(UPDATE) THE biodiversity of the South China Sea has been declining to critical levels mainly because of the building of artificial islands and the construction of outposts of rival claimant nations over the last 10 years, a study showed.

The damage was uncovered after years of research by the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative of the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). It has been updated to include last year's discovery by Philippine authorities of the severe destruction of the marine environment and coral reef in the Rozul (Iroquois) Reef.