Priority assessment of wetlands restoration in HuangHuaiHai region, China

Abstract

With vast area of wetlands (coastal estuaries, semi-arid rivers, lakes, and other typical wetlands) and rich biodiversity (especially water-birds), HuangHuaiHai Region (HHHR) has its uniqueness and irreplaceability at local, regional and global scales. HHHR not only provides huge suitable habitats for various wildlives, but also plays very import role in providing great ecosystem service for local people. However, due to intensive human activities in HHHR during the half past century, wetlands have long been suffering from large-scale destruction and increasing degradation. In spite of large invest for wetlands conservation and restoration, however, the efficacy was low. Therefore, it's essential to identify the priority areas for wetlands restoration to limit wetlands degradation. Firstly, we conducted the wetlands evolutionary analysis during the period from 1980s to 2000s. Then, on the basis of it, combining with socio-economical factors, such as GDP, population, etc., using the priority theory of Systematic Conservation Planning (SCP) and Marxan space-optimized software used universally in the world, we established wetland restoration scenarios based on different levels, and established wetlands priority restoration pattern. The results showed that: on the whole, wetlands in HHHR tended to degrade from 1980s to 2000s, decreasing about 99.37km2. The priority areas for wetlands restoration involved 29 counties in all, 2 counties in Tianjin City, 3 counties in Shandong Province, 4 counties in Hebei Province, and 20 counties in Henan Province, respectively, mainly along the Yellow River in Henan Province and around the Bohai Sea, others distributed sparsely. Finally, these proposed protected areas should be well integrated together, thus we can form a wetlands priority restoration pattern for HHHR.