TAIWAN - Tourism threatens one of East Asia's top diving spots

Reuters.com, Oct 31 2007

A tropical island off the coast of Taiwan has become a victim of its own success as pollution caused by a recent spike in tourism threatens its reputation as the best diving spot in East Asia.The aptly named 15-square-kilometre Green Island, an hour's ferry ride from Taiwan's main isle, is fast losing its luster due to garbage and excrement dumped into its azure waters and shrinking reefs plundered by coral-robbing tourists."The water is not as clear as it used to be," a dismayed Taiwan Vice President Annette Lu told Reuters after surveying Green Island by boat in October. "That's what happens when a place chooses to grow."

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