Blue Solutions to South China Sea Environmental Problems

Abstract

The South China Sea faces numerous and increasingly complex environmental and marine resource problems caused by human activities and behavior such as destructive and illegal fishing practices in overlap** waters. The overexploitation of marine resources has resulted in the loss of marine biodiversity, the degradation of coastal and marine ecosystems, and serious damage has been done to offshore coral reef systems. Blue solutions are required based on regional cooperation on marine biodiversity conservation and fisheries management between the ASEAN claimants and China. Blue solutions can protect the environment and the health of the ecosystems. They are also peaceful solutions to ensure trust between the parties in managing complex sovereignty disputes. Sovereignty, marine resources and environmental protection in the South China Sea are intertwined and blue solutions can contribute to a reduction of tension between the parties to the dispute. This is the only feasible way to gain trust and to reverse the current deteriorating trend in the marine environment and ecosystems of the South China Sea.