Coastal development history and tidal flat ecosystem conservation along the coast of Jiangsu Province, China

Jiangsu coast, with the unique feature of expanding tidal flat along the west border of the South Yellow Sea, has the famous coastal ecosystem of tidal flat, which is also the habitat for the long-distance migration birds. Using the comprehensive analysis of the historical documents and historical maps as well as the remote sensing images, the authors reviewed the development and conservation of the tidal flat in Jiangsu coast. The development of the tidal flat has a long history of more than two thousand years. Salt production was the earliest economic purpose of the tidal flat development, obvious transition of the tidal flat use changed from salt production to farming in the late nineteenth century. The large-scale reclamation began in the early time of 1910s and the fast reclamation periods in the past century corresponded with the policy-oriented supporting from the government. The conservation of the tidal flat and the salt marsh in the central part of the Jiangsu coast oriented the setup of the Yancheng Wetland Conserves in the year of 1983. The conflicts between the tidal flat conservation and the development in the past decades was discussed in the aspect of the key periods. Large amount loss of tidal flat resulted in the food-rich, continuous wetland became more fragmental and food shortage along the tidal flat of Jiangsu coast. The author believed the policy and the decision- making play important role in the conflicts about the coastal wetland conservation and development in Jiangsu Province. There are more potentials for the improvement of the coastal development policy and decision-making in the future.