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Land reclamation

Halt reef destruction in South China Sea

Nature volume 524, page 291 (2015)Cite this article

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China's land reclamation in the South China Sea has raised geopolitical concerns (see go.nature.com/tmrpih). It is also destroying coral reefs on a large scale — together with their fragile ecosystems.

This loss of reef habitat is estimated from high-resolution satellite imagery to be about 1,400 hectares so far in the Spratly Islands (http://amti.csis.org/island-tracker). The reefs are among the most biologically diverse on the planet. They are home to threatened turtle and bird species, a crucial stopover for migratory birds, and a source of larvae for the South China Sea's overexploited coastal fisheries. Further dredging will kill nearby sediment-dwelling communities and sea-grass nursery habitats that take up carbon.

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  1. Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia

    Elizabeth M. P. Madin

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  1. Elizabeth M. P. Madin
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Correspondence to Elizabeth M. P. Madin.

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Madin, E. Halt reef destruction in South China Sea. Nature 524, 291 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/524291a

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