Can Beijing bring the South China Sea’s ravaged coral reefs back to life?

Fishing and rival territorial claims could hamper efforts to restore damaged environment, experts say

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Beijing’s South China Sea coral conservation efforts are met with scepticism by critics who see a larger strategic purpose behind them. Photo: Xinhua

Published: 12:00pm, 21 Dec 2019Updated: 11:33pm, 21 Dec 2019

China has embarked on a decade-long plan to revive the ravaged marine life of the South China Sea, creating a body to protect coral reefs amid criticism that its island building and fishing have devastated marine life in the disputed waters.

Experts from various agencies – including the South China Sea Institute of Oceanology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), and the Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences – will contribute to a China coral reef protection association set up this month in Hainan under the umbrella of the agriculture ministry.

Experts said China was working harder to prevent further damage to the area’s ecology, but those efforts might be hampered by fishing and by complications of rival territorial claims on the waters.

The South China Sea is strategically sensitive and much of it is claimed by China, while the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei, Vietnam and Taiwan have made smaller claims.

Subi Reef is one of several artificial islands claimed and developed by Beijing in the South China Sea. Photo: EPA-EFE

According to the 10-year plan released this month by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, China has to contain erosion of coral in key reefs and create conservation areas to protect 90 per cent of the area’s coral by 2030.

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