Local - Reclaiming Land and other Notables

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Reclaiming Land from the Sea

Oceans, seas, rivers and the resources from within them have always been a challenging ownership debate. These challenges are made more complicated by countries that extend their boarders artificially through land reclamation from the ocean.

This is not a new concept. Land reclamation has been the solution to many countries economic, political, and social insecurities. For many, land reclamation is to be expected. Over many years oceans eat away at beaches and rivers carve through rocks or change paths on their way to the sea. Raising water levels and plate tectonics can turn peninsulas into islands and sink islands into reefs. All countries lose land through this natural process of erosion.

As far back as 6,000 year ago, Sumerians where practicing land reclamation from the rivers in Mesopotamia for agriculture. In 11^th century Netherlands, land reclamation from swamps and bogs were used to provide more farm land for communities and reclamation from the sea expand political territory. More recently land reclamation projects occur throughout the United States for tourism along beach fronts and cities like Hong Kong, Singapore, and Dubai rely on this practice for housing space and economic zones.

More recently, China has begun expanding their territory into the sea by adding an estimated 1,170ha of land. Reclamation activities in the South China Sea by China have sparked lots of controversy especially in light of China’s claims to islands within close proximity to ASEAN nations. Essentially, China claims most of the islands within the South China Sea effectively giving them sovereignty over what many countries recognize as international water ways. Fueling this controversy is the Philippines decision to take China to international court over the disputed claims and China’s open refusal to participate.

The situation in the South China Sea has obvious globally and regional importance such as military security, political influence, resource access, trade routes, etc. The decision to reclaim land in these waters has added to the debate over China’s intentions over the past few years. But, while political impacts of China's activates are an important and necessary discussion, less attention has been paid to the environmental implications of the reclamation projects or the impacts these environmental changes will have on economics and the communities in the region. (More on this issue here).

impacts:

Reclamation of any kind, by its very nature, changes an area’s natural systems ranging from aquatic, terrestrial, biological and in some cases atmospheric, though the latter is less oblivious. Reclaimed islands are usually built on shallow reefs that may have at one time been islands or at some point in the future become islands. This process, however, is usually slow, allowing for adaptation in the area of natural systems. So, the aquatic impacts of reclamation, while unseen, are often large and the potential impact of the 1,170ha of land reclaimed by China is no small thing.

Ocean currents are a major consideration for impact. Currents will be disrupted and slowed as islands impede the path of water over shallow reefs. Additionally shallow reefs provide a large area for ocean heat absorption and dissipation into moving water. This is incredibly influential in storm systems in the tropics as energy released into the atmosphere is directly affected by shallow reefs. Currents also impact coastal erosion and sand deposition. Building reefs and islands is often a technique used to reduce this effect, but this simply displaces erosion and deposition to another region. This has serious international impacts. (This link has more on reef heat budgets.)

Island building creates more land. In the ocean, building land means a continual battle against constant erosion and continual replenishing of lost land from an external source. Typically this source will come from dredged sea floor but top soils and other materials will necessarily come from land, which again displaces the strain of resources.

Atmospheric change as a result of land reclamation is much less known. This, in part, is because atmospheric changes are typically large scale and a result of major inputs over time. As building islands disrupt water currents, islands do the same for air currents. They create a new path for wind and in some cases can redirect storm systems by adding a physical barrier. In the South China Sea this can be a blessing or a curse depending on the routes a storm takes. Additionally, islands create a new input for atmospheric heat and greenhouse gasses. This creates a new input for nutrients that were once trapped in the sea bed back into the atmosphere. Reclaimed land specifically for human populations have the same impacts as they would on mainland regions, simply displaced onto an island.

Biological impacts of land reclamation from the ocean are huge. Reefs are an ecological hotbed for biodiversity. Coral, fish, and microorganisms are impacted in a number of ways. Disruption of their habitat from dredging leads to stress and death, migration into different areas, and the introduction of new species. Suspended particles and sediment introduced into the water column reduces light availability for photosynthesizing organisms, which disrupts the beginning of the food chain.  Changing currents also reduce the availability of food entering the region which further strains the ecosystem. New inputs into the ocean from human and animal habitation, such as fossil fuels, plastics, human and animal waste, etc., brings about changes to the aquatic system.

Above the water, there are huge biological changes as well. The ocean provides a natural barrier to plant and animal migration. Creating islands reduces the distance invasive species must travel by air or floating in water. Seeds and spores transported from non-local soils introduce potentially invasive species as well and can challenge the survival of local species near land. (More on this can be found here, here, and here)

Environmental impacts are an important consideration, but they are not separate from the economic or sociocultural spheres. The reclamation projects have huge economic effects in this region that are closely tied to the environment. Damage caused by dredging, displacing aquatic life, and altering the ecosystems reduces availability of fish resources. China’s claim to islands and their reclamation projects further reduces access to fishing waters that are necessary to many countries in the region. The impacts on tourism may also be felt in the future. Many communities rely on the pristine beach experience or on the aquatic life in the waters. Increased beach erosion displaced to these communities at risk will damage their tourism – either through direct loss of income from a drop in tourism or the cost of re-sanding lost beach fronts. The same argument can be made with the loss of aquatic life.

Loss of livelihoods and culture is another consideration. The most visible impact will be to fisherman. Financial burden to fisherman will become evident as fishing channels, trade routes, and viable fishing areas change. Expenses such as fuel and boat upgrades will increase as distances to fishing grounds move and loss of traditional fishing grounds and even methods will be impacted. Inevitably, communities will be forced spend more on fishing or change livelihoods. These will have effects on local communities’ access to food and market prices will change in response to fishing. Countries that rely on this area of the sea (predominantly the Philippines) will be impacted the most.

The arguments for why land reclamation is needed in the South China Sea hold some valid arguments. However, they may go against international agreements (that are being brought to court), undermine economics of ASEAN countries, directly impact livelihoods of citizens from other nations, and have environmental repercussions too numerous to count.

For an interesting read that argues for the benefits of land reclamation, check this link out (note it is by the International Association of Dredging Companies)