Status and trends in coastal habitats of the South China Sea

The South China Sea is an area of globally significant biological diversity. The Transboundary Diagnostic Analysis prepared for this marine basin identified the issue of coastal habitat degradation and loss as a key priority issue for action. The UNEP/GEF project entitled “Reversing Environmental Degradation Trends in the South China Sea and Gulf of Thailand” (SCS project) focused on these concerns through implementing a series of activities under the component on habitat degradation and loss. Important outputs of this project component were national reports on coastal habitats. This paper reviews and analyses available information from these reports and recent studies to present a review of the status and trends in coastal habitats of the South China Sea. This includes a technical summary of the best available information relating to the: distribution and extent of the dominant coastal habitats of mangroves, coral reefs, and seagrass; richness of habitat building species and hotspots of biodiversity; ranking of threats and the related rates of coastal habitat degradation and loss; and the state of coastal habitat management regimes. The use of this information in developing National Action Plans for habitats and the Strategic Action Programme for the South China Sea is reviewed. It is concluded that the science-based planning fostered by the SCS project was essential in reaching multi-lateral agreement on the regional targets and priority actions for coastal habitat management in this transboundary water body.