Coastal wetland in South China:Degradation trends,causes and protection countermeasures

There are abundant coastal wetlands in South China and their main characters are the tidal flats, mangroves and coral reefs. In this paper, the status quo of coastal wetlands in South China is introduced and their degradation trends in the last decades are analyzed based on the existing literatures and information. Their degradation trends are characterized by reduction of coastal wetlands’ area, pollution of seawater environment, degeneration of ecological environment, sharp decrease of biodiversity in the wetlands and so on. At the same time, the causes resulting in the above-mentioned degradations are discussed, mainly concluding imperfect systems of management and legislation, deficient property and assessment systems of the wetlands, weak consciousness of protecting coastal wetlands, shortage of basic study and backward management level and so on. Some countermeasures are put forward for the sake of a sustainable use of the coastal wetlands of South China, mainly including establishing and perfecting administrative and legal systems for the coastal wetlands, developing the study on assessment of coastal wetland, heightening the consciousness of public participation, and strengthening scientific research and establishment of wetland nature reserves.