Coastal ecosystems, such as salt marshes, mangroves, and seagrass meadows, have markedly high carbon burial and long-term carbon sequestration capacities (1). To protect coastal wetlands, China has implemented more than 1000 ecological restoration projects (2), built more than 2200 wetland nature reserves (3), and promoted legislation for ecological restoration and trading of carbon stored in marine and wetland environments (i.e., blue carbon) (3). However, efforts to protect mangroves and seagrass meadows have outpaced investment in salt marshes (4). Given that salt marshes account for more than 75% of China’s coastal wetlands (5), China should focus more resources on their protection.
