In view of the fragile ecological health of the Futian mangrove wetland ecosystem, an index system for evaluating ecosystem health of the Futian mangrove wetland was established based on the ‘pressure-state-response’ (PSR) model. The ecosystem health evaluation of the Futian mangrove wetland was carried out based on three aspects: pressure subsystem, state subsystem and response subsystem. Analytical hierarchy process (AHP) was used to determine the index weight. The index system is established and evaluated by the comprehensive index method. The results showed that the ecosystem health index of the Futian mangrove wetland was 0.25262. According to ecosystem health assessment criteria, it falls into the ‘poor’ range. Based on our assessment, we consider that the structure and function of the Futian mangrove wetland ecosystem are degraded, that there has been a decline in biodiversity and that the prevailing environmental problems are serious. The results of this study can provide an effective scientific basis for the management of the Futian mangrove wetland ecosystem.