Can UN’s high seas treaty save South China Sea’s ecosystem, or will it lead to more bilateral tension?

The high seas are in a state of ‘lawless wilderness’ due to a lack of mutually agreed rules to curb overexploitation and pollution

The high seas pocket in the centre of the South China Sea would be good for setting up a marine protected area but could be difficult due to territorial claims

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A Filipino fisherman drying squid on his fishing boat while a Chinese coast guard ship monitors near the China-controlled Scarborough Shoal, in disputed waters of the South China Sea, on February 15. Photo: AFP

Published: 6:30pm, 8 Mar 2024

The United Nations High Seas Treaty, which analysts expect to be fully ratified next year, could save the South China Sea’s fragile marine ecosystem but also has the potential to trigger further confrontation within the disputed waters.

The Biodiversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction Treaty, currently awaiting ratification by 60 countries, aims to protect marine biodiversity in the “high seas”, the maritime area beyond the jurisdiction of any state. High seas are estimated to comprise nearly half (45.4 per cent) of the earth’s surface water.

The High Seas Alliance, consisting of 59 international NGOs that pushed for the treaty’s approval, described the current state of the high seas as a “lawless wilderness” due to a lack of mutually agreed rules to curb overexploitation and pollution, issues that have been compounded by the effects of climate change.

In addition to regulating activities like fishing and mining to support the sustainable use of ocean resources, one of the treaty’s key provisions involves the creation of “marine protected areas” (MPAs) to “protect, preserve, restore and maintain biological diversity and ecosystems”.

The high seas pocket located in the centre of the South China Sea would be a good candidate for setting up an MPA, marine ecologist John McManus told This Week in Asia. McManus called such protected areas in and outside the high seas “peace parks”, before the High Seas Treaty was signed last year and codified the term MPA.

“Many of us [scientists and environmentalists] have long supported the idea of setting aside areas, such as the Spratly Islands and Scarborough Shoal, as peace parks,” said Dr McManus, a professor of marine ecology in the Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science at the University of Miami.

He pointed to the Turtle Islands peace park that involved Malaysia and the Philippines, where fishing would continue with limitations to prevent stock collapses. “Support for these peace parks is quite high among the scientists and most of the governments of the region. However, the Chinese government has apparently not seriously considered the approach.”