China's economic boom has seen the coral reefs off its southern coast — including waters claimed by the Philippines and other neighboring countries — shrink by at least 80 percent over the past 30 years, a joint Australian study found Thursday, with researchers describing "grim" levels of damage and loss. The so-called South China Sea is strategically significant, home to some of the world's most important shipping lanes and believed to be rich in resources China claims most of the sea, including waters near the shores of its neighbours. Rival claimants include the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, and Vietnam, and tensions over the issue have flared in recent years.
West Philippine Sea
Earlier this year, Philippine president Benigno Aquino III signed Administrative Order No. 29, which reinforced the country's claim over a portion of the disputed waters by renaming the area the "West Philippine Sea". "The maritime areas on the western side of the Philippine archipelago are hereby named the West Philippine Sea. These areas include the Luzon Sea as well as the waters around, within and adjacent to the Kalayaan Island Group and Bajo De Masinloc, also known as Scarborough Shoal," the order declares. “[Ang] tawag natin West Philippine Sea; may parte nito tawag nila East Sea. Kanya-kanyang tawag e. I-klaro lang natin alin ba dito ang inaangkin natin,” Aquino had told reporters.
Damage in disputed waters
Scientists from the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies and the South China Sea Institute of Oceanology said their survey of mainland China and nearby reefs showed alarming degradation. "On offshore atolls and archipelagos claimed by six countries in the South China Sea, coral cover has declined from an average of greater than 60 percent to around 20 percent within the past 10-15 years," said the study, published in the latest edition of the journal Conservation Biology. "We found that coral abundance has declined by at least 80 percent over the past 30 years on coastal fringing reefs along the Chinese mainland and adjoining Hainan Island," it added.
'Grim picture of decline'
Coastal development, pollution and overfishing linked to the Asian giant's aggressive economic expansion were the major drivers, the authors said, describing a "grim picture of decline, degradation and destruction". "China's ongoing economic expansion has exacerbated many wicked environmental problems, including widespread habitat loss due to coastal development, unsustainable levels of fishing and pollution," the study said. Coral loss in the South China Sea — where reefs stretch across some 30,000 square kilometres (12,000 square miles) — was compounded by poor governance stemming from competing territorial claims. Some marine parks aimed at conservation had been established but study author Terry Hughes said they were too small and too far apart to arrest the decline in coral cover.
Closing window of opportunity
"The window of opportunity to recover the reefs of the South China Sea is closing rapidly, given the state of degradation revealed in this study," he said. More than 30 years of unbridled economic growth has left large parts of China environmentally devastated, with the nation suffering from some of the most severe air, water and land pollution in the world, global studies have shown. Such destruction has led to widespread local frustration and a number of protests, some of which have succeeded in getting proposed new factories and facilities cancelled or postponed. The government has laid out a road map to transform China's development mode to one that is more environmentally friendly and less dependent on headlong economic growth.
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