China causing $880m in annual damage to reefs in disputed waters, experts say
Excerpt
China’s massive fishing fleet and land reclamation activities in the South China Sea are causing at least 33 billion pesos (S$880 million) worth of damage each year to the Philippines’ reef ecosystem, experts said on Wednesday (July 3).
“The value includes all services we get from coral reefs, like climate regulation, and the benefits we get from the ecosystem,” said Dr Deo Florence Onda, a scientist with the University of the Philippines’ Marine Science Institute.
He added that the estimate, while staggering, is still “conservative”.
