Economic boom spells doom for China coral reefs

Written By Unknown on Jumat, 28 Desember 2012 | 22.10

SYDNEY: China's economic boom has seen its coral reefs shrink by at least 80% over the past 30 years, a joint Australian study found on Thursday, with researchers describing "grim" levels of damage and loss.

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 South China Sea reefs showed alarming degradation.

"We found that coral abundance has declined by at least 80% over the past 30 years on coastal fringing reefs along the Chinese mainland and adjoining Hainan Island," said the study. "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% to around 20% within the past 10-15 years."

Coastal development, pollution and overfishing linked to the Asian giant's aggressive economic expansion were the major drivers, the authors said.

Coral loss in the South China Sea — where reefs stretch across some 30,000 square kilometres — 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. "The window of opportunity to recover the reefs is closing rapidly, given the state of degradation revealed in this study," he said.


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