Abstract:Ecological protection is defined as one of the key tasks in developing ecological civilization in China. Its major actions include strengthening the protection of natural ecosystems and environment, implementing key ecological restoration programs to enhance the productivity of ecosystem services, and promoting the comprehensive control of desertification, stony desertification, and water and soil loss to improve the regional eco-environment. Under such context, the Chinese Ecosystem Research Network (CERN) was launched by the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) in 1988. Its three key tasks are defined to monitor the long-term ecosystem changes, study the mechanism of ecosystem evolution, and demonstrate the best practices on ecosystem management. It has been operating on a network and standardized basis, having become one of the largest national ecosystem research networks worldwide, and serving as an important S&T platform in resources and environment areas in China. To date, CERN has made outstanding contributions to supporting the ecosystem protection in China in terms of science and technology by building the national ecosystem research network, developing a nation-wide ecosystem monitoring system and data sharing system, undertaking study on the mechanism of ecosystem changes, and demonstrating the best practices on ecosystem management. In the future, CERN will focus on monitoring the ecosystem changes to help optimize the spatial development pattern of land use; further examining the mechanism of ecosystem changes to support the ecological protection efforts; developing new technologies and best practices on ecological construction to support the efficient use of ecosystems; studying the global change and other environmental challenges to enhance China’s capacity of addressing climate change; and disseminating knowledge on ecological protection to support the national effort in this area. In this way, CERN is expected to leverage its crucial role in providing S&T support and making new contributions to the nation in terms of S&T.