Mitigating typhoon damage with wetlands: estimating the typhoon protection value of intertidal and inland wetlands in China

For decades, China has been suffering from frequent typhoon strikes. To protect population and property in coastal areas from typhoon-induced losses, wetlands are of great importance. Wetlands mitigate the impact of typhoons by surge energy absorption and flood regulation. However, currently there are only a few comprehensive studies on the protection value of intertidal and inland wetlands against typhoons. In this study, we used two economic regression models to evaluate 92 typhoon cases that occurred in China from 2000 to 2020 and the economic losses they caused. The results indicate that both intertidal and inland wetlands can effectively reduce the economic losses. In addition, we compared the typhoon protection value of intertidal wetlands with that of inland ones. The results show that the average marginal values of intertidal and inland wetlands against typhoons are respectively CNY 23.652 million/km² and 1.261 million/km² (with median values of CNY 10.537 million/km² and 0.605 million/km², respectively). We also analyzed the typhoon protection value of wetlands at the city level. Although inland wetlands provide relatively lower value compared to intertidal wetlands, they still play an important role in mitigating the economic losses caused by typhoons and thus should not be overlooked. Wetland conservation is not only a cost-effective way to largely reduce typhoons damage, but also provides many other valuable ecosystem services.