Spratly Island is a group of islands and reefs located at East Asia.  The archipelago lies off the coast of the Philippines and Sabah Malaysia.  Such small and remote islands have little economic value in themselves, but are important in establishing international boundaries.  The Spratlys are one of three archipelagos of the South China Sea which comprise more than 30,000 islands and reefs and which complicate governance and economics in that region of Southeast Asia.  There are no native islanders but there are rich fishing grounds and initial surveys indicate the islands may contain significant reserves of oil and natural gas.

The Island themselves contain almost no significant arable land and have no indigenous inhabitants although twenty of the islands, including Itu Aba, the largest, are considered to be able to sustain human life.  Natural resources include fish, guano, natural gas and probably oil.  Economic activity includes commercial fishing, shipping and tourism.  The proximity to nearby oil and gas producing sedimentary basins suggest the potential of oil and gas deposits but the region is largely unexplored, and there are no reliable estimates of potential reserves.

Island having vegetation provide important habitats for many seabird and sea turtles.  Both the green turtle and Hawksbill turtle formerly occurred in numbers sufficient to support commercial exploitation.  These species reportedly continue to nest even on islands inhabited by military personnel to some extent, though it is believed that their numbers have declined.  Seabirds use the islands for resting, breeding, and wintering sites although Little information is available regarding current status of the islands’ seabird populations, though it is likely that birds may divert nesting site to smaller, less disturbed islands.

This is considered as still largely mystery.  Scientist have focused their research on the marine environment, while the ecology of the terrestrial environment remains relatively unknown.