The compost toilet

In a profile in today's Taipei Times, Wild at Heart Legal Defense Association director Robin Winkler shares some of his ideas on protecting the environment and "reverse engineering". See
"Being the change we want to see in the world", Taipei Times, August 19, 2008, p.4.

Taiwanese environmental groups held their second Pudu (普渡) ceremony yesterday (the 14th day of the Seventh Month of the Lunar Calendar, or 14 August) in front of the Executive and Control branches of the government.

We are currently in the middle of ghost month, when the gates of hell are opened and all manner of other worldly creatures roam the realms of humans.

Near Taichung Port on 5.8.08

Shortly after the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) listed Taiwan's Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins (Sousa chinensis) as "Critically Endangered" on Wednesday this week (12 August), the Eastern Taiwan Strait Sousa Technical Advisory Group (ETSSTAWG), established in January this year, responded with a press release. In the press release, the Chair of the ETSSTAWG, Dr Peter S. Ross, said “Time is running out for the Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin in Taiwan. We hope that recent advances in our understanding of the habitat needs of this charismatic creature will identify a path forward that allows it to recover and thrive.”

A copy of the full press release is posted on the Matsu's Fish Conservation Union (MFCU) blog.

Note: The following is the press release/petition delivered by Matsu's Fish Conservation Union, Green Party Taiwan, the Congressional Office of Legislator Tian Chiu-chin and Taiwan Friends of the Global Greens on 13 August 2008 during a press conference held in front of the Council of Agriculture in response to the listing of Taiwan's humpback dolphins as "Critically Endangered" by the IUCN in its 2008 update of the Cetacean Red List.

Photo: A make-shift President Ma
presents the Critically Endangered
award to a humpback dolphin

(Matsu's Fish Conservation Union, established in January 2007, is a coalition of the following Taiwanese conservation groups: Taiwan Academy of Ecology, Taiwan Sustainable Union, Wild at Heart Legal Defense Association, Taiwan Environmental Protection Union, Wild Bird Society of Yunlin, Changhua Coast Conservation Action and FormosaCetus Research and Conservation Group.)

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * PRESS RELEASE * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Due to being isolated from other populations of the same species, Taiwan’s "Matsu's Fish" (Sousa chinensis), also known as the Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin or Chinese white dolphin, has evolved in a way that distinguishes it from other populations. It is now recognized by the international cetacean science community that Taiwan’s Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins constitute a unique population.

by Kurtis Pei 裴家騏

Note: Wild and other local NGOs protested against importing panda "gifts" from China in 2005-6 (see our joint press release with Peacetime Foundation of Taiwan, Humanistic Education Foundation, The Homemaker's Union and Foundation, and Environment and Animal Society of Taiwan, and articles Panda Preservation in Taiwan and Pandas for You and Me). We recommend this recent article on the latest panda import plans, by Kurtis Pei (裴家騏), a professor at National Pingtung University’s Institute of Wildlife Preservation. (Translation by Angela Hong). This piece originally featured in the Taipei Times as a letter to the editor on June 3, 2008 (page 8).

Aside from economic topics, the meeting between Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Wu Poh-hsiung (吳伯雄) and Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) reconfirmed plans for the "gift" of two giant pandas to Taiwan. In response to questions during a legislative interpellation session, Minister of Agriculture Chen Wu-hsiung (陳武雄) said that, in principle, the sooner the pandas arrive, the better.

But China’s gifts of giant pandas have almost always been related to political purposes — and Beijing has made little effort to disguise that fact. Taiwan has no zoo or research group that has made any contribution to the conservation of giant pandas. We are, in a sense, not fully deserving of these creatures. We could very possibly waste the breeding potential of the two pandas, for although Sichuan breeders have had impressive success in breeding, other facilities around the world have been very unsuccessful. Giant pandas are also very costly and would likely affect the budget for indigenous wildlife conservation.

For the past three years one of Wild's big issues has been the conservation of the highly endangered humpback dolphins (or "Matsu's Fish") in the near-shore waters of western Taiwan. Our work and that of the Matsu’s Fish Conservation Union (MFCU -- a group of seven major Taiwanese NGOs, including Wild) was sparked off and is supported greatly by the prolific reporting of Dr. John Wang and Sichu Yang of FormosaCetus Research and Conservation Group, the small research team which has worked hard since 2002 to survey this distinct Taiwanese population and gather vital information about their numbers, basic biology and state of health. Their photographs have allowed us to see the dolphins up-close, including the wounds that around 30 percent of the population bear, believed to be a result of interactions with fishing vessels and nets. Photographs, news and scientific reports can be accessed at the MFCU website.

Now you can also watch the Taiwanese humpback dolphin population in these two videos, filmed and provided by FormosaCetus. Clearly visible in the background is Formosa Plastics Mailiao Industrial Park in Yunlin County -- where proponents of further development have denied the presence of these dolphins. Thanks to the work of FormosaCetus, including this kind of footage, we are able to disprove such claims and give this population a better hope of survival.

Wild is now fundraising to support this year's humpback dolphin survey, which is to be part of a long-term plan to monitor the population size. The information gained from this survey will advise urgently needed conservation action and allow us, the authorities and other stakeholders to assess and improve on any action that is taken to protect the population from extinction. To support the FormosaCetus 2008 research project please contact Chris at +886 (0)2 2382 5789 or chrisgagele@gmail.com.

By C.M.

The official Public Hearing on the Hushan Reservoir Ecological Conservation Measures will be held at 9 a.m. this Saturday (April 26) in Douliu Town Hall (38 FuwenRoad 府文路, Douliu City, Yunlin County, map in Chinese). This follows a preparatory hearing held last month where stakeholders met for a test run and to thrash out details such as the main focus of the discussion and the level of transparency and detail that was expected of the reservoir developer (the Central Region Water Resources Office (CRWRO)¹) and Taiwan Endemic Species Research Insitute (TESRI ), the body commissioned to oversee and co-implement the Conservation Measures.

The official purpose of the meeting is to explain the current status of the Hushan Reservoir Ecological Conservation Measures, the design and implementation of which were one of the conditions upon which the project was approved. Environmental groups, experts, academics and local community representatives are free to attend, or "participate" as the public notice calls it, although public explanation meetings and hearings for EIAs in Taiwan usually allow only a very passive form of participation by the public, something better described as consultation of the public and the provision of an opportunity to comment, but not to directly influence decision-making.

The following translation is an account of an interview with Robin Winkler, a naturalized Taiwanese citizen and former EPA commissioner, founder of Taiwan's Wild at Heart Legal Defense Association, and currently member of the board of supervisors of the Green Party Taiwan. The Chinese original appeared in the March 18th edition of the Liberty Times. [Explanatory notes in square brackets].

Lawyer (Attorney of Foreign Legal Affairs) Robin J. Winkler said yesterday that based on the U.S. State Department's Foreign Affairs Manual, travel to the U.S. on a non-immigrant visa does not necessarily mean that one has abandoned lawful permanent residence status. Winkler, a naturalized Taiwanese citizen, said that he did not want to see a president elected who could run off to the U.S. at any time. He argued that to show respect to voters, [now president elect] Ma Ying-jiu has a duty as a candidate to produce evidence that he has abandoned his lawful permanent residence status and should not play semantic games.

By C.M.

Chairs Wu Hung, Yang and Dai (from
right to left).

At a preparatory hearing held on Monday 24th March in Wufeng Township, Taichung County, it was decided that the official public hearing concerning conservation measures to accompany the Hushan Reservoir project in Yunlin County, originally scheduled for the following Monday (31st March), would be postponed. Yesterday the Water Resources Agency (WRA) announced that the meeting will now be held on Saturday 26 April.

The purpose of the official hearing is, according to the WRA, to allow explanation of the current state of the Hushan Reservoir Ecological Conservation Measures, the design and implementation of which were one of the conditions upon which the project was approved.

The decision to postpone the meeting was made when it became clear during the preparatory hearing that the developer (the Central Region Water Resources Office (CRWRO)¹) would, within the remaining time, be unable to pull together the answers to many of the questions to be posed at the official hearing by those concerned about the project’s negative environmental and social impacts.

By CM

You-cing Valley, March 3, 2008
It may well be true that nothing lasts forever. But the rate at which we are accelerating the impermanence of everything natural around us is breathtaking. In Huben, Yunlin County, a forest teeming with plants, insects, birds, reptiles, mammals and others, an entity that creaks and rustles, sings, swoops, sways and sighs with a life of its own, is already in the initial stages of being flattened, stripped and scraped bare of all its wealth, right down into its soil. The diggers are clawing at the outer edges, chainsaws are slicing through the trees, and already one hillside is bare.

Stripped hillside, March 3, 2008 The developers say that now that the Hushan Reservoir construction has commenced the aim is to chop down an entire forest and flood an entire valley in a way which causes the least possible negative impact on the environment.

The Wild at Heart Legal Defense Association, a public interest organization created to protect Taiwan's fragile environment, was recently recognized as a nonprofit member of 1% For The Planet.

1% for the Planet (1% FTP) was founded in 2001 by Yvon Chouinard, founder of Patagonia, and Craig Mathews, owner of Blue Ribbon Flies. The two successful business owners are also avid outdoorsmen who have a long history of working to protect the natural resources that kept them in business. 1% FTP was developed as a concept to encourage other businesses to donate at least one percent of their sales to a network of more than 1,500 nonprofit environmental organizations worldwide. To date, 1% FTP has 767 business members and the numbers are still growing. The companies range from a wide variety of industries, including clothing, financial, and travel.

With the additional support and recognition by 1% FTP, Wild at Heart hopes to continue and strengthen its efforts in the protection, conservation and restoration of Taiwan's environment. Our many current initiatives include defending the endangered population of Indo-Pacific Humpback Dolphins off Taiwan's west coast and fighting for the termination of the Hushan Dam project.

By Christina MacFarquhar

Local farmers protest in front of the EPA
in 2006.

The official announcement was made yesterday that the phase-one Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for Taiwan’s Central Science Park development on Ci-sing Farm, Houli, which was approved by the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) in 2006 under circumstances which caused outrage among EIA Review Committee members, has been cancelled by the Administrative Court. This is the result of a lawsuit brought by six farmers from in and around Houli Township, Taichung County, who are represented by a group of lawyers including Lawyer Lin San-Chia and Lawyer of Record Chen Bo-jhou of Wild at Heart Legal Defense Association.

Houli farm produce.

The complainants had accused the EPA of violating the EIA Act in the method by which it had approved the development of an LCD and semi-conductor factory on Ci-sing Farm, Houli at the Plenary on 30 June 2006, saying that the project should have been subject to a phase-two EIA, a further assessment required of projects deemed likely to have a significant impact on the environment. In addition, it was claimed that there had been twenty violations in the Environmental Impact Statement for the project, including insubstantial or false assessments of impacts on irrigation water supply and levels of heavy metal contamination, and a failure to consider human health and pollution of groundwater and crops.

By Christina MacFarquhar

Environmental groups protest violence
against Robin Winkler (centre) in front of
Taipei District Prosecutors Office.

On Friday 25th January, environmental groups rallied in front of the Taipei District Prosecutors Office to express support for Robin Winkler, Director of Wild at Heart Legal Defense Association, who was physically assaulted by Yunlin County speaker Su Chin-huang at a meeting at the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) offices in Taipei on 7 November 2007. The meeting concerned the proposed Formosa Plastics Steel Mill in Yunlin County, which is believed would have harmful impacts on the struggling population of Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins in the west coast waters of Taiwan.

The Council of Agriculture's plan to promote a tree-planting campaign is being met with suspicion.

From Save the Taiwan Humpback Dolphins:

Also reported in the Taipei Times today was the Council of Agriculture saying yesterday that it would promote a tree-planting campaign to help increase the ratio of green land. Again, a good thing. However, I can't help but be a little suspicious of some of these tree-planting efforts. One example that springs to mind is the current reclaiming effort being waged against valuable sea habitat in the name of tree-planting. Yes, in Mailiao, Yunlin County, just next to the Formosa plant they are reclaiming land and in the process destroying valuable Taiwan humpback dolphin habitat to plant trees so that the area is "greener."

This is not the first time we have heard about little trees (often non-native) being used to spruce up the island at the cost of grander, older trees with actual stories to tell, being hauled away.

A recent op-ed piece in the local press highlights the legalized corruption that we call "representative democracy" in Taiwan. To follow up on the author's suggestion of exposing the legislators who supported the drastic reduction of water pollution fines, where is that database of legislator-business ties?

Taiwan's being named by Nature magazine as producing the largest amount of CO₂ emissions of any power plant prompted a member of the environmental impact assessment commission that is reviewing a private power plant project in eastern Taiwan to write an article that appeared in the local press. Our heart goes out to those few commissioners of conscience who try and raise the real issues while participating in the window dressing exercises of Taiwan's Environmental Protection Agency/Developer/Elected Representative clique. We have created an incredible nearly unstoppable pollution generation monster through a simple, three-step process:

1) Privatize energy generation, but keep distribution with the state-owned Taiwan Power Company

2) Taiwan Power is legally required to buy all energy generated, regardless of need

3) Keep the people in the dark as to where the money and energy are going and as to the true costs

Sixty years of isolation under the Chinese KMT rule and for the last eight years under the Taiwanese DPP rule, are taking their toll.

Lee Ken-cheng

In March of this year, a subcommittee of the Environmental Impact Assessment Committee decided that the Formosa Plastics Group's (FPG) US$4 billion steel mill project in Yunlin County should undergo a second-stage Environmental Impact Assessment. This decision was never ratified by a plenary session of the Committee due to concerted pressure from FPG, the Presidential Office, and the Executive Yuan.

Soon after, the Environmental Protection Agency's minister Chang Kuo-lung was forced to resign, and none of the Committee's members whom FPG had demanded recuse themselves from reviewing the project were reappointed to the Committee when their term expired in July. Seven months of delay later, a newly appointed Committee has overturned the March decision and sent the project back to subcommittee for a new review, thereby giving FPG another chance to avoid a second-stage assessment. The subcommittee meets today (2007-11-7). I ask that the subcommittee address the issues I set out here and give the public a full accounting.

1. Phase 4 of FPG's No. 6 Naphtha Cracker Project produces 67.557 million metric tons of carbon emissions annually, accounting for 26.57 percent of Taiwan's total carbon emissions. FPG's Yunlin steel mill project will produce another 14.896 million metric tons of carbon emissions annually or 5.86 percent of Taiwan's total. Together, these two projects will account for 32.43 percent of Taiwan's total carbon emissions. In other words, once Taiwan has to reduce carbon emissions, FPG's total carbon output would not be set off even if every man, woman, and child in Taiwan stopped all residential, commercial, and transportation activities. When that day comes, who is going to have to reduce? Who is going to pay the price of reduction?

2. The Sixth Naptha Cracker uses cheap water diverted from agricultural uses. By selling water to FPG for profit, the Taiwan Joint Irrigation Association forces farmers to pump ground water. This pumping in turn causes central Taiwan's serious land subsidence issue to worsen. The land subsidence problem will continue even if we build the Hushan Reservoir in response to the expanding need for industrial-use water. FPG however eschews any responsibility for the land subsidence it is indirectly causing by its water use.
   
3. The Sixth Naptha Cracker has sharply increased air pollution in Yunlin and Chiayi counties. Elementary school students near the Sixth Naptha Cracker breathe foul air. In some In extreme cases, students wear protective face masks to class. But to pave the way for FPG and Kuokuang Petrochemicals to build their new facilities there, the Industrial Development Bureau is asking the EPA to abandon the its total air pollution capacity controls. In particular, the Bureau is asking the EPA to raise its cap for persistent organic pollutants (POPs) by 58 percent. Should we really be allowing government agencies in charge of economic development to be determining the air pollution standards that impact our health?
   
4. FPG claims that is committed to trustworthiness and feedback to the local community. Before it built the Sixth Naptha Cracker, FPG made promises to the people of Yunlin County. It would build a new Mailiao Township, a Yunlin branch of Chang Gung Memorial Hospital (established by the founders of FPG in memory of their father), and a local nursing college. The commissioner of Yunlin County at the time claimed that the project would bring between 120,000 and 200,000 jobs to Yunlin. Not one of those promises have been kept. Over the last dozen years, Yunlin County's population has decreased by nearly 17,000 people. The dream of prosperity created by the Sixth Naptha Cracker was an illusion. In its place, Yunlin, already one of Taiwan's poorest counties, received a polluted environment. Why should we trust FPG again?
   

The FPG steel mill project threatens nearly two-thirds of Taiwan's clam hatcheries, the important aquaculture business, and Taiwan’s Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins. This is part of the price we will pay.

Taiwan's petrochemical, steel, concrete, and paper industries have consumed more than 30% of Taiwan's energy production in recent years. Yet these industries have accounted for less that five percent of Taiwan's real GDP during the same period. In 2005, they accounted for just 2.49 percent of GDP. Taiwan is the world's biggest producer of steel per square kilometer. Can Taiwan, a tiny island nation that is virtually 100 percent dependent on imported energy, afford to continue developing this extravagantly polluting industry with its profligate energy requirements given the heavy environmental burden it already bears? Should we let FPG, which produces one third of Taiwan's carbon emissions, go on lining its pockets, destroying the environment, and preying on the weakest among us?

If a development project of the FPG steel mill's magnitude and impact does not merit a second-phase Environmental Impact Assessment, we should scrap Taiwan's environmental assessment process. I expect the newly-appointed Environmental Impact Assessment Committee members to do their duty and protect Taiwan's environment.

WAH note: At a chaotic 7 Nov. meeting the subcommittee again recommended that the project undergo a second-stage assessment. During the meeting, Yunlin County Council Speaker Su Jinhuang assaulted WAH Executive Director Robin Winkler. The assault is now the subject of a criminal investigation.

Lee Ken-cheng was a teacher in Kaohsiung for 17 years. He is the Executive Director of Mercy on the Earth Taiwan and a former appointee to the Environmental Impact Assessment Committee. An earlier version of this comment was published in Chinese by the China Times.

According to a report buried on page 20 of the September 29 edition of the Apple Daily, a subcommittee was formed to review Formosa Plastic's application to increase its water allowance from 251,000 tonnes/day to 351,000 tonnes/day. The report continued that the head of the Overall Planning Department, Huang Guanghui, said that the decision of the subcommittee would have to be approved by the plenary commission, which at the soonest will be in mid October. The report appears to have been accurate except that the original approved amount was 257,000 tonnes/day.

Interestingly, this case involves a number of issues that were headline news earlier this year, including the public's right to information about violations by developers of environmental laws or commitments made pursuant to the approval of their environmental impact assessments, whether there is a legal basis for the application by Formosa for a change in the water usage--the original commitment was backed by a pledge from chairman of Formosa Plastics who said they would shut down operations to the extent necessary to meet their commitment to keep water use down, and how on the day after Formosa Plastics chairman's visit to President Chen, the Executive Yuan canceled an NT$7 million dollar fine against the company for violations of its EIA. Just how long are corporations going to be allowed to keep reporting incredible profits each time financial reports are due at the expense of the well being of the environment and ultimately all who live in Taiwan and generations to come?

Well, it isn't surprising, when it is a choice between Wang Yong-cing and Formosa Plastics' need for cheap water and the marine life along the Yunlin coast: Taiwan's government continues to send the message that it wants our country to stay ahead of the competition for the worst environmental record among developed countries in the world, and while we're at it, let's see how quickly we can't get rid of pesky dolphins and Fairy Pittas before there is too much notice taken by the international community.

For those of us following the Narmada valley tragedy as documented in Franny Armstrong's film Drowned Out (available with Chinese language subtitles from Wild), here is a recent update from Franny:

Good news for once: the anti-dam protesters who were beaten up and
jailed for peacefully protesting in July have won their case against
the Madhya Pradesh state government, who now have to pay
compensation.

A video of the arrest helped them win their case.

Formosa's reclamation site in Mailiao (photo by M. Wilkie)

Save the Taiwan Humpback Dolphins has the following post on the Formosa Steel Plant, a project that has been proposed by Formosa Plastics:

The seventh term of the Environmental Protection Administration's (EPA) Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Commission met today to discuss, in a "pre-meeting meeting", the proposed Formosa Steel Plant, which the developer, Formosa Plastics, would like to see built next to its existing petrochemical industrial complex that lies along side the Jhuoshui River estuary between Yunlin County and Changhua County in central Taiwan.

An official from Taiwan's EPA began by summarizing its version of the procedural history of the case. The first committee meeting on the case took place in March 2006. One year later, during the fourth meeting of the review committee, on 19 March 2007, the committee recommended that the development go into a second phase assessment. However, that recommendation never made it to the plenary commission. According to the EPA, the developer requested an opportunity to "submit additional materials". Breaking with its normal procedure (although not unprecedented) of referring the review committee's decision to the plenary commission, the EPA staff granted the request with a deadline of 31 May 2007.

Wild at Heart is pleased to present the Chinese-language subtitled version of the documentary The Corporation to Taiwan. This film exposes an institution that is responsible for most of the social and environmental problems of our time. We are also working with local producers and directors to try to encourage the production of a Taiwan version.

The Corporation is available on DVD, in English with English and Chinese subtitles, from Wild at Heart for those of you who need the Chinese subtitled version. For other language versions please visit the corporation.com website. The DVD is Region All/NTSC and is available upon receipt of a minimum NTD 395 donation via the Wild at Heart Web site. The Corporation can be picked up in person at our office for a minimum donation of NTD 350. In either case, please send us an email with your name, address and how to contact you to comment@wildatheart.org.tw.

Formosan Blue Magpie; photo by Mark Wilkie

Newspapers are reporting that more Formosan Blue Magpie (Urocissa caerulea) chicks have been stolen in Taipei. Formosan Blue Magpies are listed as "Near Threatened" on the IUCN Red Data List and regulated under CITES Appendix II. These birds can fetch up to NTD 80,000 (USD 2,500) on the black market. The Formosan Blue Magpie is protected under the Wildlife Protection Act, and selling them can result in a fine of up to NTD 300,000 (USD 9,375). Wild at Heart had recently reported that six young magpies were stolen near an elementary school in the Taipei suburb of Mucha.

Formosan Sika Stag, Kenting National Park

Article and Photos by Mark Wilkie

There are 13 subspecies of Sika deer Cervus Nippon. One of these subspecies, race taiouanus, is endemic to Taiwan and is listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) as Critically Endangered. Sika deer are a medium-sized deer native to much of East Asia. In Taiwan, the adult stag averages about 155cm in body length while the hind is a little smaller at around 147cm. A stag's shoulder height averages around 98cm and a hind's around 81cm. The average body weight of a stag is around 68kg while the hind is a lighter 43kg (Wang.Y. & Chan.S.C, Formosan Sika Deer in Kenting National Park, 1998).

Formosan Sika Hind, Kenting National Park

The Formosan Sika deer traditionally inhabited much of Taiwan's lowland plains and hilly areas under 300m. Being a lowland species it has faced ongoing destruction of its habitat from human expansion across the Western coastal plain starting in about 1624 with the onset of the Dutch colonial period. The species has also had to endure extreme hunting pressure. Much of Taiwan's economy was based on the deer hide trade during the Qing period and totals peaking at around a 100,000 hides were exported annually to countries like Japan through ports like Lukang in present day Changhua County, which translates as "Deer Harbour".

A pair of Tree Sparrows, Taichung County; photo by C. Lucarda

A common site in rural Taiwan is netting surrounding orchards to protect fruit trees from birds. The growers' desire to protect their crop from birds is understandable. Many growers erect heavy netting structures around their orchards or fields in an effort to minimize their losses to birds and some larger insects. Some of this netting has a shade value, too, and is easily visible to birds. However, all too often, one sees cheap light plastic netting very similar to the mist netting used by ornithology researches to catch birds for banding purposes being used. This light loose net appears almost invisible to birds and serves to kill rather then deter birds trying to get at the fruit. Birds unknowingly fly into it and their feet get tangled. The bird then dies an agonizingly slow and painful death of dehydration under the hot Taiwan sun.

Nearly invisible light netting, Huben; photo by M. Wilkie

Where does the right of the grower to protect a crop become the right to kill indiscriminately? Where does the grower move from protecting to trapping? Where does the understandable protection of a crop become a license to knowingly kill wildlife? Surely, the erection of nearly invisible netting with the capacity to trap many birds is not a responsible method to "protect" a crop! Regardless of the rights of growers and farmers versus the protection of wildlife and what the various acts do and do not allow, it would appear that for now, thousands and thousands of Taiwan birds will continue to die agonizingly slow deaths under the hot sun as growers "protect" their crops.

Stop Hushan Dam! features a new Fairy Pitta gallery.

Fairy Pitta photo courtesy of Richard Yu.

Stop Hushan Dam! has a feature on the monitoring of Fairy Pitta nests and the movements of fledglings.

Striped Blue Crow (Euploea mulciber barsine)

Late March through to late April can be a really magical time of the year for nature lovers visiting the Huben-Hushan area. From late March through to about the tenth of April great numbers of Purple Crow (Euploea) Butterflies pass through the Huben area on their spectacular journey from southern Taiwan to northern Taiwan. This butterfly migration is amongst the world's most spectacular butterfly migrations. Indeed, Taiwan is often referred to as the Island of Butterflies. With around four hundred butterfly species found on Taiwan, Taiwan is a paradise for butterfly watchers.

SAVE International at Hushan Campaign Office-Meilin Village near the Hushan Dam site.

On the evening of 12 June 2007 members of SAVE International met up with representatives of a number of Taiwan NGOs near the Hushan Dam site. SAVE International is an Earth Island Institute project and was founded in 1997 as a volunteer group of professors, students, and staff from the University of California, Berkeley and National Taiwan University with the mission of saving the endangered Black-faced Spoonbill Platalea minor from extinction.

Fairy Pitta (Pitta nympha)

by Daniel P. Chamberlin

Last Thursday evening May 31st, six young Formosan Blue Magpies (Urocissa caerulea), the recently designated "national bird", were taken from their nest across the street from Wan-Xing Elementary School on Section 2 of Hsiu-Ming Road near National Political University in the Taipei suburb of Mucha.

Taiwan Blue Magpie; Photo by Mark Wilkie

In May, the Blue Magpie was chosen as Taiwan's National Bird by a nationwide poll, far outpacing the other species as a beloved symbol of this nation. As a protected species listed under the Wildlife Protection Act, it is illegal to disturb a nest, possess, raise, buy, or sell the birds. When contacted on Thursday, the Conservation Division of the jian-she-ju of Taipei City government, the agency responsible for enforcing the Wildlife Protection Act within the city limits, promised to investigate. They actively investigate and prosecute violators of the Wildlife Protection Act.

Robin Winkler, in his role as director of the Taiwan Wild at Heart Legal Defense Association, joined an alliance of several environmental NGOs in filing a demand letter to Taiwan’s Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) today, to be followed by a lawsuit if the EPA fails to take appropriate action within the 60-day time limit stipulated by law.

The groups allege that the EPA, through its negligence and possibly with outright intent, has failed to adequately protect Taiwan’s environment, threatening the health, safety and viability of people throughout the island, future generations, and the well being of other species and their habitat.

by Mark B.Wilkie

Huben; Photo by Mark Wilkie

Important Bird Areas in Asia

More than one quarter of the world's bird species are found in Asia. That means that Asia supports over 2,700 bird species. Three hundred and thirty-two of those species are threatened with global extinction. The greatest threat faced by birds is the loss of habitat and as Asia develops suitable habitat is disappearing at an alarming rate.

Birdlife International is the largest global network of non-governmental conservation organizations with a special focus on birds (Birdlife, 2004, p 1). Birdlife International (formerly known as the International Council for Bird Preservation, or ICBP) started to develop the IBA or Important Bird Area program in the mid-1980s. Basically the program identifies a network of globally important areas for the conservation of birds and their habitats using standard, internationally-agreed criteria.

By Mark B. Wilkie
Douliou, Yunlin County, Taiwan
SR Moderator, Birdforum.
www.birdforum.net

At the southern tip of Taiwan lies the Heng-chun Peninsula. The Heng-chun Peninsula is the most important site for raptor migration in East Asia and is included in the 20 largest raptor migration sites globally. The Heng-chun Peninsula is the Veracruz of East Asia. Twenty-six species of diurnal raptors have been recorded to date with figures as high as 50,000+ birds passing through the peninsula in a day during the peak autumn migration period.

Grey Faced Buzzard; Photo courtesy of Richard Yu

From early to mid October thousands of Grey-faced Buzzards Butastur indicus pass through Heng-chun, Kenting National Park in one of the earth's most spectacular displays of avian migration. The following is a brief history of the plight and conservation of the Grey-faced Buzzard Butastur indicus in Taiwan.

The distribution of the Grey-faced Buzzard Butastur indicus is the Eastern Palearctic region with the species wintering in the Indomalayan region. Through its range the species is uncommon and declining but locally abundant on passage. The Grey-faced Buzzard forms a superspecies with Grasshopper Buzzard-hawk Butastur rufipennis (Afrotropical), Rufous-winged Buzzard-hawk Butastur liventer (Indomalayan) and White-eyed Buzzard-hawk Butastur teesa (Indomalayan).

The "Mother Sea-Goddess (Matsu) Fish" or the Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin (Sousa chinesis) is grey when born and develops grey-blue freckles during youth. It turns white or pink when fully mature, thus it's other popular name in Chinese meaning "pink dolphin." Local people from fishing villages have named the animal after Matsu, the Sea Goddess, perhaps as result of seeing the Sousa most often around Matsu's birthday in March/April when the seas return to a calmer state. The animals can be found in the temperate and tropical waters off the Indian Ocean and western Pacific Ocean. Their preferred habitats are transition areas close to shore, particularly estuarine waters.

After several years of observation and research, the FormosaCetus Research & Conservation Group have found that the animals living along Taiwan's west coast differ considerably from their counterparts elsewhere and are likely a distinct subspecies. This would raise their level of importance at least to that of the Formosan landlocked salmon (Oncorhynchus masou formosanus), which appears on Taiwan's currency, and on the conservation of which the government has lavished much money and attention. Officials are not doing nearly enough for the animal given the fact that a very optimistic estimate of the number of these dolphins is no more than 200, with the actual number being most likely about half that number. There is a high likelihood that Taiwan's entire population will become extinct within the next few years threats to their survival are not greatly and immediately reduced.

By Christina MacFarquhar

Update: Click here for information regarding a recent Reuters article on Sousa chinesis in Taiwan.

John Y. Wang / FormosaCetus Research and Conservation Group.

In 2002, Sousa chinesis won official recognition as a resident of Taiwan, leaping out of relative obscurity and into the highest category of endangered species. Despite its proximity to the heaving west coast human population, its presence had gone unnoticed by most local people, and the stretch of coastal waters in which it swims, between the Mailiao and Changpin Industrial Parks, had never before been thoroughly surveyed for cetaceans.

Taipower coal-fired power plant at the mouth of the Dadu River (25.6.06).

The home of the Sousa has changed immensely in recent decades from that in which its ancestors thrived: from the coal-fired power station at the mouth of the Dadu River, an army of pylons marches out across the plain and charges up the hill to fuel the campaign to keep Taiwan lit up, cooled down and churning out the goods; smoke stacks punctuate the flat landscape at Mailiao, nurturing the yellowish haze that floats lazily northward on the light breeze; human and industrial waste flow untreated into the sea, under the surface of which plump, farmed oysters swell on a maze of wires; and out there on the not-so-distant horizon, fishing boats trawl unchallenged far closer to shore than written law permits.

Mailiao Industrial Park, Yunlin County (25.6.06).

But it is not in the nature of these dolphins to migrate, even despite these increasingly unpleasant circumstances. And besides, the foul effluent that swirls in the waves even provides them, via their undiscerning prey, with nutrients in these increasingly barren hunting grounds.

Grey Faced Buzzard Eagle: Photo courtesy of Richard Yu

Please assist us in helping protect the Grey-faced Buzzard Eagle and other Taiwan raptors by voicing your concern over the recent hunting of the species and other raptors by sending a letter of concern to the Taiwan authorities.

Letter of Concern Over the Recent Hunting of Raptors in Southern Taiwan

Send an email to President Chen Shui-bian.

The Cc recipients: Premier Su-Tseng-chang (Confirmation email will be sent in Mandarin with the English instruction "Please click the web site above to confirm your e-mail to Premier Su." Click on the blue highlighted link. A copy of your e-mail will come up--respond by clicking the left icon at the bottom of the e-mail. A confirmation message will appear in Mandarin and English) , People First Party Chairman James Soong; Yunlin County Commissioner Su Chih-fen; Taiwan Solidarity Union Legislator Yin Ling-ying; the Tourism Bureau; National Science Council; the Council of Agriculture; Kending National Park Administration; Construction and Planning Agency; Ministry of the Interior; Taiwan National Parks; Tian, Choucin; Lai, Hsinyuan; Chao, Yongcing (members of the Sustainability Commission of the Legislative Yuan); Wild at Heart.

The Letter
How to send:
Copy and paste the following. Then add your name, city and country at the end of the letter.

To (President Chen Shui-bian's e-mail addresses): oop62@mail.oop.gov.tw, abian@mail.oop.gov.tw

Cc to the following:
eyemail@eyemail.gio.gov.tw,chairman@pfp.org.tw,
ylhga001@mail.yunlin.gov.tw,ly10998a@ly.gov.tw, tbroc@tbroc.gov.tw, nsc@nsc.gov.tw, coa@mail.coa.gov.tw, ktnp@kt.ktnp.gov.tw, cpamail@cpami.gov.tw, npweb@cpami.gov.tw, ly11000d@ly.gov.tw, ly59691@ly.gov.tw, lym178a@ly.gov.tw, comment@wildatheart.org.tw

Subject: The Recent Hunting of Raptors in Southern Taiwan

Letter:
Re: The Recent Hunting of Raptors in Southern Taiwan
To The President of the Republic of China,
President Chen Shui-bian.

Cc: Premier Su-Tseng-chang (Confirmation email will be sent--respond by clicking the left icon) , People First Party Chairman James Soong; Yunlin County Commissioner Su Chih-fen; Taiwan Solidarity Union Legislator Yin Ling-ying; the Tourism Bureau; National Science Council; the Council of Agriculture; Kending National Park Admistration; Construction and Planning Agency; Ministry of the Interior; Taiwan National Parks; Tian, Choucin; Lai, Hsinyuan; Chao, Yongcing (members of the Sustainability Commission of the Legislative Yuan); Wild at Heart

Dear Sir,

For more than twenty years the Government of the Republic of China and conservationists have worked together to protect the Grey-faced Buzzard Eagle Butastur indicus and other raptors from hunting in Taiwan. These combined efforts have been largely successful in limiting the practice of hunting raptors and were very encouraging. Indeed, they were a conservation success story that Taiwan could be very proud of.

Recent media reports have informed both the nation and the international community that during the last migration period of September and October that hundreds and possibly thousands of Grey-faced Buzzard Eagle and some other raptors have been hunted in Southern Taiwan. This hunting is unacceptable and only serves to tarnish the image of the nation.

I urge the authorities to find those responsible for this outrage and bring them to justice. I also request that the authorities put firm measures in place that will continually be monitored to ensure that this disgraceful and barbaric practice of hunting raptors does not persist. Further, I ask that the authorities make special arrangements for the protection of migrant species such as the Grey-faced Buzzard Eagle Butastur indicus and Chinese Sparrowhawk Accipiter soloensis when they pass through Taiwan in large numbers on migration.

This wondrous spectacle of nature as thousands of Grey-faced Buzzard Eagle and Chinese Sparrowhawk gather in Kenting National Park from late September to mid October draws thousands of raptor lovers to the area. Taiwan is indeed blessed to host such an awe inspiring natural event. With this comes responsibility and that is to ensure that these noble creatures are given safe passage through Taiwan on their journey to other lands. The migration of birds is the earth’s only truly unifying natural phenomenon. It binds the nations and the continents of the world together in a way that nothing else does and gives a shared responsibility to all of mankind that it is preserved.

Yours sincerely,

(Name)
(City, Country)

Grey Faced Buzzard Eagle: Photo courtesy of Richard Yu

by Mark B. Wilkie

Mark B.Wilkie is a Taiwan based educator and birder. He serves as a moderator on the large international net based birding community, birdforum.net and is a member of various birding and conservation societies.

The sight of a raptor soaring has inspired mankind through the ages. Nations and armies have used the image of a raptor to symbolize their power. Somehow the very sight of a raptor on the wing stirs something deep within us. It is the image of power and the very essence of a predator. It moves effortlessly and with absolute grace. It soars on high, above all, swooping down to kill in an awesome climax of noble grace, cunning speed and ruthless power. To many the eagle and its allies are indeed the ultimate predator and the personification of man’s desires incarnate.

Crested Goshawk: Photo courtesy of Richard Yu

These very virtues of the raptor have put it in direct competition with man and that conflict has played out over the ages in a number of ways and has almost always, if not always, spelt destruction for the free spirit of these noble creatures.

Man has captured raptors to make use of their skills. They have been destroyed when they have competed with us for food; poisoned and hunted when they have taken our livestock. Their feathers have been collected to decorate our costumes and in Taiwan they have fallen victim to those that wish to capture and possess their spirit.

Common Kestrel: Photo courtesy of Richard Yu

In Japan the virtues of raptors and the qualities they represent are admired. People desire to possess a mount of one of these noble creatures believing that it brings such esteemed qualities as prosperity and good fortune into the life of the owner. As Taiwan’s isolation grew with the Republic of China’s regime in Taipei still claiming to represent all of China in the 60s and 70s it lead to Taiwan’s environmental isolation too. With little or no control, the hunting of raptors in Taiwan for export as mounts to Japan grew alarmingly. To a lesser extent raptors were hunted for food, Chinese medicine, and for mounts for the local market. Some believed that the eating of a raptor would impart various attributes to them.

Chinese Sparrowhawk: Photo courtesy of Richard Yu

Between 1976 and 1977, sixty-thousand Grey-faced Buzzard Eagles Butastur indicuswhere shipped to Japan. Grey-faced Buzzard Eagles Butastur indicus were not the only raptors being hunted and shipped. Large numbers of Crested Serpent Eagle Spilornis cheela and smaller numbers of Besra Accipiter virgatus, Chinese Sparrowhawk Accipiter soloensis, Crested Goshawk Accipiter trivirgatus, Oriental Honey-Buzzard Pernis ptilorhynchus, Osprey Pandion haliatus, Mountain Hawk Eagle Spizaetus nipalensis, and Common Kestrel Falco tinnunculus were also being hunted and shipped to Japan.

Oriental Honey-Buzzard: Photo courtesy of Richard Yu

Through the efforts of concerned individuals and groups in Taiwan, Japan, and internationally, the plight of the Taiwan raptors was tackled. Awareness was raised through education. The government was persuaded to issue postage stamps and mint coins depicting the Grey-faced Buzzard Eagle and Brown Shrike Lanius cristatus to help raise awareness of the plight of migrating birds. Taiwan was permitted to join the East Asia Bird Conservation Union and in October 1983 at the East Asian Bird Protection Societies meeting held in Kenting, Southern Taiwan the authorities burnt confiscated shrike traps. In 1989 laws were passed affording the Grey-faced Buzzard protection and the practice of hunting raptors had sharply declined. Raptor watching has become a major activity in Kenting National Park in October and Baguashan in April.

Crested Serpant Eagle: Photo courtesy of Richard Yu

In recent years the hunting of raptors does not seem to have been a major concern to conservationists. Conservation efforts to stem the tide of raptor hunting have been viewed as having been pretty successful. The practice has certainly continued in secret but it would appear that the number of birds hunted has been low. Whether this has truly been the case is not really known. In Ferguson-Lees’s acclaimed “Raptors of the World,” a figure of a thousand Grey-faced Buzzard Eagle is given for the annual number of birds shot over Taiwan during the two migration periods per year. Ferguson-Lees’s figure is very worrying. The Grey-faced Buzzard Eagle only passes through Taiwan on passage during migration and is known to be hunted in the Philippines and other areas that the species passes through.

Osprey: Photo courtesy of Richard Yu

Media reports of possibly thousands of Grey-faced Buzzard Eagle and smaller numbers of other raptors being hunted during the recent September-October migration period in the Southern Taiwan, Kenting National Park area are worrying. Once again, there is a need to raise awareness and highlight the plight of Taiwan’s raptors and insist that the authorities take action against those responsible. Additional measures must be put in place to protect these magnificent birds as they pass through Taiwan in their thousands in one of nature’s greatest spectacles.

Please assist us in helping protect the Grey-faced Buzzard Eagle and other Taiwan raptors by voicing your concern over the recent hunting of the species and other raptors by sending a letter of concern to the Taiwan authorities.

Brown Shrike: Photo courtesy of Richard Yu

Fairy Pitta: Wu Chong-han, Yunlin Wild Bird Association

A beautiful, brilliantly coloured, sparkling little migratory songbird called the Fairy Pitta comes to the Huben area in Yunlin County every year to breed. Some of its most lush habitat is under threat of being inundated for the sake of the Hushan Dam project, which will supply water primarily to two highly polluting new industrial complexes on the west coast. While Taiwan's Humpback dolphin
(Sousa chinesis) and an endless list of other species and subspecies will also feel the effects of the resulting changes in fresh water flow, loss of habitat and the pollution that will be caused by the factories, we have neither the manpower nor, for all we know, the capacity on our server to write in detail about all of those in danger, so here is just a little about the Fairy Pitta.

Also, if you sympathise with our protest against the Hushan Dam project, you can help us by signing our petition. The movement against this project is a joint effort by numerous environmental groups and individuals across Taiwan, and although the voices calling for construction are loud and backed with more money than we could ever imagine, we are still hearing encouraging noises from many people interested in helping and we are still fighting to save the area and its inhabitants.

The Hushan Dam project is also a huge drain on the resources of Wild at Heart and our co-campaigners, so another way you can help is to make a donation.

Please write to us at comment@wildatheart.org.tw with any questions.

Fairy Pitta Information Sheet
Christina MacFarquhar
29.8.06

Distribution

The Fairy Pitta (Pitta nympha) is one of several species previously known collectively as the Indian Pitta¹. It belongs to the Pittidae family of the order Passeriformes. A migrant songbird, it is distributed in Hainan Island, Vietnam and possibly Southern China in the winter, and flies to Taiwan, South Korea, Japan and Southeastern China to breed in the summer. Sightings have also been recorded in Borneo and Australia.

The Pitta nests in many parts of Taiwan. The Huben (湖本) area in Yunlin County (雲林縣) has records of consistently large numbers, and is believed to be the most densely populated Pitta habitat in the country.

Lush vegetation of Huben ideal for nest-building (30.4.06)

Nesting and breeding in Taiwan

Adult Pitta arrive in Taiwan in early April to reclaim familiar old breeding grounds, and return with their young to their wintering grounds in Autumn. The peak breeding season is in May and June, and it is from late April until early May that the male Pitta’s call can be heard most frequently - two consecutive notes with an interval of a semi-tone or a whole tone. This serves as both a mating call and as a territorial warning signal to other males. It can be heard calling up to a mile away in the forest.

A pair of Pitta will build their nest using bamboo leaves, plant fibres, twigs and small branches, and will line it with soft mosses and plant fibres. It is compact and round, with the entrance on one side, and the colours of the materials selected provide an effective camouflage. They may choose to build it in the crevices of tree roots or rocks on the steep, dark, moist slopes of a mountain ravine, or higher up in the foliage at the top of a tree trunk, at heights ranging from one to five meters above the ground.

The entrance, however, will be placed in a spot without much vegetation, for ease of access, and to avoid attack by predators that could conceal themselves amongst leaves.

A Pitta calls but remains concealed (30.4.06)

Caution is also exhibited each time the Pitta returns to its nest throughout the breeding process. It will often perch nearby, scanning the area for danger, and then take an indirect flight path back to the nest.

After split-second copulation, the female will form and lay an egg every day. She will usually lay four or five, while six eggs are possible but very rare. She and her mate will wait until she has laid her last egg before taking turns to incubate them, a process that lasts two weeks. In this way they can be sure that all eggs will hatch at the same time, which is more efficient and less troublesome for the pair than if they were to hatch separately, as much energy must be spent searching for food as soon as the young have hatched.

Raising the young

Based on recent years' experience, as Taiwan's "environmental protection" laws and regulations have been passed and adopted like bamboo shoots after a spring rain, an observer from Mars would probably report back that the more laws brought into existence, the worse the environment gets. The slew of environmental legislation passed by elected officials has only green-washed relationships between Taiwan's government officials and businesspeople, disguising corrupt bargains and backdoor dealings that are selling away Taiwan's future.

The Hushan dam project threatens to submerge 228 hectares of beautiful forested land, and with that the homes of hundreds of plant and animal species in this biologically rich area in Yunlin County, Taiwan. Although it was originally claimed that the dam was necessary to solve Yunlin's water shortage and land subsidence problems, it is now certain that this was untrue, and that the water will actually go to two new factories that will greatly increase the already serious pollution of the surrounding water, soil and air. (Click here for more details.)

You can help us save Hushan by emailing this petition to the politicians listed within. Just copy and paste the letter onto an email or word file, delete the names of all of the recipients except the one you want to send it to (this can be repeated for all names on the list), and email it to the addresses provided. In order that we can record the number of petitions sent, please CC your letter or send a copy to comment@wildatheart.org.tw.

You-cing Valley, Hushan (Photo: EEC)

We also need help to keep funding this campaign, which is a joint effort between many groups and individuals in Taiwan. Any donations would be gratefully received and carefully allocated. Please click here to donate online (the best way to avoid large bank charges), and send us an email at comment@wildatheart.org.tw if you have any questions or wish to specify the project you would like to support.

By Christina MacFarquhar

Ci-sing Farm, Houli (10.6.06)

On Friday 30 June, voices of fury, sadness and deep disappointment resounded in the halls of the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) headquarters as news filtered out that the EIA review committee had voted ten to eight in favor of a hi tech development in Houli (后里), Taichung County. Houli residents, who had made the trip to Taipei to voice their protest, spoke quietly of their dismay, while two commissioners announced their resignation and others emerged from the conference room to complain bitterly of procedural lapses that had led to this result, declaring the death of Taiwan’s EIA system.

The proposed development is an expansion of the Central Taiwan Science Park (中部科學工業區) into Ci-sing Farm (七星農場), a rolling meadow in the south of the town, owned by Taiwan Sugar Corporation (台灣糖業公司) and rented out along the periphery to a few small-scale vegetable and honey farmers. In recent years, the town has made a successful transition from simple agricultural production to becoming an agricultural distribution center with buyers located throughout the country. However, after the approval in February of a development for semiconductor facilities at Houli Farm in the north of the town, which was followed quickly by the initial review for the second part of the Science Park development at Ci-sing, residents began to hold meetings to discuss the potential health, environmental and social effects of the industry that threatened to transform their town.

Houli farmers protest outside EPA (30.6.06)

On 10 June, Mr. You Gen-ben (游根本), a resident of Houli, strolled by the meadow, talking about the town’s dr