Collaborative Governance Legalization of Wetland Protection in Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area—Taking the Improvement of Ecosystem Functions and Services as the Goal

The Development Plan for Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area puts forward the requirements for strengthening the protection and restoration of wetlands. Based on the particularity and diversity of the wetland protection in the Greater Bay Area, it is necessary to carry out both overall protection of wetlands from the perspective of the ecosystem integrity and coordinated protection of wetlands from the perspective of regional ecosystem services. The divided protection of wetlands in Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao is not conducive to the overall benefits of wetland ecosystem in the Greater Bay Area, and the differential protection of wetlands is not conducive to the fair benefits of wetland ecosystem in the Greater Bay Area. The goal of the overall wetland protection and co-management in the Greater Bay Area is to enhance the ecosystem functions and services. However, it is difficult to achieve this goal through regional unified legislation, framework law or model law at the present stage. The current optimal legal path is to jointly formulate a wetland protection plan, and establish a coordinated protection system for cross-border wetlands.