Global ecological regionalization plays a key role in spatially guiding the conservation and management of ecosystems at global and regional scales. However, the current zoning scheme for the global ecoregion has some limitations, as it focuses on the geographical distribution of biodiversity characteristics while neglecting the ecological services for human beings. This study systematically demonstrates the research progress of global ecological regionalization. The course has been summarized into three stages:rudiment, development, and reconsideration. Two sets of global ecoregion schemes have been most widely applied in the last 40 years. Nevertheless, both schemes belong to the category of biogeographic regionalization, with the objective of biodiversity conservation. To understand the comprehensive support for regional ecological security as well as coordinate the human-nature relationship, it is necessary to study global ecological functional regionalization on the basis of ecosystem services. Four future directions for this research goal have been set:further improvement of the theoretical system of ecological regionalization, exploration of the integration of ecological regionalization methods, highlighting the trade-off of ecosystem services, and focusing on the dynamic evolution of the human-nature relationship.