Status Quo,Analysis and Suggestions for Public Awareness on Wetland Conservation in China

To understand the status of public awareness on wetland conservation in China,1237 people from 8 provinces or municipality were interviewed by questionnaire.After analysis of the results,88.5%of the interviewees know the word ’wetland’.TV and radio is the main tool for them to get information.More than two thirds of the respondents mainly learn the information on wetland conservation through TV and radio.There are still big gaps among different people in understanding wetland.Only 13.3%of the respondents give a completely right answer on question ’which areas are wetlands’.Most of the respondents cited lakes,marshes and rivers as wetlands,but more than half of them do not regard beaches,reservoirs,paddy fields and fish ponds as wetlands.Most of the people cited wetlands can provide such functions as water conservation,climate regulation,protecting wildlife,removing pollution, but know little about other functions such as flood control,provisioning of aquatic products,and soil retention, and much less about the cultural functions such as recreation,and inherited folk culture.Except for wastewater discharge, nearly half of the general public knows little about other threats of the wetland,while most of the people do not believe that artificial aquaculture will cause threats to the wetland areas.Public awareness on wetland conservation in China needs to be improved.Most of the respondents cited that TV,radio and internet are the most effective ways to publicize information on wetland conservation.More than two thirds of the respondents mainly learn the information on wetland conservation through TV and radio,while 38.0%of the respondents mainly through internet. Specifically,for farmers/fishermen,posters/picture albums can benefit them more than the internet;the undergraduates also expect to learn wetland mainly through posters/picture albums;while for the primary and middle school students, the school education is another valuable source of publicity in addition to TV and radio.Strengthen cooperation with TV stations and broadcasting stations are the best way to raise public awareness of wetland conservation. The authors suggest to strength cooperation with media on wetland conservation,conduct wetland conservation education in middle and primary schools and communities;organize experts and professionals to write books and teaching materials needed for popularizing science,basic education and staff training;develop an internet-based CEPA network system on wetland conservation;conduct public awareness activities in communities,focusing on females in rural areas;build public awareness and education system,improve the public’s awareness on wetland conservation,create good social environment for conserving wetlands.