SHENZHEN will build eight wetland parks before 2017, while wetland conservationists called the public to help with wetland protection, the Shenzhen Economic Daily reported yesterday.

According to an earlier plan by the Guangdong government, 180 wetland parks across the province are expected to be completed before 2017, with eight of them in Shenzhen.

Shenzhen's urban management bureau held a meeting with ecological experts and wetland conservationists on Aug. 12 last year to choose the locations of these wetland parks.

The attendees reached a consensus that eight parks in Shenzhen, such as the Shenzhen Bay Park, Donghu Park, Honghu Park and OCT wetland, are qualified to be turned into wetland parks.

A forum held in Shenzhen on Tuesday by China-ASEAN Environmental Cooperation Center highlighted the protection and recovery of coastal wetlands. Government officials, academics and social activists from China and around the world attended the forum.

Wang Shi, director of the Shenzhen Mangrove Wetlands Conservation Foundation, said the public needed to play a bigger role in wetland protection.

The two-day forum passed an initiative to strengthen the cooperation between China and ASEAN in terms of coastal eco-system protection. The attendees also visited the Futian mangrove natural reserve and ecological park after the forum.

Government research in 2012 showed that Shenzhen has 468 square kilometers of wetland, with 17 wetland parks or reserve areas in the city were on a significant wetland list.