Abstract: The cultivated land requisition-compensation balance policy plays an important role in stabilizing the cultivated land area and ensuring food security in China. However, in the process of policy implementation, alienation behaviors such as occupying paddy fields to supplement drylands and destroying ecology are common. How to coordinate the relationship between cultivated land protection and wetlands ecological environment is a hot issue that needs to be solved urgently. By discussing the impact mechanism and characteristics of cultivated land requisition-compensation balance policy on wetlands changes, this study analyzes the temporal and spatial change of wetlands quantity in Hunan Province under the cultivated land protection policy by using the methods of transfer matrix, spatial analysis, and landscape development intensity index, and studies the impact of the policy on wetlands ecological quality. The research results are as follows: (1) the occupation of paddy fields by construction from 2009 to 2018 is one of the main reasons for the reduction of wetlands areas in Hunan Province. Although the paddy field requisition-compensation balance policy effectively controlled the reduction rate of wetlands area in Hunan Province from 2014 to 2018, it also improved the ratio of natural wetlands to paddy fields. (2) From the perspective of space, due to the occupation of constructed wetlands (paddy fields) by urban construction, economically developed urban areas such as Changsha, Xiangtan and Changde are the areas with more reduction of wetlands in Hunan. And the areas around Dongting Lake are the areas with more reduction of natural wetlands. (3) From 2009 to 2018, wetlands in Hunan Province have been increasingly disturbed by human activities, and their ecological quality has shown a continuous downward trend. The study suggests that in the future, implementing a scientifically and systematically cultivated land occupation-compensation balance policy is needed to continue. While strictly controlling the occupation of paddy fields by construction land, not only the supplement of high-quality paddy fields should be strengthened, but also paid attention to the protection of natural wetlands. The research results can provide support for further improving the cultivated land protection policy in the future.