In the past three decades, China has undergone a historical rapid develpment. Nevertheless, no one could become the world second

largest economic entity without pay the price. Nowadays, more and more evidence shows that China’s coastal wetlands becoming

one of the most threatened ecosystems on the Earth. There is a urgent need to pinpoint out those sites with ecological significance,

call for better conservation planning and management. In doing so, accurate and adequate ground information is vital. A recent

published paper on the Avian Research (former Chinese Birds) which using 10 years data contributed by a group of voluntary 

Chinese birders, shows how citizen science can help us get better understanding of current status of waterbirds in China’s

coastal regions and promoting their habitat conservation.

The paper is open access and can be download from link http://www.avianres.com/content/6/1/12