Concern over great seawalls of China: once lush wetlands surrounded by 11,000km of artificial structures
Once lush wetlands on the mainland have been enclosed by artificial structures that stretch 11,000km and pose a threat to biodiversity
Rapid economic development of China's coastal regions, which produce 60 per cent of the country's gross domestic product, has also enclosed once lush wetlands with a string of seawalls longer than the Great Wall, raising serious environmental concerns.
"Reclamation of China's coastal wetlands is estimated to cause annual losses of US$31 billion in ecosystem services [processes of nature such as providing clean water, replenishing oxygen and creating soil]," the report said.
Artificial seawalls now stretch along some 60 per cent of the mainland's coastline, the report said, destroying or severely disrupting the natural function of lush wetland, much of which is earmarked for reclamation. This increases pollution that threatens water bird populations, degrades inshore and oceanic environments, and leaves coastal populations more vulnerable to extreme weather events such as typhoons due to loss of salt marsh wetlands.
For decades, constructing seawalls for reclamation was seen as an effective way to obtain land for farms and factories to help sustain and raise living standards for China's population.
From 1950 to 2000, China enclosed 24,000 hectares of coastal wetlands a year - a loss of 50 per cent of the nation's sea marshes, says the report. Between 2006 and 2010, reclamation accelerated to 40,000 hectares per year. Only 5.8 million hectares of China's wetlands remains.