The researchers studied wetland conservation in the Yellow River basin. They created a system to classify wetlands based on climate and geography, then used a planning tool to optimize protection areas. They found that most marsh wetlands are in the upper basin, with gaps in protection in Inner Mongolia, Gansu, and Sichuan. Riverine wetlands in the middle basin have low protection and need more attention. Optimizing the protection network improved conservation by 29.1%-37.6%. Wetlands in the lower basin are well-protected. The study provides suggestions for better wetland protection in the Yellow River basin.