Opinion | As nations fight for control, South China Sea coral reefs are dying in silence
- James Borton and Jackson Ewing say the devastation wrought by island building in the waters, mainly by China, is having a big impact on an already fragile ecosystem
- Cooperation on scientific research and environmental management must be encouraged to limit the damage, and as a way to build trust
The worst of nature’s battlefields are visible in the destroyed South China Sea coral reefs. Over the past five years, China has added more than 1,300 hectares to islands, reefs and atolls primarily on the Spratly archipelago, in the waters between Vietnam, Malaysia and the Philippines – which, along with China, Taiwan, and Brunei, have competing claims to the territories. Vietnam has likewise engaged in artificial island construction, albeit on a much smaller scale, as each claimant seeks, through varied means, to maximise their own position.
The South China Sea’s complex and interconnected ecosystems need the voices of marine scientists to quell the degradation wrought by such island construction, as well as the overfishing and the harvesting of critical species that mar the region.
The rich marine biodiversity feeds on the patina of living corals and is home to a multibillion-dollar fishery industry, ranging from fleets of state-of-the art mega-trawlers to small wooden boats. Directly and indirectly, the South China Sea supports the food security, livelihoods, and quality of life of hundreds of millions of people.
The accelerating environmental peril in the South China Sea is inseparable from the territorial disputes that plague it. Increasing numbers of coral reefs, seagrass beds, and other shallow-water ecosystems have been destroyed and buried primarily as a result of China’s push to stake concrete claims in the region. The land reclamation projects continue to undermine ecological connections between the Spratly Islands and waters of the South China Sea, choking off the supply of nutrients upon which these fragile ecosystems depend.
Within this troubled context, environmental cooperation is essential for the sea’s ecological future, and may offer a pathway for defusing strategic tension and building trust among claimants. Key leaders must be convinced to coalesce around environmental management and research, as well as setting rules for construction, amid the military posturing and economic nationalism that dominate the current status quo.
