It is important for improving water quality of Lake Taihu that ecological compensation mechanism and incentive mechanism for upstream ecological protection is carried out in Lake Tianmu catchment.Firstly, we acquainted of residents' cognitive status of environmental protection and ecological compensation in Lake Tianmu catchment, and found a strong environmental protection awareness and a great ecological compensation demand.Then, we investigated the willingness to pay for ecological compensation of both local residents and visitors.Finally, we improved the original formula of the greatest willingness to pay.We summed up a total ecological compensation amount of 12924.08 thousand yuan in Lake Tianmu catchment by integrating the greatest back-feeding willingness of tourist tickets to pay into water fee regurgitation-feeding.It was not enough for ecological compensation merely at the material or monetary compensation, and more important way of Lake Tianmu catchment ecological compensation was that some policy inclination of this important eco-function areas from both state and provincial level.