind and also a highly productive ecological system with rich biodiversity. Opinions on the functions of wetland vary， mainly reflecting on three aspects， namely ecological functions， economic functions and social functions. The three functions develop in a conflicting process instead of a balanced one. Wetland conservation at this stage should be focused on maintaining ecological functions.
The degradation of wetland is the result of the development of human society. With the development of human society， especially the development of industrialized civilization， the wetland problem has evolved into a global issue that imperils human’s existence. The Four Great Ancient Civilizations all emerged along large river basins and many cities in the world have always been built along rivers. Therefore， located between water and land， wetland is known as the cradle of life and the cradle of city. Since human society came into being， mankind has been faced with the problem of how to deal with the relationship between mankind and environment. At early stage， in order to obtain necessary materials for livelihood， mankind had to rely on nature due to their limited strength and power. As our limited strength and space permitted， the degradation of wetland did not go beyond nature’s endurance， thus mankind could live harmoniously with wetland. Since the beginning of industrialized civilization， the relationship between man and nature has changed tremendously from harmonious coexistence to serious opposition， which brought about ecological problems and the wetland problem. The on-going “heats of development” have further highlighted ecological problems and wetland conservation entered our vision suddenly. The wetland can bring ecological， economic and social benefits to our society. Firstly， wetland has special ecological function. It plays an important role in maintaining biodiversity， including species conservation and biodiversity protection； it also functions outstandingly in controlling flood and regulating rivers， working as important vehicle to retain water， regulate river flow， supply ground water and maintain the water balance of a region； wetland also helps with degrading pollutants， like degrading and transferring toxic substance caused by industrialized production and other human activities and some natural processes like runoff.
Secondly， wetland can contribute to the economy. It supplies abundant animal and plant productions， important water resource， mineral resources and energies and water transportation for our life. Thirdly， wetland has prominent social functions. The direct functions lie in aesthetics as wetlands can be locations of sightseeing， travelling and entertainment. It also supplies objects， materials and test sites for education and scientific research. In general， wetland is a natural synthetic system with its three functions working alternately.
However， the three functions of wetland do not develop evenly. Wetland is a land area that is saturated with water. The ecological function is prior to the other two， owing to its special significance. To ensure economic and social functions of wetland， a good wetland ecosystem is needed. With a good ecosystem， the wetland can produce a lot of materials and production services to humans. It can also regulate the ecosystem and cultural service to humans. A healthy wetland gives important play to maintaining ecological balance， improving ecology， realizing harmony between man and nature and facilitating sustainable development of economy and society. Therefore， healthy wetland system is important part of ecological safety system and sets important foundation for the sustainable development of economy and society.
2. Enhance Historical Responsibility of Wetland Conservation from the Perspective of Historical Comparison.
Existence lies in comparison. In recent years， the awareness of wetland conservation has been improved in China and the protection has been proved to be effective. However， due to the influence of climate change and human activities， the tendency of wetland’s losing and function deterioration has not been restrained. According to the official data， China’s current natural or semi-natural wetland accounts for only 3.77% of the territorial area， well below the world average of 6%. At the same time， during urbanization and industrialization process there are some new issues worthy of attention. Firstly， the conflicts between people and land in the development process cause a sharp reduction of wetland area. China is rich in wetland resources with distinguishing features of multi-type， wide distribution， significant regional differences and rich biodiversity. According to statistics， the existing national wetland area is approximately 65.94 million hectares， accounting for 10% of the world’s wetlands， ranking first in Asia and fourth in the world. Of the total area， about 25.94 million hectares are natural wetlands， including about 11.97 million hectares of swamps， about 9.1 million hectares of natural lakes， about 2.17 million hectares of tideland and 2.7 million hectares of shallow waters； artificial wetlands are about 40 million hectares， of which the reservoir surface are about 200 million hectares and rice fields are about 38 million hectares. With growing population and rapid economic development， enclosing wetland for cultivation and overusing natural resources are increasingly severe. The wetland area in China has dropped more than 50% since the 1950s. According to the latest “Preliminary Assessment Report of Effectiveness of Chinese National Wetland Nature Reserve Protection” released by the Institute of Remote Sensing Applications， Chinese Academy of Sciences， the wetland area in natural reserves has decreased by 8152.47 square kilometers in China （not including Hong Kong， Macao and Taiwan） in the past 30 years. Under the new situation of the urban sprawl， industrial relocation， the general development of high-speed traffic， contradictions between people and land， cities and land continue to intensify and wetland area faces critical situation of further reduction.
Secondly， the double-edged effect of science development has accelerated the decrease of the wet-lands.
The development of science and technology always has double-edged effects. Industrial pollution， over-fishing， eutrophication， etc. further accelerate the decrease of the wet-land quality. For instance， the continuous water quality deterioration in the Dianchi Lake and Taihu Lake， coupled with the frequent blue-green algae issues， seriously destroy the ecological function of the wetlands. According to the expertise， since the “Fifth Five Years Period”， the Chinese government has invested a great deal in the treatment of the Lake blue-green algae in Dianchi and created more man-made wetlands， but their ecological function is weaker than that of the natural wetlands. Nanji Wetland National Natural Reserve of Boyang Lake， the biggest fresh-water lake in China， and the second biggest lake in China， has decreased from 5000 mu to 1000 mu， and 8 out of 9 its son-lakes have dried up， and its central part became a prairie in May， 2011. Honghu Lake， the biggest fresh lake in Hubei Province， has dried up in the same time. The experts estimated that the ecological wetland recovery of Honghu Lake needs at least 10 years. With the development of science and technology， people should not lose themselves in the conquest of the nature， but should respect and follow the rules of nature， properly use the science and technology， and prevent themselves from the destruction by human’s science and technology. Thirdly， separately law enforcement leads to the vacuum in wetland governance.
In 2007， the State Forestry Bureau established the wetland conservation and management center， and the National Committee of China Convention Performance established by 16 departments including the State Forestry Bureau， the Foreign Affairs Ministry and National Development and Reform Commission. Afterwards， many provinces and districts introduced local wetland conservation regulations one after another. But there are still loopholes in management and laws. Problems from reclaiming farmland from lakes， over fishing， developing the real estate， farming pollution etc. emerge endlessly. In 2010， a province in the south concluded as follows， “Only in the four years of the ‘11th Five Years Plan’， we reclaimed 47 mu of farmlands from lakes…” Reclaiming farmland from lakes is one of the main reasons for wetland degradation. In 2005， an auditing bureau in a northwestern city found 4047 hectares of illegally reclaimed farmlands during the forestry special fund auditing. The statistics show that wetland function degradation causes water and soil loss， and even desertification， while the waste stuff from industrial and farming production pollutes 40% of the wetlands a varied degree.
3. Strengthen Governments’ Responsibility of Wetland Conservation Under the Orientation of Ecological Civilization
In the report of 18th CPC， a whole section of it specifically dedicated to Ecological Civilization Construction. It says， “We must give high priority to making ecological progress and incorporate it into all aspects and the whole process of advancing economic， political， cultural， and social progress， work hard to build a beautiful country， and achieve lasting and sustainable development of the Chinese nation.” Wetland conservation is basic and strategical safeguard of achieving the mentioned goals.
A series of measures of wetland conservation taken by Chinese government are effective：
Firstly， the conservation network covering major important wetlands has been preliminarily formed. Ecological conservation of wetlands has developed rapidly through publicity， education， planning of actions， regulating laws and rules， performing projects， researching， monitoring， science study， institution construction， international exchanges and cooperation， etc.；
Secondly， wetland conservation and restoration are making remarkable progress. Through national projects of wetland conservation and ecological restoration， some degenerated wetlands are conserved effectively， and some of them are recovering gradually. The sustainable mode of wetland utilization is forming， and the ability of wetland science research and monitoring is improving； Thirdly， the foundation work of wetland conservation and management is further strengthened， and the awareness of wetland conservation is improving. At present， there are more than 550 natural reserves， more than 100 national wetland pilot-parks， more than 120 local wetland parks， and 37 wetlands of international importance in China. Statistics show that about 49.6% of the total wetlands， 17.95 million hectares， receive an effective conservation， which means that national wetland conservation and management has achieved new progress.
Take Wuhan City as an example， the government insists to prioritize wetland conservation by improving its overall foundation. Wuhan is one of the megalopolis with richest inland wetland resources in China. Wuhan is located in eastern Jianghan Plain， with rich rivers and lakes， which make up the widely dispersed wetlands， known as “River City” and “City of Hundred Lakes” in “Province of Thousand Lakes”. Ever since the new century， the wetland conservation has received high attention from Wuhan Municipal Government and won great support from Wuhan citizens. Some major experiences are learned：
Firstly， two rounds of wetland researches are needed in order to obtain a preliminary perspective of wetlands situation and lay a good foundation for rescuing and conserving wetlands. In 2009， the 13th World Lake Conference was held in Wuhan， under the theme "For the Rehabilitation of our Lakes： Global Challenges and Chinese Innovations—Constructing Resource-Conserving and Environment-Friendly Society." It ended with the Wuhan Declaration to call for governments and the world to combat lake pollution and promote lake rehabilitation；
Secondly， in order to meet the requirements of construction of resource-conserving and environment-friendly society， Wuhan firstly adopted a local legislation of wetland conservation in Wuhan Megalopolis. In Feb. 2nd， 2010， the National People's Congress Standing Committee of Wuhan declared the Regulation of Wuhan Wetland Natural reserve， the first regulation about Wetland Natural reserve in provincial cities；
Thirdly， wetland natural reserves are regarded as the main body， along with wetland-parks as supplementary body to form the diverse network system of wetland conservation. At present， in Wuhan there are 1 provincial wetland natural reserve， 4 municipal wetland natural reserves， 4 small provincial wetland natural reserves and 5 wetland parks， including 2 national ones and 3 provincial ones. The area of wetland conservation has developed from 6，801，47 hectares to 33，630，71 hectares， making up 3.56% of the total area of Wuhan. The national reserves conserve 21.54% of Wuhan nature wetland ecological system， 85% wild animal population， 65% of higher plant community， and main habitats of 38 sorts of precious and rare endangered wild animals and more than 20 sorts of precious plants. At the same time， Jiefang Park， Lingjiao Lake， Houxianghe Lake， Sha Lake and other artificial wetland ecosystems have been established to preliminarily form an urban wetland conservation network with different supervising-levels， combined with different management-protection-forms. Fourthly， they combine the wetland resource conservation with water ecology and water environment protection， building an original ecological， nature-approaching and citizen-friendly wetland ecological water network. Wetland conservation has been advanced to valleys from lake areas， and the East and West Hufu river wetlands have become the new highlights in Wuhan wetland conservation project.
China is now on the industrialization and urbanization highway， which requires us to take effective measures to conduct rescuing protection of natural wetland， keeping sustainable development， making legislation， building supervising system， monitoring research， promoting， education and other relevant aspects， further promoting the wetland conservation healthy development.
4. Further Strengthen the Conservation and Recovery of the Wetlands
The “Five-in-one” layout of socialist development with Chinese characteristics elevates ecological culture to an unprecedented level. According to this layout， the concept of respecting nature， conforming nature and protecting nature must be established to achieve the breakthrough in wetland protection. Furthermore， eco-civilization system construction should be enhanced， and protection for ecosystem and the environment should be intensified to build a beautiful China and eventually achieve the continuous and sustainable development of China.
（1）. Initiate a complete conceptual revolution and jump out of the traditional agricultural and industrial development pattern. The key point of the wetland conservation and recovery is to conceptually stick to the Eco-civilization Strategy raised in the 18th CPC National Congress. Building eco-civilization is the inevitable choice for humanity in the wake of the tremendous environmental and resource losses caused by urbanization and industrialization. In the future urbanization and industrialization progress， the traditional industrial development pattern which can be described as “pollution first， treatment later” must be abandoned and a new road for the new industrialization should be paved. With the industrialization trend threatening the original ecological lands， an alternative approach must be chosen to protect and recover wetlands and traditional agricultural and industrial civilization path should be forwent， and precautions should be taken to deal with industrialization， commerce and tourism that annex the wetlands. Furthermore， an appeal should be made to further intensify the public awareness， increase the governmental involvement in wetland conservation and recovery， alter the irrational exploitation of wetland resources， improve wetland supervising organization， consummate relevant legislations and elevate the wetland conservation to an unprecedented level. （2）. Take protecting measures and make conservation plans based on a larger area scale. First， building and consummating a river-basin protecting network like the Yangtze River Wetland Network， and enhancing the wetland ecosystem’s adaptive capacity to reduce the effects of environmental changes in wetlands. Yangtze River valley has the largest freshwater lake group in China， which means its well-being will have a far-reaching effect on China’s social development and climatic dynamics. Protecting the Yangtze River is to protect our own future. Second， building and consummating regional urban protecting network. Natural ecological city should not be seen as isolated. For example， Wuhan locates in Yangtze River and Hanjiang valley， and the tributaries of the two rivers are connected in both upstream and downstream. Besides， most of the lakes in Wuhan are jointly shared with adjacent cities， and therefore dividing ecosystem according to administrative regions is inappropriate. It would be better to follow the natural and geographic patterns and put Wuhan wetlands into a larger ecosystem， and build a Wuhan Metropolitan Area or even larger wetland conservation area to implement efficient protection. The “two types of society” experiment in Wuhan Metropolitan Area has been advanced for years. Wuhan is the spearhead and has implemented the Wetland Nature Reserve Ordinance in Wuhan Metropolitan Area. From the angle of eco-basin， building a coordination system and protecting the wetland ecosystem will eventually further strengthen Wuhan’s leading position in wetland conservation.
（3）. Introduce a large-scale reform in system and straighten out wetland supervision and operation mechanism. The fact that wetland supervising departments currently belong to Ministry of Forestry， which results in function overlapping， divided policies from various sources and diverged efforts with departments of agriculture， reclamation， fishery， ocean， oil， tourism and more， has considerably reduced the management efficiency. In order to solve this problem， Wuhan established Chen Lake Wetland Nature Reserve in Caidian District exclusively serving as a wetland-protecting division， which has received positive results and already been introduced into other districts. Therefore a national-level China Wetland Administration should be established to build and consummate wetland supervising legislation， coordinate wetland conservation and recovery and make relevant policies.
（4）. Raise the protection level to achieve the ecological upgrade from conservation to recovery. Wetland protection should be transformed to ecosystem recovery from simple conservation. Dividing boundaries and preventing damages are just the first steps of fulfilling wetlands’ value. Based on the new starting point in history， a greater goal of restoring ecology， prospering wild plants and animals and recovering biodiversity should be set. Due to the lengthy cycle for the natural recovery， the artificial methods should also be adopted. The wild reed coverage rate of 15，000 mu of wetland in Wuhan Chen Lake has been raised to 40% to 50% from 10%， and the plant density for Wild Lotus， Wild Water Chestnut， Floating Fern and other wild plants has reached 80% with stable syngen populations. In addition， White Cranes， Demoiselle Cranes， Barhead Gooses， Grus vipios， Dalmatian Pelicans Black-winged Stilt and other wild wintering migratory birds have recently been spotted， showing the breakthrough achieved with artificial methods. Sharing the valuable experience of successful combination of natural recovery and artificial methods will greatly elevate the wetland naturality level.
（5）. Widen fund-raising channels and implement the wetland ecological restoration compensating policy. The wetland ecological protection and restoration require operating funds. The governments at all levels should raise special funds to support the operations and ensure them being smoothly conducted.
Wetland conservation contributes to building a beautiful China and ensures its continuous and sustainable development. Along with the central cities’ building progress， the inland-wetland-resourceful city Wuhan will be under the guidance of Scientific Concept of Development， and actively contribute to the eco-civilization construction based on the wetland protection as a breakthrough.
（Ye Jinsheng， Researcher， Doctor， Director of Wuhan Yangtze River Ecological Civilization Research Center）