Ocean & Coastal Management 130 (2016) 128e137

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Ocean & Coastal Management

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ocecoaman

Characterization and environmental impact analysis of sea land

reclamation activities in China
Huabo Duan a, *, Hui Zhang a, Qifei Huang b, **, Yukui Zhang c, Mingwei Hu a,
Yongning Niu a, Jiasong Zhu a
a
Smart Cities Research Institute, College of Civil Engineering, Shenzhen University, 518060, Shenzhen, China
b
State Key Laboratory of Environmental Criteria and Risk Assessment, Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, 100012, Beijing, China
c
South China Institute of Environmental Sciences, MEP, 510655, Guangzhou, China

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: With rapid urbanization and soaring land prices, many coastal cities in China have turned their eyes to
Received 25 November 2015 the ocean and built airports or factories on reclaimed land. However, sea land reclamation activities have
Received in revised form brought about serious environmental impacts. This study therefore combines qualitative and quantita-
4 June 2016
tive information to focus on reclamation activities in China and to highlight the major impacts: eco-
Accepted 5 June 2016
Available online 17 June 2016
system damage and geological disasters, and the deterioration of marine environmental quality result-
ing from polluted air, water, soil, and sediment. The realized and potential environmental damages are
substantial. A resultant policy recommendation is for local Chinese governments to limit land recla-
Keywords:
Land reclamation
mation and to strengthen environmental assessment systems, especially in fragile coastal regions con-
Characterization taining important oceanic resources such as mangroves and protected wildlife. Our study can also serve
Environmental impacts as a reference for the better management of land reclamation in densely populated coastal regions of the
Policy recommendations world.
China © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
From earliest times, the preponderance of global economic ac-
tivity has been concentrated along coastal areas (WRI, 2001). Hu-
man settlements often grew on the continental margins to take
advantage of overseas trade and for easy access to internal re-
sources. Coastal areas have also been magnets for people from
surrounding and rural areas seeking work and prosperity. For
centuries, many coastal countries, including developed countries
such as the USA (Kennish, 2001), the Netherlands (Hoeksema,
2007), and Japan (Suzuki, 2003), as well as developing countries
like China (Wang et al., 2014; Tian et al., 2016) have conducted
coastal reclamation for agriculture, industrial use, urban develop-
ment, and so on. In Chinadthe world’s most populous nation with
1.4 billion peopledclose to 50% of the population lives in eleven
coastal provinces and major cities (He et al., 2014): Liaoning, Hebei,
Tianjin, Shandong, Jiangsu, Shanghai, Zhejiang, Fujian, Guangdong,
* Corresponding author.
** Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: Huabo@szu.edu.cn (H. Duan), huangqf@craes.org.cn
(Q. Huang).
Guangxi and Hainan (see Fig. 1). In some coastal cities, such as
Shanghai (China’s largest with 25 million inhabitants in 2013)
population densities can exceed 3900 per km2. Tianjin and
Shenzhen had 14 and 11 million inhabitants, respectively, in 2013
(NBSC, 2013). China has become the world’s second-largest econ-
omy, and its coastal area is one of the most densely populated re-
gions in the world (Wang et al., 2014). Rapid urbanization has led to
land shortages in China’s coastal regions, causing real estate prices
to soar. The coastal region in China covers 13% of the nation’s ter-
ritory, hosts 43.5% of the nation’s population, and contributes 60.8%
of the national GDP (Wang et al., 2014). How does a nation create
the space needed to accommodate growing population and in-
dustries? With GDP growth being a key standard in the appraisal of
governmental officials’ performance, local Chinese governments
are pressured to update and expand their cities (Yang, 2013). Land
reclamationdcreating new land in the seadis a common solution.
From 1985 to 2010, all of the coastal provinces with high-intensity
reclamation showed the same trend: GDP per capita was highly
correlated with coastal reclamation (Tian et al., 2016).
While reclamation can provide new land for commercial or
residential use, it has often resulted in serious environmental
problems: immediate and severe damage to coastal ecosystems,

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2016.06.006
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 H. Duan et al. / Ocean & Coastal Management 130 (2016) 128e137
Fig. 1. Coastal provinces and main province-level cities related to reclamation activities in chinese coastal area.
geological disasters, and the deterioration of marine environmental
quality. There were also further impacts on the reclaimed land, such
as loss of biodiversity (Yang et al., 2011; MacKinnon et al., 2012; Bai
et al., 2015); loss, and even extermination, of mangrove forests
(Wolff, 1992; He et al., 2014; Wu et al., 2014; Li and Chen, 2009; Jian
et al., 2010); loss of ecosystem-service value (Wang et al., 2014; Liu
et al., 2015); landscape fragmentation (Wang et al., 2014; Jiang
et al., 2014); geological disaster incidents (CHINA DAILY News,
2010; Nanfang Metropolis Daily News, 2015; RLGR, 2016); toxic
emissions to the air and/or water (CU, 2014); water pollution (Jiang
et al., 2015); and soil, sediment and groundwater pollution (Guo
and Jiao, 2007; Kouping and Jiao, 2008; Li et al., 2014). Alto-
gether, these environmental issues have drawn considerable public
attention and concern. Whether land reclamation can continue at
the same pace as it has in the last several decades is a pressing
question that has no simple answer, especially in China. Further-
more, there are still some gaps in our knowledge of how to quantify
the intensity of various reclamation activities, and how to quanti-
tatively evaluate the cumulative effects of these activities as they
continue to expand. Of especial concern is air and water emissions
related to deterioration of the quality of the marine environment.
The objective of this study was therefore to provide useful in-
formation for better management of land reclamation. To achieve
this goal, we first conducted an in-depth scientific analysis of the
characterization of sea land reclamation activities in China; and
then fully evaluated the negative environmental impacts of these
activities by combining qualitative and quantitative methods. In
addition, countermeasures and suggestions are put forward.
129
2. Characterization of land reclamation activities in China
Land reclamation projects of all sizes in China are now
frequently reported in the news media (XINHUA News, 2014;
CQYOUTH News, 2014; YOUTH News, 2014). China’s largest oil
and gas corporation, the Chinese National Petroleum Corporation
(CNCP), announced a plan to reclaim 0.4 km2 of land from the sea
off Dapeng Peninsula in eastern Shenzhen, to allow construction of
a liquefied natural gas depot and wharf (SHENZHEN News, 2014).
Meanwhile, many coastal cities, like Dalian in Liaoning Province,
Tianjin Municipality, Sanya in Hainan Province and Shenzhen city,
are also turning their sights to the ocean, and have built airports or
factories on reclaimed land (Fig. 1). The Dalian government plans to
invest around USD 4 billion to build the “biggest airport on top of
the ocean” between 2012 and 2016 (XINHUA News, 2014; Yan et al.,
2013). The airport could require an offshore reclamation area of
21 km2. Sanya is also considering building a new airport by
reclaiming 28 km of land from the sea (CQYOUTH News, 2014).
Shenzhen has reclaimed 69 km2 of land from the seadmore than
the size of six Shekou Peninsulasdin the past 30 years, to aid its
rapid urban development (Fig. 2). Tianjin has been reclaiming land
from the sea for many years, and is currently working on creating a
total of 320 km2 of land from the Bohai Sea to build an international
shipping center (JINHGHUA Shibao NEWS, 2014).
According to data from the State Oceanic Administration (SOA)
(SOA, 2014), China commenced large-scale land reclamation pro-
jects in the mid-1950s and had created more than 12,000 km2 of
land by the end of the last century. The SOA, which is administered
130 H. Duan et al. / Ocean & Coastal Management 130 (2016) 128e137

Fig. 2. Geographical change in southwest coastal areas of Shenzhen City, China.

by the Ministry of Land and Resources, is responsible for the su-
pervision and management of sea area uses and marine environ-
mental protection. Based on both historical statistics and satellite
images, it has indicated that the total area of reclaimed land
increased from 8241 km2 to 13,380 km2 between 1990 and 2008, an
average increase of 285 km2 annually. The Law on Management of
Sea Area Use, enacted by the NPC Standing Committee on October
27, 2001 and put into force in January 2002, limited reclaimed area
to under 200 km2 per year. Between the years 2002 and 2013, the
average reclamation was 120 km2 per year (Fig. 3). More than 90%
of the reclaimed land has been developed for commercial or resi-
dential use. The other 10% is used for either farming or waste
disposal. According to the final marine function zoning plans of the
11 coastal provinces and metropolises as approved by the State
Council on October 10, 2012 for the period 2012e2020, there is a
total planned reclamation area of around 2469 km2e2.5 times the
size of Hong Kong. Thus, over the next several years, the projected
average annual rate of reclaimed land area would double to roughly
500 km2 per year from 2016.
However, in order to boost the marine economy, China’s coastal
provinces and metropolises have created their own local ocean
economy development plans, all of which include aspects of land
reclamation (Wang et al., 2014). As a result, there is a significant gap
between the nationally approved area and the locally demanded
area. For example, the Chinese SOA’s general plan for reclamation in
Shanghai City for the years 2011e2020 was 23 km2, while the
province’s six coastal cities’ plans included reclamation of 400 km2
of land (CCICED, 2012); the latest survey conducted by the ‘Let the
 H. Duan et al. / Ocean & Coastal Management 130 (2016) 128e137
15000
Total reclaimed land areas (km2)
10000
Projected
5000
0 northwestern Yellow Sea, an area critical to waterbirds migrating
1950s-2001 2002-2012 2012-2020*
Period
Note: *, Official statistic (confirmed) (SOA, 2014); #, Local actions, estimated (CCICED,
2012).
Fig. 3. Reclaimed land area estimates in China.
Birds Fly Foundation’ found that 1404 km2 of land had been
reclaimed between 1984 and 2010, in the Chinese Circum-Bohai-
Sea region alone; and the Caofeidian development zone in Tang-
shan city in Bohai Bay has anticipated that the reclaimed area there
will total 150 km2 by 2020 and 310 km2 by 2030: this would be the
largest single coast reclamation project in the world (CCCCL, 2012).
Another study by Wang et al. (2014) reported that for Shandong
Province, the “Special Plan on Focused and Intensive Sea Use for
Blue Economic Zone Construction around Shandong Peninsula
(2009e2020)” proposed the construction of 9 large and 10 small
coastal industrial complexes, covering a total area of 1500 km2,
with 520 km2 of it on reclaimed land. The “Outline of Jiangsu
Coastal Reclamation Development Plan” proclaimed the province’s
intention to reclaim up to 1800 km2 during 2010e2020, and to
build ports, industrial zones, modern agricultural bases and coastal
urban towns on it.
The Chinese Council for International Cooperation on Environ-
ment and Development (CCICED) is a high-profile international
advisory body to the Chinese government for collaboration and
exchange on matters of sustainable development. A report released
by CCICED (2012) in 2010, employing local governmental data,
predicted that an additional 5880 km2 of sea would be reclaimed by
the year 2020, with the implementation of the new coastal devel-
opment strategies. Although these estimates do not cover the exact
same time frame, they are almost double the reclamation area of
the previous reclamation plans (2011e2020) approved by the State
Council, and equivalent to almost half of the total area reclaimed
over the last 50 years (CCICED, 2012).
3. Environmental impacts of land reclamation in China
3.1. Eco-system damage
(1) Loss of biodiversity. China’s coastal wetlands provide critical
breeding, stopover and wintering sites for millions of wa-
terbirds along the East Asian-Australasian Flyway (EAAF)
(Yang et al., 2011; MacKinnon et al., 2012; Bai et al., 2015).
Reclamation, however, has severely altered coastal wetlands.
Natural marine and coastal wetlands now occupy 3.8% of
China’s total land area: 59,000 km2 out of 362,000 km2, but
reclamation is causing a sharp drop in this percentage (Wang
et al., 2014). According to a report by An et al. (2007), since
1949 the cumulative loss of coastal wetland area attributable
to new sea enclosures (seawalls) and foreshore filling is
around 22,000 km2: about 51.2% of China’s total coastal
wetlands (An et al., 2007).
131
A study conducted by Yang et al. (2011) showed that between
1994 and 2010 a total of 450 km2 of offshore area had been
reclaimed for just two industrial projects: the Tianjin Binhai New
Area, located in the municipality of Tianjin, western Bohai Bay, and
the Caofeidian New Area, in the city of Tangshan, Hebei Province,
northern Bohai Bay. The coast of Bohai Bay is a crucial area for
waterbirds, especially shorebirds and gulls that either make stop-
overs there during northward and southward migrations, or winter
there. This includes 218 km2 of intertidal flats (one third of the
original tidal area of the bay) along the coast of Bohai Bay in the
2012-2020# along the EAAF. A large new industrial development, the Cangzhou
Bohai New Area, has been under development in southwestern
Bohai Bay since 2007, with 3321 km2 of planned developments,
including a 117-km2 offshore area (Yang et al., 2011). With the
proposed continued expansion of land reclamation in Bohai Bay,
Yang et al. (2011) has predicted that more marine habitats,
including large areas of intertidal mudflats, will soon be lost at all
three development project sites. Loss of waterbird habitats can lead
to a decline in waterbird numbers, or to the relocation of birds to
nearby suitable habitats; the latter can lead to increased densities
on other sites and a consequent increase in the mortality of dis-
placed birds, leading to an overall loss in the number of birds.
Studies by OSNZ (2012) have shown that the population of Red
Knot birds (Calidris canutus piersmai and Calidris canutus rogersi) in
Bohai Bay has decreased as the area of their available habitat has
been reduced through land reclamation. In addition, a report by the
IUCN in 2012 presented an analysis of 390 coastal sites used by
waterbirds along the EAAF (MacKinnon et al., 2012): “Although all
sectors of the EAAF face a variety of threats, the Yellow Sea
(including the Bohai Sea) emerges as the focus of greatest concern,
with six of 16 key areas identified in this report in this region; the
findings presented show that there is cause for significant concern
over the status of the intertidal zone along the EAAF. Here, the fast
pace of coastal land reclamation is the most pressing threat.
Remote sensing and geographical information system (GIS) ana-
lyses show mean losses of 35% of intertidal habitat areas across the
six key areas of the Yellow Sea since the early 1980s. Losses of such
magnitude are likely the key drivers of declines in biodiversity and
ecosystem services in the intertidal zone of the region.”
(2) Loss of mangroves. Mangroves are characteristic intertidal
plants distributed along tropical and subtropical coastlines
(Tomlinson, 1986). Mangrove forests occur mainly in three
southern provinces of China (Hainan, Guangdong and
Guangxi); these account for 94% of China’s total mangrove
area. Among these, Guangdong Province has the largest
existing mangrove forests, followed by Guangxi and Hainan
(Li and Lee, 1997). Coastal reclamation for agriculture and
urban sprawl has caused massive losses of salt marshes and
mangroves (Wolff, 1992; He et al., 2014). The extent of
China’s mangrove forests has plummeted from 500 km2 60
years ago to 227 km2 in 2001 and to 150 km2 today, due to
reclamation and felling, which may have led to losses of
genetic diversity as well; some mangrove species such as
Sonneratia paracaseolaris (Sonneratiaceae) and Nypa fruti-
cans (Palmae) are at the brink of extinction (Li and Chen,
2009; Jian et al., 2010). Since 1988, reclamation activities in
Shenzhen have destroyed large areas of mangrove forests,
including 1.47 km2 of mangroves in the Futian Nature
Reserve, with a resulting decrease in the number of bird
species, from 87 (1992) to 47 (1998)da decline of 46%
(CCICED, 2012). In addition, heavy-metal pollution caused by
the discharge of industrial sewage has been causing habitat
deterioration since 1979, especially since the dominant
132 H. Duan et al. / Ocean & Coastal Management 130 (2016) 128e137

plants in the Nanshan mangrove forest had limited capability
to remove heavy metals from sediment (Wu et al., 2014).
Heavy metal pollution is seen as a serious threat to mangrove
ecosystems in the Pearl River Estuary, potentially affecting
human health as well (Wu et al., 2014).
(3) Loss of ecosystem services value. Coastal wetlands have long
provided a wealth of services to humans (MacKinnon et al.,
2012; Ma et al., 2014). A CCICED report (2012) estimated
the loss of ecosystem servicesdincluding freshwater supply,
flood control, water purification, wildlife habitat, and aquatic
life preservationdcaused by seawall construction and land
reclamation in China at USD 27.76 billion annually. A high
concentration of suspended matter generated in the sur-
rounding waters throughout the reclamation process im-
poses severe deleterious effects on fish eggs and larvae. It is
reported that suspended sludge at concentrations of
500e2000 mg/L from reclamation work caused massive
mortality in juvenile Mugil ophuyseni in only 1e4 days
(Wang et al., 2014). The Chinese white dolphin is one of the
marine mammals that can be frequently sighted in the
coastal waters of western Taiwan, yet the subpopulation of
this species in Taiwan is categorized as critically endangered
in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, with only 99
individuals remaining, and the large-scale reclamation works
now in progress will cause the disappearance of the Chinese
white dolphin’s habitats, reducing their range (Liu et al.,
2015). All of these declines are extremely detrimental to
marine productivity and the sustainable development of
fishery resources (Wang et al., 2014; Liu et al., 2015).
(4) Landscape fragmentation. Landscape fragmentation in
mass of Beijing, a city with a population of about 21.7 million. The
media has reported that Shenzhen will reclaim 55 square kilome-
ters of land from the sea, in order to restrain rising real-estate
values (CHINA DAILY News, 2016). However, geological problems
related to the reclamation are looming. The strength of reclaimed
soil foundation is low and the consolidation time is long (F.S. Ma
et al., 2013). For example, some residential communities built on
reclaimed lands in Shenzhen a decade earlier were found to have
subsided due to poor foundations (CHINA DAILY News, 2010). On
July 6, 2015, a serious foundation pit slope sliding accident took
place at a construction site in Shenzhen city, possibly caused by the
soft soil of the reclaimed land (Nanfang Metropolis Daily News,
2015). The 2011 Tohoku earthquake caused ground failures over a
wide area around Tokyo Bay. The greatest damage was caused by
soil liquefaction in areas of reclaimed land, which had been con-
structed largely with sediment dredged from the seafloor of Tokyo
Bay. Other major ground failures during the earthquake were
closely related to subsurface interfaces between different lithol-
ogies that had been created by land reclamation (RLGR, 2016).
3.3. Deterioration of marine environmental quality
(1) Air and water emissions. China’s growing economy is
increasingly concentrated in the coastal regions. However,
emissionsdincluding Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) (into
water), ammonia-nitrogen (into water), SO2 (into air), and
(A)
Regular emissions (1,000 tonnes)

14 3.0
wetlands usually implies degradation of their ecological NOX

CO2 emission (Millon tonnes)

functions. It divides wetlands into isolated islands, disrupt- 12 SO2 2.5
ing the energy flow and nutrient cycling within the wetland Ammonia
10 COD
(Jiang et al., 2014; Liu et al., 2014). High-density human ac- 2.0
CO2 emission
tivity is a primary cause of wetland landscape fragmentation: 8
after reclamation, the natural meandering coastlines are 1.5
6
often replaced by straight artificial ones, while vast patches
1.0
of the natural coastal wetlands are turned into croplands or 4
urban and industrial zones (Mulder et al., 1994; Wang et al., 0.5
2
2014; Jiang et al., 2014). Take for example the wetlands in the
Heihe River basin; landscape fragmentation has been exac- 0 0.0
erbated by wetland reclamation and the expansion of
farmland (Jiang et al., 2014). The core area of the wetlands
decreased by 42.54% from 1975 to 2010; many core wetlands
have been replaced by only scattered patches and edges; in
one study (Jiang et al., 2014), 5410.82 ha (95% of the total (B)
area) of wetland had been transformed into farmland. 60
Hainan
Guangxi
50
Guangdong
3.2. Geological disasters
1,000 tonnes

Fujian
40
In addition to ecological damage, geological disasters related to Zhejiang
land reclamation have also been discovered. The principal geolog- 30 Shanghai
ical disasters are land subsidence, landslides and related earth Jiangsu
movements (CHINA DAILY News, 2016; Nanfang Metropolis Daily Shandong
20
News, 2015; RLGR, 2016). Generally, without significant human
Tianjin
intervention, along coastlines, changes to the topography of the sea
10 Hebei
bottom tend to reach a dynamic equilibrium under the long-term
action of incident waves. Hence disequilibrium of sea-bottom Liaoning
topography could have detrimental consequences to nearby bea- 0 Informal estimate*
COD Ammonia SO2 NOX
ches (Hsu and Chang, 2001). Results of in situ tests in reclaimed
land along the Persian Gulf by Sheshpari (2010) showed that
Note: *, Informal estimate is terms of the local claims.
reclaimed land is susceptible to liquefaction hazards and subsi-
dence potential. More than 10 million residents live in Shenzhen, Fig. 4. Projection of the emissions due to the land reclamation between 2011 and
China, on about 2000 square kilometers: about one-eighth the land 2020: (A) By region; (B), Cumulated of all coastal provinces.
 H. Duan et al. / Ocean & Coastal Management 130 (2016) 128e137 133

NOX (into air)dfrom 11 coastal provinces and major cities
have been massive (Figs. 1 and 5), accounting for 40e45% of
the total national impact in 2013 (SEPA, 2014). It is note-
worthy that these four indicators are used by both state and
local governments to evaluate integrated environmental
impacts, including setting targets for emission reductions. As
an integrated environmental indicator, carbon dioxide (CO2)
was also chosen for evaluation in this study.
In order to evaluate the potential emissionsdespecially the

Fig. 5. Sea water quality analyses of the coastal areas between June and August of 2013 (SOA, 2014).
134 H. Duan et al. / Ocean & Coastal Management 130 (2016) 128e137
cumulative impactsdfrom the use of reclaimed lands that have
been created mainly for commercial or residential use, the
following simple algorithms (the summation of unit emissions
multiplied by area for each province) are defined for COD,
ammonia, SO2, and NOX in Equation (1), and for CO2 in Equation (2).
The data for the province-level emissions in Equation (1) are from
the Chinese Environmental Bulletin of 2013 (SEPA, 2014) and the data
for the kgs of CO2 per $1 GDP (0.9 in 2010) in China, in Equation (2),
are from the United Nations Statistics Division (UN Data, 2014).
X
n
T agriculture, nutrient content in coastal water bodies has
Ex ¼ R (1)
A
i¼0
where E is the total emissions; x refers to the type of emissions,
including COD, ammonia-nitrogen, SO2 and NOX; i is the number of
coastal areas; n equals 11 provinces and province-level cities; T is
the total emissions for each emission type in area I; R is the area of
reclaimed land; and A is the total area of each province.
Xn
Gf R
ECO2 ¼ (2)
i¼0
A heavy metals and organic pollutant concentrations, and salt
where G is the GDP in a specific province, and f is the kgs of CO2 per
$1 GDP.
The cumulative emissions of COD, ammonia-nitrogen, SO2, NOX
and CO2 from 2011 to 2020 could reach 21.8, 2.6, 16.5, 21.2 and
13,700 thousand metric tons, respectively; using official national
land reclamation estimates (see Fig. 4). If using the local land
reclamation estimates, the total emissions could be as much as 2.34
times higher. In Shanghai in 2013, the cumulative emissions of COD,
ammonia-nitrogen, SO2, and NOX equaled 23%, 13%, 18% and 13% of
the total amount of each type of emission, respectively.
Regarding CO2 emissions, it has been found that the oceans have
taken up a quarter of the CO2 humans have put into the atmosphere
over the last two hundred years, and as a result the oceans are
growing more acidic from this excess CO2 (CU, 2014). Ocean acid-
ification is another significant effect of excessive carbon dumping
into the atmosphere (IPCC, 2013). The Japan Meteorological Agen-
cy’s (JMA) observations revealed that pH has decreased at a rate of
approximately 0.02 every ten years at all northern latitudes be-
tween 3 and 34 , along the 137-degree east longitude in the
western North Pacific (including China’s eastern sea area), con-
firming an increase in ocean acidity (JMA, 2013). Ocean acidifica-
tion is already having an impact, especially in places where the
seasonal upwelling of deep water has made seawater more acidic.
Ocean acidification has been linked to fish’s loss of the ability to
sniff out predators, and to the die-off of baby oysters in hatcheries
off the coasts of Washington and Oregon, where more acidic deep
water comes to the surface each spring and summer (CU, 2014). It
was found that carbon-emission intensity in some coastal prov-
inces such as Jiangsu was much higher than the average for China as
a whole, and that urban and built-up land contributed most to the
increase of carbon emissions (Chuai et al., 2014). Therefore, we can
conclude that the emissions of CO2 from coastal areas, especially
from reclaimed land, would more easily give rise to or aggravate
ocean acidification, due to industrial and other human activities
(CU, 2014).
(2) Water pollution. The 2013 edition of the Annual Ocean
Environmental Quality Report revealed that China’s coastal
marine environment has been seriously polluted (Fig. 5)
(SOA, 2014). Many of China’s coastal areas, such as Liaoning,
Zhejiang and Tianjin provinces, have large areas of reclaimed
land. It can be inferred that the pollutants are at least partly
due to emissions from activity on this reclaimed land. High
levels of reclamation activity (dredging, continued reclama-
tion and coastal construction) and its subsequent land use
contribute to murky waters. For example, agriculture is, for
this reason, becoming a significant contributor to coastal
wetland pollution. The excessive use of commercial inor-
ganic fertilizer for increasing crop yields and meeting the
demands of a growing population in China has resulted in
increased nutrient additions and subsequent losses from
adjacent coastal catchments. In some regions of productive
increased more than ten-fold during last two decades, with
over 50% of nutrients resulting from diffuse agricultural ac-
tivities (Jiang et al., 2015).
(3) Soil, sediment and groundwater. Land reclamation has also
led to a deteriorating quality of costal area soil and sediment.
Li et al. (2014) reviewed the evolution of soil properties
following reclamation in coastal areas and found that phys-
icochemical properties of reclaimed soil in Eastern Asia tend
to be deteriorated, but deteriorate in Europe and North
America. Offshore eutrophication, soil contaminated with
marsh ecosystem degradation are the most serious envi-
ronmental risks posed by coastal reclamation.
Field soil laboratory analyses were carried out by Kouping and
Jiao (2008) in order to understand the changes to subsurface
metals in reclaimed land in Shenzhen, China. The amounts of V, Cr,
Mn, Ni, Cu, and Zn gradually decreased from the surface to the
lower soil layers, while relatively higher concentrations of V, Cr,
Mn, Ni, Cu, Co, and Cd were found in groundwater. In the recla-
mation area, the marine sediment that was submerged by seawater
before reclamation was saturated gradually with terrestrial
groundwater after reclamation. This has led to changes in the
physico-chemical parameters such as reduction in pH and salinity.
It is believed that these physico-chemical changes enhance the
mobility of metals accumulated in the sediment (Kouping and Jiao,
2008). Metals in the reclamation site’s groundwater will eventually
flow into the sea and may have adverse effects on the coastal
environment. Even worse, coastal areas are often the ultimate
discharge zones of regional ground water flow systems (Guo and
Jiao, 2007).
4. Countermeasures and suggestions
Land reclamation has been a valuable method of increasing
usable land for a variety of purposes. From a commercial perspec-
tive, reclamations have been used for airport expansions and new
airports as well as port expansions and new ports. Residential and
recreational developments along waterfronts have been success-
fully constructed on reclaimed land. Because of a shortage of sta-
tistical data, our study can only qualitatively analyze eco-system
damage and geological disasters related to reclamation activities,
although it can provide quantitative information on the deterio-
ration of marine environmental quality resulting from the pollution
of air, water, soil, and sediment (Fig. 6). According to our findings,
the realized and potential environmental damages are substantial.
While in a few selected cases the impact of land reclamation on
coastal environments and marine ecology is well recognized and
widely studied, this knowledge has not influenced land reclama-
tion planning or practices. Nor have the environmental impacts of
these large-scale reclamation activities aroused sufficient alarm.
These impacts, however, must be fully assessed by comprehensive
environmental studies and then minimized by the implementation
of mitigation measures.
 H. Duan et al. / Ocean & Coastal Management 130 (2016) 128e137 135

Environmental
Impact
Analysis

Eco-Systems Damage Marine environment quality

Geological disasters
Loss of mangroves

Loss of ecosystem

Soil, sediment and

Loss of wetland

services value

Water pollution

Air and water

groundwater

emissions
Limit land reclamation Guidelines

Public participation
Environment assessments
of fragile coastal regions
Geohydrological

Constructional
Geotechnical
Geological

Protected wildlife

Mangroves

Sea land reclamation proposals

Fig. 6. Regulatory framework of sea land reclamation proposals.

One of the major reasons this information has not been acted on
is that local governments have excessively developed their coastal
areas through sea land reclamation activities. Secondarily, while a
general Environmental Impact Analysis/Assessment is required to
evaluate the environmental impacts of each land reclamation ac-
tivity, strategic, cumulative environmental impacts (SEA) from a
regional perspective are not assessed.
Clearly, land reclamation cannot be allowed to continue at the
same pace that it has over the last several decades, much less
expanded. And, fortunately, the Chinese central government has
increased its emphasis on the protection of coastal ecosystems and
environment and has tightened the approval process for coastal
reclamation proposals (Wang et al., 2014). According to the final
marine function zoning plans, a total of 2469 km2 of coastal areas
would have been reclaimed between 2011 and 2020 in China. In the
process of reviewing these plans, however, the State Council did
significantly cut back many proposed reclamation areas. For
example (CCCCL, 2012), Shandong province was allowed to reclaim
just 345 km2 of its original request of 520 km2, while only 506 km2
of Zhejiang province’s original request to reclaim 1747 km2 was
approved. It is important for local Chinese governments to limit
land reclamation and to strengthen environmental assessments of
fragile coastal regions containing important resources such as
mangroves and nationally protected wildlife.
Specifically, guidelines should be created to provide practical
environmental advice to developers who plan to undertake recla-
mation work in coastal regions. These include information about
environmental, geological, geotechnical, geohydrological, and
construction aspects (Fig. 6). The guidelines should apply to all land
reclamation activities including foreshore filling in coastal areas
and along rivers, canal estates, marina and port developments,
coastal aquaculture developments and development occurring on
coastal floodplains. Reclamation activities should protect water and
air quality, minimize flooding, erosion and other damage to land,
and preserve wildlife and aquatic habitats. Meanwhile, the cost of
potential damage to coastal ecosystems should be evaluated using
136 H. Duan et al. / Ocean & Coastal Management 130 (2016) 128e137
integrated environmental and economic metrics. Damage caused
by reclamation projects must be compensated to promote resto-
ration of the ecosystems, and a compensation plan must be
completed before a proposed reclamation project is approved.
In addition, citizen awareness of the impacts of land reclamation
has been low but is increasing, as evidenced by Shenzhen’s CNCP
land reclamation project. In recent years, the need to enhance
public participation in Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs),
and the efficacy of alternative mechanisms in achieving this goal,
have been central themes in EIA literature (O’Faircheallaigh, 2010).
In China, the highly visible degradation of the environment and its
associated health problems have been drawing more public
attention. Examples include municipal solid waste landfill or
incineration projects and paraxylene (PX) projects. The central
government has realized the urgent need for environmental pro-
tection and has tried to influence local policymaking by pursuing
GDP goals with full consideration of the environmental loss (Li
et al., 2012). Accordingly, a legal framework for public participa-
tion is essential.
From a scientific research perspective, it is necessary to
continually monitor and fully understand any short-term impacts.
More importantly, a large multidisciplinary study is urgently
needed to reveal the long-term impacts of reclamation activities on
a large geographic scale. It is necessary to evaluate the impact on, as
well as subsequent ecological restoration and damage compensa-
tion related to: (1) coastal topography, landform and wetland
landscapes; (2) the marine hydrological environment and sand
movement processes; (3) marine ecosystems, including biodiver-
sity; (4) coastal wetlands; (5) reclaimed soil properties; and (6)
marine fish resources and their protection.
Acknowledgments
This study was supported by the Scientific Research Foundation
of Introduced High Talent Financial Subsidies of Shenzhen Univer-
sity (000044). The authors would also like to acknowledge Mr. T.
Reed Miller for valuable comments.
Appendix A. Supplementary data
Supplementary data related to this article can be found at http://
dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2016.06.006.
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