A Sea Besieged

By+Yin+Pumin

Numerous construction projects are changing the shape of Chinas 18，000-km mainland coastline. In response to exploding demands for land amid rapid industrialization and urbanization over past decades， the country has looked toward the sea for an answer.

In 2013， a total of 200 square km of land were reclaimed from the sea and 92 percent of the reclaimed land was used for construction purposes， according to statistics from the State Oceanic Administration （SOA）.

SOA figures also show that from 2002 to 2012， more than 1，100 square km of land were reclaimed from sea—mainly for infrastructure， real estate and tourism.

Witnessing the craze， experts warn that it may bring irreversible environmental damage and cause unexpected geological disasters.

“Land reclamation takes meandering coastlines and replaces them with straight lines， destroying mangrove forests and shallows in the process. It may bring benefits in the short term， but in the long term it can cause ecological disasters such as droughts， decreasing fish stocks and a higher susceptibility to flooding，” said Jiang Gaoming， a professor at the Institute of Botany of the Chinese Academy of Sciences （CAS）.

Ma Jun， Director of the Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs， a Beijing-based non-governmental organization， also warned that uncontrolled land reclamation does more harm than good to the country.

“Stocks of marine species， like fish， coral and mangroves， have all declined by various degrees over the past decade. Chinas natural coastline has been shrinking as a result of land reclamation in recent years，” Ma said.

Fear over possible ecological destruction has led the Chinese Government to strictly control the mania of land reclamation from the sea.

All coastal provinces and municipalities now take responsibility for maintaining their local ecosystems， according to a press release posted on the website of the Ministry of Land and Resources on October 6. Local authorities are also required to cooperate with other departments to reasonably use and protect the ocean and its resources， scientifically define and draw ecological “red lines，” as well as create protected zones and draft policies for these zones.

Land craze

Land reclamation is popular in countries and regions facing a shortage of land but having an abundance of coastline. The Netherlands was one of the first countries to practice land reclamation. Japan， Singapore， as well as Chinas Hong Kong and Macao have also reclaimed land from the sea.

After 1949， there have been several significant surges in land reclamation projects in China.

Reclamation during the 1950s was mostly aimed at sea salt production. During the 1960s-70s， coastal cities reclaimed land to expand agricultural cultivation. Later， during the 1980s-90s， tidal flats were reclaimed again， this time in order to establish fish farms on the watersedge. After 2003， coastal cities began to enclose tideland once more for the development of industrial zones， chemical industries and coastal tourism.

According to research， Chinas total reclaimed area increased at the speed of nearly 240 square km per year on average between 1949 and 2000， totaling 12，000 square km at the end of the millennium. During 2001-05， annual reclamation increased to nearly 300 square km， and even this was not the end of it. In the following five years between 2006 and 2010， coastal cities expanded land reclamation to 700 square km per year—an area equivalent to the size of Singapore.

Today， reclamation projects can be found almost everywhere along Chinas coastline.

“Due to soaring land prices， many coastal cities like Dalian in northeastern Liaoning Province， Tianjin Municipality in the north and Sanya in south Chinas Hainan Province have turned their eyes to the ocean， and built airports or factories on reclaimed land，”Ma said.

The Dalian Government plans to invest billions of dollars to build the worlds biggest on-sea airport over the next five years via sea reclamation， the Dalian Daily reported.

Tianjin has been reclaiming land from the sea for many years and is currently working on creating a total of 320 square km of land from the Bohai Sea to build an international shipping center， according to news portal Chinanews.com. The Bohai Sea， which covers around 80，000 square km， is Chinas only semi-enclosed inland sea， and is surrounded by Liaodong Peninsula， the North China Plain and Shandong Peninsula.

The most famous example， though， is the Caofeidian Project in the city of Tangshan， north Chinas Hebei Province. In the 10 years since 2003， the project reclaimed more than 210 square km of land from the Bohai Sea. The area of reclaimed land is still growing.

Caofeidian used to be a small sand island 18 km from the shore. More than 1，400 years ago， a fleet captained by Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty （618-907） passed near the island. One of the emperors favorite concubines， called Cao， died from illness during the journey and was buried on the island. After her burial， the island remained mostly untouched in its natural state. However， later explorers discovered that the islands geography was suitable for the construction of a large deep-water port， which promised to be very lucrative.

Since the opening of the TangshanCaofeidian Highway in 2003， there has been an upsurge in development on the island. Billions of dollars have been spent constructing the new port. In just a few years the ocean has receded and large tracts of land occupy where the sea had once been.

Situated on the northern shore of Bohai Bay， the new area of Caofeidian is an important growth engine for the Bohai Economic Rim encompassing Beijing， Tianjin， Hebei and Shandong Peninsula. According to official sources， this new area is slated to cover an area of 1，944 square km.

According to existing plans， it will reclaim 487 square km by 2020， including tidal flats， salt marshes and coastal aquaculture land. This number represents 77.3 percent of the usable land area for the new Caofeidian.

Amid the frenzy of land reclamation， there have been an increasing number of unlicensed projects. In 2009， the SOAs North Sea Branch acknowledged publicly that much of the land reclamation around Bohai Bay was unauthorized. In Caofeidian alone， an earlier survey found 10 cases of unauthorized land reclamation.

According to Chinas Marine Environmental Protection Law and the Law on the Management of the Use of Marine Areas， all land reclamation projects involving 0.5 square km of land or more must get approval from the State Council， Chinas cabinet. However， developers simply split large projects into several smaller areas， which only require local government oversight according to current regulations.

From 2007 to 2009， the SOA found more than 140 square km of unauthorized reclaimed land along the countrys coastline.

In 2010， during an inspection of the Jingtang reclamation project in Caofeidian， the Tangshan Branch of the China Marine Surveillance found that the actual reclaimed area had exceeded the approved area by 0.07 square km.

Environmental deterioration

Since most land reclamation projects have taken place in bays， like Caofeidian， much of the coastline has been abnormally straightened almost overnight and water quality near the reclamation sites continues to deteriorate.

According to an article published in China Land magazine in 2010， Chinas coastline receded by almost 2，000 km between 1949 and 2010， and more than half of Chinas coastal wetlands were lost.

Jiaozhou Bay， located on the southern coast of Shandong Peninsula， has seen the most reclamation over the past decades. Its coastline retreated by 35 percent between 1928 and 2005. Bohai Bays coastline retreated to 5，139 km in 2000， a loss of 260 km from the 1970 level.

The direct consequences of massive land reclamation and coastline regression are the losses of wetlands and mangrove forests. In 2010， the SOA found that the expansion of Tianjin Binhai New Area through land reclamation had resulted in a remarkable reduction in local wetlands.

“The loss of wetlands from land reclamation can worsen droughts. Diminishing wetlands mean less evaporation and a reduction in rainfall，” Jiang with the CAS said.“North China has suffered very dry weather in recent years， with levels of precipitation falling year on year， and this is related to the many ponds and pools that dry out and are built over.”

According to Jiang， wetlands also form a buffer between the ocean and the land， absorbing much of the oceans force. “Land reclamation destroys this natural buffer， and can have potentially disastrous consequences，” he added.

Meanwhile， there has also been a 70-percent decrease in mangrove forests. Unofficial statistics show that land reclamation has led to Chinas mangroves forests shrinking from 500，000 hectares in the 1950s to 150，000 hectares in 2010.

The trees and shrubs that grow in saline coastal habitats in the tropics and subtropics are home to a great number of wild animals and a natural shelter to keep inner land from drying up. “The loss of mangroves has put this important ecosystem at the brink. It means many organisms have lost their habitats and breeding grounds， and the coast can no longer serve as a protective barrier，”Jiang said.

Land reclamation has also led to the deterioration of the environment in oceanic areas. “Land reclamation is a process in which natural and man-made materials are added to coastal areas and waterfronts in an attempt to make them more solid， essentially creating new land surfaces，” said Cui Shenghui， a researcher with the CAS Institute of Urban Environment. He warned that over-reclamation of coastal land will influence the biological diversity of marine life and， possibly， change the oceans functions.

Coastal shallows， mangrove forests and inter-tidal zones are where the land and the sea meet. When artificially separated， nutrients from the land no longer flow into coastal waters， threatening crabs， shrimp， clams and other organisms， which rely on this source of food.“This has an impact on the ocean food chain and the fishing industry， not to mention some land-dwelling animals，”Cui noted.

Jiang said that salt and fresh water ecosystems are also intimately connected. “For example， the Chinese sturgeon lays its eggs in the Jinsha River， a tributary of the yangtze River that is Chinas largest waterway， and empties into the East China Sea. But land reclamation can affect the migratory patterns of these fish stocks，” he said，

Furthermore， land reclamation has seen a deteriorating quality in sea water. According to Xia Zhen from the Guangzhou Maritime Geological Survey Bureau， aquaculture farms built on the new land should be blamed for the rising occurrences of rapid algae accumulation.

According to Jiang， restricting the tides artificially means nutrients accumulated in river deltas flow more quickly into the sea. Particularly if reclaimed land is used for aquaculture， large quantities of organic matter and nutrients will be carried by the tides to the ocean， triggering massive algal blooms， threatening ocean organisms and causing huge drops in fish and shellfish populations.

Besides ecological impacts， the geological problems related to reclamation also loom.

Some residential communities built on reclaimed land in Shenzhen， south Chinas Guangdong Province， were found to have subsided due to poor foundations. In the Netherlands and Japan， construction will not start until 30 years after reclamation to allow enough time for new land to become firm. But in China， the waiting period has been shortened to 10 years.

Recognizing these problems， the Chinese Government vowed to establish sound systems to monitor oceanic ecosystems last November. It vowed to better protect the natural environment and manage land reclamation， and banned reclamation in regions where the ocean has a low self-purification capacity.

China should limit land reclamation and strengthen environmental assessment systems in ecologically fragile and sensitive coastal regions that have important ocean resources such as mangroves and nationally protected animals， Ma suggested.

Liu yun， a researcher from the CASSouth China Sea Institute of Oceanology， called for a comprehensive review to be held before the reclamation projects start in order to avoid future grievous results.