The frequent occurrence of extreme flood events in the late 1990s and the past decade has brought about an ongoing debate on the relationships between wetland resources, wetland ecosystem services, and human development and livelihoods of communities in the Dongting Lake area. This paper is prepared for analysing the best practices in wise-use and sustainable management of wetland and their socioeconomic benefits in Polder Xipanshanzhou in Dongting Lake. The quantitative (monetary values) and qualitative socioeconomic data of 1683 samples from questionnaire surveys during 2000 to 2008 were used for this study, of which 1173 were obtained in Polder Xipanshanzhou. Five conclusions are drawn from the study: (i) the community-based alternative activities and wise-use in Polder Xipanshanzhou after “Returning Farmland to Lake” (RFL) resulted in more income, increased well-being, reduced vulnerability to food shortage, poverty and flooding, and more sustainable use of the natural resource base; (ii) women, elder farmers, and low-income groups benefited much more from these activities; (iii) livelihood continued to improve as compared with that when the project started in 2000, and project participating households earned more income and owned more properties than non-project households. Even after the external funding stopped in 2001, its positive accumulated effects have still been significantly contributing to the improvement of livelihoods of this community; (iv) social structures within Polder Xipanshanzhou have been evolving in a positive way, community-based grass-roots organizations have emerged and developed well, and the capacities of community-based participatory co-management, self-governing and self-development, as well as local awareness of environmental issues have been improving, which attract more local people to be interested in such wise-use activities; and (v) the success can be attributed to the mobilization of local communities, favorable national policies, Public-Private Partnership (PPP), institutional arrangements in local communities, and adaptive management and innovative approaches.