Abstract: As typical land-sea transition ecosystems, coastal wetlands are of great significance in maintaining ecological security and promoting regional sustainable development. The conservation and management of coastal wetlands is currently in the transition stage from rescue restoration to systematic governance in China. Understanding the practical lessons and experiences of international wetland protection and restoration practices is a key step to facilitate the sustainable use of wetlands in China. We systematically investigated the international management cases of coastal wetland that are similar to China’s coastal wetlands in terms of location, environment, development stage, as well as challenges. We further reviewed the governance objectives from the aspects of system construction, capital guarantee, management means, community participation, and international cooperation, and refined their common characteristics. Combined with the practical problems and basis in the practice of coastal wetland governance in China, we analyzed the applicable scenarios and localization paths of international experience, and put forward countermeasures and suggestions to improve the comprehensive management efficiency of coastal wetlands from the dimensions of legal system construction, space management, organizational coordination, scientific and technological support, capital guarantee, and multiple co-governance.

Key words: coastal wetland, spatial governance, ecological engineering, cross-sectoral coordination