Economy

Land reclamation from sea worthwhile?

(CRIENGLISH.com)
Updated: 2010-06-26 14:27

With the exploding demands for land and skyrocketing real estate prices, land reclamation from sea has been a common solution to the land shortage in China's coastal regions in recent years. But experts warned it may bring irreversible environmental damage and cause unexpected geological disasters, the Economic Information Daily reports.

Jiang Gaoming, a PhD tutor at the Chinese Academy of Sciences Institute of Botany, pointed out the uncontrolled attempts to create land in the sea will result in a large variety of side effects over a long period such as droughts, decreasing fishery resources and more floods.

China commenced large-scale land reclamation projects in the mid 1950s and had formed more than 12,000 square kilometers of land by the end of the last century. The reclaimed area was limited to less than 200 square kilometers per year after the country enacted the Law on Management of Sea Area Use in 2001.

But the land creation projects eventually resumed as a result of the country's real estate craze. Figures from the State Oceanic Administration showed the area of the reclaimed land jumped to more than 13,000 square km in 2007 from just 2,000 square km in 2002.

The direct consequence of the expansion led to a 70 percent decrease in mangroves. 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.

Related readings:  Land reclamation harms sea ecology  Coastal development threatens ecosystem  Local govts 'want land sales' to pay back loans  Govt to keep boosting land supply

Land reclamation has also led to a deteriorating quality of sea water. According to Xia Zhen, from the Guangzhou Maritime Geological Survey Bureau, aquaculture farms built on the new lands should be blamed for the rising occurrences of red tide in the offing, a result of rapid algae accumulation.

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

Some residential communities built on the reclaimed lands in Shenzhen, 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.

Liu Yun, from the South China Sea Institute of Oceanology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, suggested a comprehensive review be held before the reclamation projects start in order to avoid future grievous results.