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• Spatiotemporal evolution and destruction degree of wetlands from 1990 to 2018. • Comparison and Selection of Four Intelligent Algorithms for Land Cover Classification. • CA-Markov, support vector machine algorithm, wetland evolution prediction in 2018–2035. Wetlands are an important transitional ecosystem, and they play an important role in maintaining ecological balance. However, human activities and climate change have led to a decrease in wetlands. Therefore, to explore the degree of damage and assess the future trends of Guangxi wetlands, this study used the Google Earth Engine (GEE) cloud platform, and the support vector machine algorithm was selected for comparison and analysis to simulate the accuracy of land cover. GIS was used to analyse the evolution and degree of damage of nearly 30 Guangxi wetlands. The geographic detector model was used to explore the driving mechanism, and finally, the CA-Markov model and multi-scenario simulation were used to predict the wetland evolution from 2018 to 2035 to reveal the future direction of development. The results showed that (1) From 1990 to 2018, paddy fields accounted for the largest proportion of wetlands in Guangxi. In the past 30 years, the total area of wetlands in Guangxi has been degraded, with a total decrease of 983.33 km2. (2) The degree of wetland damage results showed that the total damaged area was greater than the total restored area, The wetland damage in Nanning city was the most serious, with an area difference of 503.22 km2 between the damaged and restored areas. (3) The analysis of the driving mechanism of wetland damage showed that distance from cities and towns, average precipitation and population density were the main driving factors. (4) The spatial distribution of natural development and economic construction in 2035 will be slightly damaged; additionally, the spatial distribution of ecological protection will expand as a whole. From 2025 to 2035, wetlands will be basically stable under Natural Development Scenario (NDS), degraded each year under the Economic Construction Scenario (ECS), and steadily increased each year under Ecological Protection Scenario (EPS). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]