A coastal wetland in Shantou City, south China's Guangdong Province, has become China’s first GEF international wetland pilot site, approved by UNEP/GEF Project Coordinating Unit. The purpose of the involved project is to reverse the environmental degradation trends in the South China Sea and the Gulf of Thailand. 

Shantou City is located in the east of Guangdong Province, where the Hanjiang, Rongjiang and Lianjiang rivers flow into the sea. The city has rich coastal wetland resources with offshore and coastal wetlands, river wetlands, and lake wetlands extending 51,140 hectares, occupying 24.77 percent of the total land of Shantou.

The wetlands in Shantou are home to 125 bird species, of which 64 are waterfowl species, including five on the list of China’s endangered species and two world endangered species. Each year, there are tens of thousands of migratory birds flying to the coastal wetlands to find temporary shelters.

The coastal wetlands have 268 varieties of plants in 92 species.

The GEF project concerning South China Sea is a large-scale regional cooperation project on oceanic environmental protection. It was jointly sponsored by seven surrounding countries of the South China Sea, namely, China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines. UNEP (United Nations Environment Program) is responsible for its organization and implementation, with fund and facilities offered by the GEF (Global Environment Facility). Items included in the project include developing mangrove forests, coral reefs, seaweeds, wetlands, fishery resources and curbing land-based pollution.

The project plans to choose five wetland pilot sites in the seven countries to experiment on sustained utilization and management mode of wetland eco-system under different national conditions. Factors concerned in the selection include general acreage, wetland acreage, eco-environment situation, bio-diversity, protection status quo of rare and endangered species, wintering conditions for migratory waterfowls, social economic situation and local governments' support.