Entangled pink dolphin alive and well

TW-36 photographed in September 2008 with a rope around it: Photo courtesy and copyright of FormosaCetus Research & Conservation Group


In September 2008 we carried a post with photos showing Taiwan pink dolphin TW-36 with a rope, likely the leadline of a gillnet, entangled around it. The dolphin hadn't been seen since and the worst was feared. Recently, researchers from FormosaCetus Research & Conservation Group twice sighted, photographed and positively identified TW-36 off Dacheng at the mouth of the Jhoushui River. Through observation, during which the dolphin made a full body jump, researchers were able to establish that TW-36 is free of the entangling rope.


TW-36 was recently photographed off Dacheng free of the rope that entangled it in 2008: Photo courtesy and copyright of FormosaCetus Research & Conservation Group


Amidst all the doom and gloom that is the reality of Taiwan's west coast this is indeed some heartwarming news. TW-36 escaped a potentially fatal entanglement with what looked to be a rope from fishing gear. We must remember that others are not so lucky. The danger that fishing gear poses to dolphins is very real. TW-03 did not make it. She was found dead on a beach at Sinpu in Miaoli County on 25 September 2009. She appeared to have succumbed to entanglement while she was in a compromised state of health (like a person with the flu getting hit by a car due to a lack of alertness while walking on the streets).


Her name was Mrs. T to the humans that knew her. She was one of the first Taiwan pink dolphins to be catalogued by researchers. She drowned in late September 2009; a victim of entanglement in fishing gear. There are less than 70 of her kind left. [Beached Taiwan Pink Dolphin at Sinpu in Tonghsiao township, Miaoli County, Taiwan 25 September 2009:- Photo Coast Guard Administration]


When the entangled TW-36 was sighted in 2008 there was much concern for its safety. Several options were considered including intervention to capture and free the dolphin of the rope (a risky venture to say the least - any time live captures are done, there is a high chance of injury and death to the animals...and sometimes people). The Eastern Taiwan Strait Sousa Technical Advisory Working Group (ETSSTAWG), an advisory body of local and international experts recommended leaving the dolphin alone and to monitor it if possible; a decision that proved to be correct.

TW-36 was sighted and photographed just north of the Dacheng area close to Formosa Plastics at Mailao. The sighting was on Sunday 25 September just a few hours before the fire at the Formosa Plastics Plant. TW-36 and another animal looked to be doing some feeding in the area during the sighting as well as some socializing with the calf of Super Mom while Super Mom appeared to be feeding. They stayed in the area with minimal overall movement for about an hour before researchers had to return to port. From a photo of TW-36's tail flukes it can be noted that part of the right fluke is missing. Once again, this is probably the result of a run-in with fishing gear. There's no way of knowing if it was in the same entanglement incident where the dolphin got entangled in the rope. Regardless of which incident, it is a clear indication that these critically endangered dolphins need protection if they are to be pulled back from the brink of extinction. If not, they will disappear forever.

TW-36 photographed this month off Dacheng with the Formosa Plastics plant at Mailiao clearly visible in the background: Photo courtesy and copyright of FormosaCetus Research & Conservation Group

This photo of TW-36 shows a large chunk of the right tail fluke missing; a sure indication of the dangers these dolphins face in such busy waters: Photo courtesy and copyright of FormosaCetus Research & Conservation Group

Opposition pressures Government in wake of the second Formosa fire

Sunday night's fire at the Formosa Plastics Naphtha Cracker plant in Mailiao in Yunlin County. Formosa Plastics were the winners of the infamous Black Planet Award in 2009 for their horrendous environmental track record. Photo courtesy of MFCU.


In response to Sunday night's fire at the Formosa Plastics Group plant in Mailiao in Yunlin County the opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said on Wednesday that it would not likely support further expansion for the petrochemical industry if it were re-elected in 2012 because of health and environmental concerns. We welcome this apparent change of heart on the DPP's position on the expansion of the petrochemical industry. However, the DPP needs to demonstrate commitment to such a position to show that their commitment is real. Words alone are meaningless and nothing but opportune criticism of the ruling KMT regime. Yesterday, Yunlin County Commissioner Su Chih-feng, a member of the opposition DPP, joined a group of Mailiao Township residents protesting outside the Executive Yuan. The question is what is Su going to do today? Joining protests without action is nothing but politicking.

We remember well the then-DPP administration in 2005 pushing for the construction of a planned Naphtha Cracker plant in neighbouring Changhua County. We also remember that Yunlin County Commissioner Su never got behind efforts to stop the Hushan Dam project, a project largely to ensure the water needs of the planned expansion of the petrochemical industry on the west coast.

The DPP's origins go back to the environmental movement of the mid 1980s when Taiwan was under the one-party-dictatorship of the Chinese National Party (KMT). The KMT had enacted Marshal Law in the late 1940s and this period of state-sanctioned terror was only "lifted" in the late 1980s. Because of the DPPs environmental roots the DPP and its allies have been known as the Greens or Green Camp; something many who have concerns for the Taiwan environment find distasteful considering how quickly the DPP abandoned their environmental beliefs when they got into power in 2000. Let's hope that the DPP has had a genuine change of heart and have returned to their original core beliefs.

The KMT also seems to be attempting some form of damage control. A KMT Legislator has proposed amending the Act Governing the Allocation of Government Revenues and Expenditures to make polluting enterprises give 20 percent of their income tax and 30 percent of their commodity tax directly to cities and counties where their factories are located. The KMT has stopped well short of any attempt to rein in the petrochemical industry and still seems determined to ensure the planned expansion of the industry succeeds. Their draconian forced seizure of property to make way for planned industrial expansion moved up a level. This time it wasn't farmers but unwanted trees and elderly residents who were 'cleared' to make way for the Taipei International Flora Expo.

For more, see the following Taipei Times articles:
DPP turns on petrochemicals

Formosa may need two weeks to restart

Dead fish thrown at Executive Yuan


Also see:
Government quick to defend Formosa Plastics in the wake of a second fire

Formosa Plastics on fire again

Taiwan High Administrative Court orders Central Taiwan Science Park to halt all expansion pending a ruling on two lawsuits

Candidates - No fallout from Formosa fire in Sinbei elections

Academics against new Kuokuang plant

Wu the Kuokuang Petrochemical executive continues to forget he's the Nation's Premier

EPA to abide by court ruling on science park but....

Local residents block access to FPG plant

Local residents continue to block access to FPG plant

Isn’t It Time the Legal Community Spoke Up?

Yet another FPG related fire

Photos of the Nan Ya Plastics Corp fire

Government quick to defend Formosa Plastics in the wake of a second fire

The Government has been quick to defend Formosa Plastics in the wake of a second fire at their Mailiao plant within a month. The Formosa Plastics Group were the 2009 winners of the infamous Black Planet Award, an annual award to the corporation with the worst environmental track record.

The Taiwan Environmental Protection Administration is frequently criticised as merely being a rubber stamp body doing the pro-heavy-industry cabinet's bidding. Yesterday's comment by the Vice Minister of Economic Affairs Hwang Jung-chiou that "the government hopes an environmental impact assessment of Formosa Group's plan to expand facilities at a naphtha cracker plant can proceed as scheduled despite two fires at the factory within the past month" is bound to fuel allegations of the cabinet pulling the strings of the EPA. Is Formosa going to get away with just a NT$1 million (US$31,000) slap on the wrist for violating the Air Pollution Protection Act? For more see Official backs Formosa EPA study in today's Taipei Times.

Also see:
Formosa Group fined after fire at Mailiao complex

Opposition pressures Government in wake of the second Formosa fire

Candidates - No fallout from Formosa fire in Sinbei elections

Academics against new Kuokuang plant

Local residents block access to FPG plant

Local residents continue to block access to FPG plant

Government defies the courts with the President's blessing

Wu going soft on Formosa?

Farm seizures: Siangsiliao farmers fight to save their community

Farm seizures by the government to clear the land for planned industrial expansion are once again in the news. This time it's not the farmers of Dapu in Miaoli County in northwest Taiwan but the farmers of Siangsiliao village in Erlin Township in west-central Taiwan that are being driven off the land to make way for the highly controversial Central Taiwan Science Park expansion at Erlin. See Siangsiliao farmers fight to save their community in today's Taipei times.


Also see: Dapu farmland seizures

Taiwan High Administrative Court orders Central Taiwan Science Park to halt all expansion pending a ruling on two lawsuits

Academics against new Kuokuang plant

EPA to abide by court ruling on science park but....

Isn’t It Time the Legal Community Spoke Up?

Taiwan's rubber stamp EPA

Formosa Plastics on fire again

The second fire at Formosa Plastics: Photo courtesy of MFCU.

That's two fires so far this month at the Formosa Plastics 6th Naptha Cracker Plant at Mailiao, Yunlin County. The plant's hydrodesulphurization unit started burning on Sunday 25 July, and on Monday the resulting black smoke could still be seen from well north of Taichung Harbour, more than 70 km away.

Formosa Plastics on a good day

The company is planning to expand its Mailiao facilities, which are built on nearly 3000 hectares of 'reclaimed land' that used to be coastal waters, within the critically endangered pink dolphins' habitat. The massive complex is already notorious for generating water and air pollution; thick, stinking yellow smog often sits over the area; and local school children sometimes have to wear surgical masks at school to try to lessen the headaches.

Formosa Plastics has a history of explosions and toxic waste dumping on an international scale (see this Taiwan Corpwatch page for a taster and also this U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board video of a Formosa Plastics explosion at Point Comfort, Texas in 2005.

Matsu's Fish Conservation Union is working hard, through the Environmental Impact Assessment process and media campaigns, to prevent the further deterioration of the environment and quality of life along the west coast through the planned Formosa Plastics expansion and the construction of Kuo-Kuang's 4000+ hectare petrochemical development. If these plans go ahead, the north and south sides of the biologically productive Jhuoshuei River estuary will be boxed in by chemical factories.

To view the area, go to Google Earth and search for 'Mailiao Industrial Area' - you can see the papaya-shaped Mailiao factory site sitting just south of the river mouth.


Also see:
Government quick to defend Formosa Plastics in the wake of a second fire

Opposition pressures Government in wake of the second Formosa fire

Taiwan High Administrative Court orders Central Taiwan Science Park to halt all expansion pending a ruling on two lawsuits

Candidates - No fallout from Formosa fire in Sinbei elections

Academics against new Kuokuang plant

Local residents block access to FPG plant

Local residents continue to block access to FPG plant

Government defies the courts with the President's blessing

Isn’t It Time the Legal Community Spoke Up?

Science park development at Houli gets the nod

Yet another FPG related fire

Wu going soft on Formosa?

Taiwan's rubber stamp EPA

Photos of the Nan Ya Plastics Corp fire

Shen's latest EPA green gimmick

Dapu farmland seizures

The Dapu farmland seizures that have featured prominently in the news for the past fortnight once again highlight the government's apparent crusade to ensure their corporate pals get whatever they desire and to hell with anyone or thing that stands in the way.

The seizure of farmland and private land is nothing new in Taiwan. It was done for the Hushan Dam project and they're doing it for the Central Science Park. Often, even if they don't actually seize the land, farms in close proximity to industrial developments fall victim to pollution contaminating fields and turning once productive agricultural land into toxic weed beds.

The seizure of farmland destroys rural communities. Their way of life perishes. Apart from the destruction of rural communities and the social problems this brings as members of agricultural communities are forced to find a new way of life in an urban environment where their skills are not valued or seen as useful; we should also be questioning the wisdom of reducing the nation's agricultural output in a period when food security should be a major concern of the government. With the impact that global warming will have on international food production and with China squeezing Taiwan out of the international arena at every opportunity, should we really be seizing farmland to build industrial complexes that will increase Taiwan's carbon footprint and offer only unsustainable short-term economic benefit usually to only a select few?

What follows is a list of several articles that have appeared in the media concerning the issue of the seizure of farmland for so-called industrial development.

Now is the right time for major land reform

EDITORIAL : Taiwan lacks food security strategy

Land seizure comes under fire

Wu offers Dapu farmers new farmland

Rice fields outside the Presidential Office

Government must stop seizing our farmland

Farmers fail to meet president


Also see:
Farm seizures: Siangsiliao farmers fight to save their community

Opposition pressures Government in wake of the second Formosa fire

Update: Taiwan High Administrative Court orders Central Taiwan Science Park to halt all expansion pending a ruling on two lawsuits

Academics against new Kuokuang plant

EPA to abide by court ruling on science park but....

EPA and NSC appeal High Administrative Court order

Is the State turning the police into thugs?

Isn’t It Time the Legal Community Spoke Up?

Hushan Dam to be completed in 2014

Security check point at the entrance to the Hushan Reservoir project site. Deforested hills are visible in the back ground.


Today's Taipei Times tells us that Hushan Reservoir will be completed in 2014. According to the brief article that appears in today's Taipei Times "the construction of the Hushan Reservoir in Yunlin County is scheduled to be completed in 2014 after environmental issues have been resolved." The article goes on to state that, "The reservoir, designed for joint operation with the Jiji Diversion Weir on Jhuoshuei River, will be able to supply 694,000 tonnes of water per day for public, industrial and household use in the Yunlin region,... The project will improve the quantity and quality of domestic water supply in the region,... At present, residents of the area rely heavily on groundwater, it said, adding that the Hushan reservoir project would help prevent land subsidence resulting from groundwater extraction."

At face value it sounds as if the Hushan Reservoir project is the solution to Yunlin County's water problems. However, a very different picture emerges when you take a closer look.

A major cause of the need for residents of the area to have to rely so heavily on the pumping groundwater that ultimately leads to land subsidence problems is because of the over exploitation of the county's water resources by heavy industry. Supposedly, the Hushan Reservoir will correct this. However, when questions are asked as to how much of the project's water is to be allocated to domestic usage and how much is being allocated to industrial usage it soon becomes apparent that Hushan isn't quite what the authorities want you to believe. Figures exceeding even 80% for industrial usage become apparent. And this water isn't to alleviate the current problem but rather to meet the water needs of planned expansion of heavy pollution- generating industry. Industry that will drastically increase Taiwan's carbon emissions at a time when we should be reducing them. The highly controversial Kuokuang Petrochemical Park development alone will result in at least a 7% increase in Taiwan's carbon emissions not to mention the pollution problems it will cause and the destruction of critically important habitat for the critically endangered Taiwan pink dolphins.

In October 2007, despite previous assurances by the Yunlin County based Formosa Plastics Group that they would keep their water usage to a level not exceeding 257,000 tonnes/day, the applied to increase it to 351,000 tonnes/day. When Formosa Plastics committed to 257,000 tonnes/day this commitment was backed by a pledge from the chairman of Formosa Plastics who said they would shut down operations to the extent necessary to meet their commitment to keep water use down. (see More water for Formosa means less for Taiwan) In 2009 the Formosa Plastics Group was awarded the infamous Black Planet Award for its horrendous global environmental track record.

The construction of Hushan Dam has destroyed much of the most important breeding area for the globally threatened Fairy Pitta. The Fairy Pitta wasn't even mentioned in the original environmental impact assessment. The green light for the project was given under extremely dubious legality in 2007 when the Environmental Protection Administration minister told developers that the decision by the EPA's own environmental impact assessment commission was non-binding. The EIA commission had found that work on the project was illegal and should immediately be halted. The legality of the Hushan Reservoir Project still remains before the courts.

The article concludes saying that the Water Resources agency said it had assembled a team of conservationists that, together with Council of Agriculture officials, would conduct studies on forest and river ecology systems in the areas near the reservoir..." and that the agency "would focus on plant and animal conservation, the creation of new habitats and raising environmental awareness."

Again this sounds good but how are we to trust an agency that omitted to even mention the globally threatened Fairy Pitta in its original assessment? The Hushan project has been anything but transparent. What assurances are there of independent study? Many so called "independent" environmental groups in Taiwan are largely headed by academics and others employed by state-owned institutions and organisations. Such people are unlikely to challenge the the state because of fear of jeopardizing their careers within state-run organisations. Many so called NGOs are dependant on state funds or handouts from the very corporations they should be "confronting." (see The 2007 International Symposium for the Fairy Pitta)

Just how will the Hushan Dam Project be perceived by future generations that inherit the problems resulting from run-away heavy industrial development on Taiwan's west coast. Will it stand as a shining example of development? Or will it stand as an everlasting example of the failure of the Taiwan Environmental Protection Administration to fulfil its mandate which resulted in horrendous environmental destruction and horrific pollution problems? Will Hushan's epitaph be glorious or will it be the extinction of the Taiwan pink dolphins and other species like the Fairy Pitta? Will it be even higher cancer rates in an area that is already seven times the national average? Will the long term health costs and toxic landscape justify the short term financial gains for a few elite business executes? With all the mess we're leaving for our youth and just the next generation, I think the authors of Hushan, Kuokuang and all those other greedy projects will be remembered right up there in a category amongst slave traders and all the other scum of humanity's greedy past.

Also see:
EPA to abide by court ruling on science park but....

Corruption in high places: High Court judges and prosecutor held on graft charges

Three High Court judges and a prosecutor held on graft charges ! Former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator and Miaoli County commissioner Ho Chi-hui on the run. This scandal has dominated the news for the past week. (see Three judges, prosecutor held on graft charges; Ma accepts Lai In-jaw's resignation)

This most recent scandal followed close on the heels of the assassination of gang boss Weng Chi-nan while some of Taichung's top cops were chilling out in the gangster's office during the shooting and failed to do anything. In the words of Taichung City Police Department Commissioner Hu Mu-yuan "The officers were allegedly connected to gang members and ignored the crime that took place in their presence." As the story continued to break it became clear that Taichung's cops were a regular feature at Weng's office. (see Police sanctioned after man dies in shower of bullets)

One also can't help but remember the dubious legal proceedings in former Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian's corruption case and how current Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou came out of his mess spotlessly clean when he was charged with corruption in 2007 shortly before he successfully ran as the KMT candidate for the presidency in the 2008 elections. You see it was all his accountant's doing. He put the money into Ma's bank account. (See Unveiling the real Ma Ying-jeou; A Visit with Former President Chen Shui-bian Raises Questions on Taiwan's Double Standard of Justice; Taiwan: As the World Turns Greased With Corruption)

Corruption in high places is nothing new in Taiwan. It has a shamefully long history. One can't help but be suspicious of the judiciary. One can't help but wonder if there are such things as a fair trial, justice, due process and transparency in Taiwan? Dubious decisions in the cases of the Songshan Tobacco Factory, Hushan Dam and the Kuokuang Petrochemical Park Development remain just that; dubious! One can't help but wonder if Mother Earth, the Taiwan pink dolphins and Hushan's Fairy Pittas could get a fair hearing in Taiwan, can you?

(See Disregard for the legal process:- The last of the great Songshan camphor trees; A First for Taiwan: Supreme Administrative Court Upholds Decision to Void Central Science Park EIA – Farmers, Lawyers & Social Groups Petition )

More of Wu's verbiage

On Wednesday Taiwan Premier Wu Den-yih subjected all who would listen to further verbiage on the wondrous Kuokuang Petrochemical Park Development and what the future holds for the Taiwan pink dolphins. It was clear that Wu was trying to do a little damage control after his previous idiotic remarks on the dolphins and the negative press they created. According to the Taipei Times, Wu said "it is an interesting issue and deserves careful study" and "the matter deserved more discussion."

The Taipei Times further said that Wu went on to explain that his previous remarks that dolphins should be able to “make a turn” to avoid a planned harbor for the shipment of petrochemical products were derived from Chou Lien-siang, a professor at the Institute of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at National Taiwan University, and Chen Bao-lang, chairman of Kuokuang Petrochemical Technology Company Ltd (KTPC), the company behind the plant proposal. Wu went on to tell reporters that "they are both dolphin experts. You can go ahead and ask them."

Just what business executive Chen Bao-lang's dolphin expertise are seem unclear. Wu's second expert is Prof. Chou Lien-siang of the Institute of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at National Taiwan University. Chou unfortunately is doing her research for Chen's Kuokuang Petrochemical Technology Company but despite this, her research, which has not been subject to peer review and published in a respectable journal, seems to be what Wu and the Taiwan Government is basing all their decisions on. One can't help but notice that Chou's non peer reviewed research seems to contradict the research of other experts whose research has been peer reviewed and published in respectable international journals.

The Eastern Taiwan Strait Sousa Technical Advisory Working Group (ETSSTAWG), a team of internationally respected cetacean scientists established to offer advice on the critically endangered Taiwan pink dolphins is there for Wu to consult. I guess Wu doesn't want to listen to what these credible experts have to say because I doubt they would paint quite the same rosy picture as that of what Wu, Chou and Chen are painting for the future of the Taiwan pink dolphins.


See yesterday's Taipei Times article Premier backtracks amid criticism of dolphin claims.

Also see:
KK Petrochemical Plant: Why Should the White Dolphins “Just Go Around It”?

Press Release: Pink Dolphins vs Kuokuang Petrochemical – Who is in Whose Way?

Taipei Times editorial says the dolphins might be smarter than Premier Wu

Buy a patch of land, help save a dolphin! - Taiwan NGOs to present 'wet' land trust application to the government this Wednesday (7 July)

EPA to abide by court ruling on science park but....

Taiwan's rubber stamp EPA

KK Petrochemical Plant: Why Should the White Dolphins “Just Go Around It”?

What follows is a translation of a letter written by Allen Chen, a specialist with the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s Task Force on Marine Life Extinction, to the China Times newspaper that highlights the lack of peer reviewed science in the environmental impact assessment process regarding the Kuokuang Petrochemical Park Development.

China Times
KK Petrochemical Plant: Why Should the White Dolphins “Just Go Around It”?
12 July 2010

By Allen Chen*

* this translation by Wild at Heart Legal Defense Association has not bee reviewed or approved by the author.

"If we want to solve the enigma of Premier Wu’s statement that “the white dolphins know how to go around[the Kuokuang Petrochemical Park Development]” we need to first take a look at the environmental impact assessment report submitted for the project to be built in the Tacheng wetlands of southern Changhua County. We will then also gain a better understanding of what worries lie behind the statement that “the white dolphins can just go around it”.

Owing to the fact that the population of white dolphins in the eastern Taiwan Strait have been classified as critically endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and are given the highest protection under Taiwan’s Wildlife Protection Act, the Kuokuang Petrochemical hired National Taiwan University Professor CHOU Lian-siang, the woman known as “Taiwan’s Cetacean Expert” and “Auntie Cetacean”, to undertake the surveys for KK’s environmental impact assessment. Professor Chou’s reports point out that the distribution of the white dolphins of the eastern Taiwan Strait have two “hot spots”: one from Miaoli to Changhua, and the other at the Waisan Sanbar off the coast of Yunlin County.

Chou’s report asserts that along the shores of southern Changhua County – from Changhua to Yunlin – the dolphins only engage in “cruising”, “feeding”, “strolling”, “socializing” and for the most part only “strolling”, so that at most, the area can be said to be “an important area for passing through”. These conclusions conveniently enable KK to come up with their “passing through/no obstruction/added training” logic that the white dolphins can just “go around”. They also go on to suggest “mitigation” by having the government place fish and audio attractors in order to train the dolphins to go through the industrial park. Thus, the origin of the Premiers’ WU Dun-yi’s let them “just go around it” theory.

These sorts' conclusions are not only stunning for their crudeness; they are also cause for grave concern.

First and foremost is the concern with this “developer /academic expert authority”. Scientific evidence requires multi-party review and defence, particularly in matters involving national development and the interests of the people. Solid and persuasive scientific evidence must be subject to rigorous review, specifically so called “peer review” and ideally this evidence would take the form of a paper published in an international scholarly journal. However the survey reports commissioned by KK have been reviewed only by commissioners in connection with the environmental impact assessment process that the project is currently undergoing. There has been no review with any of the thoroughness of peer review that would meet a submission for publication in an international journal.

The developer is very happy to have the kind of endorsement from academia that it has received so far in this case, this “developer/academic expert authority” demonstrated in this case, if of the kind that has occurred in Taiwan for decades and is largely responsible for a slew of highly polluting development projects of questionable long term value.

Secondly, the role of scholars has become horribly muddled. The person known as Taiwan’s only expert on cetaceans is on the one hand taking on government-sponsored projects to survey the distribution, ecology and behavior of the eastern Taiwan Strait white dolphins, while at the same time she is also accepting similar assignments from the proponents of the KK petrochemical project. So in the course of evaluation and assessment of the conservation of dolphins and protection of wetlands on the one hand, versus the impacts of development on the other, we now have the same person taking on the role of the judge and the adjudged.

It is precisely this kind of failure of academics to act independently of vested interests that is exacerbating damage to dolphin and wetlands conservation.

Third, we are ignoring work by internationally known scholars and instead relying on EIA surveys that are based on or developed from sloppy and inaccurate studies. In the year 2007, a leading international journal, Mammalia, published an article describing the important habitat of the eastern Taiwan Strait white dolphin as running from Houlong in Miaoli County right through to the Waisan Sandbar in Yunlin County. This is surely sufficient evidence that the area – including the Dacheng coast of southern Changhua County must all be included as protected waters for the animals. However, there has been no citation of this by either the government or the developer.

Rather, they use the non-peer reviewed surveys and reports of the EIA to come up with superfluous “hot spots” and then go on to give erroneous explanations of the significance of those hotspots. If done in accordance with the IUCN marine reserve guidelines on the designation of “hot spots”, it should be done so based on the distribution of the animals and preserve natural corridors for their unobstructed access.

The IUCN guidelines most definitely do not contemplate the building of an eight hundred meter wide “man-made corridor” and then training the dolphins to “just go around”. The failure of the Hong Kong Airport project to achieve a win/win solution for the dolphins is a painful example right before our eyes.

Fourth and finally, the incompetence and structural inability of government officials is the biggest cause for concern behind the premier’s ridiculous theory of how the dolphins will cope with the construction of the KK petrochemical park. The agency in charge white dolphin conservation, the Council of Agriculture, simply needs to “act in accordance with the law.” In accordance with the Wildlife Protection Act the COA has the legal authority to designate the area from Houlong in Miaoli County to the Waisan Sandbar in Yunlin as important habitat for the white dolphin. This is no different than the declaration of the habitat of Taiwan’s national treasure -the Taiwan salmon- the Cijiawan River as an important habitat. All the farming and fruit orchard activities in the area of the Cijiawan River and its tributaries are forbidden.

However, in the face of a challenge from a major development project such as the KK petrochemical park and port, the Council of Agriculture lacks the competence as well as the institutional ability to follow its own mandate.

If we know full well that “only by taking care of the oceans can we take care of the white dolphin and only by taking care of the white dolphin can we take care of humanity”, can we afford to slack off on the conservation of the white dolphin?"

The author is Associate Research Fellow at the Biodiversity Research Center of Academia Sinica and a Specialist with the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s Task Force on Marine Life Extinction

白海豚為什麼該轉彎
• 2010-07-12
• 中國時報
• 【陳昭倫】
　要解開吳院長為什麼說出「白海豚會轉彎」這個謎團，需 先回顧國光石化在彰南大城濕地開發案的環境影響評估報告，也因而更能理解「白海豚轉彎」背後的隱憂。
　由於東台灣海峽白海豚族群是國際保育聯盟（ＩＵＣＮ）白 海豚列極度瀕危族群，是台灣野生動物保護法列管的一級保育類動物。國光石化因此委託「台灣鯨豚專家」和「鯨豚媽媽」等稱號的台大周教 授環評調查。周教授報告指出，東台灣海峽白海豚分布於兩個「熱點」，苗栗到彰化和雲林外傘頂洲。而彰化到雲林間的彰南海域 剛好只是白海豚「繞圈」、「覓食」、「遊走」、「社交」區域，只是「遊走」行為居多，所以彰南一帶至多只是個「重要的通過區域」。這 樣結果恰好給了國光石化延伸出一套「通道/不妨礙/加以訓練」，白海豚可以轉彎繞路的邏輯，建議政府可以透過食魚誘餌或聲音引導，訓練誘導白 海豚通過工業區。這也就誤導行政院長說出白海豚會轉彎的由來。
　然而如此粗糙的結論，不僅令人非常錯愕，更讓人擔心。
　第一，「開發廠商/學術權威」共生結構。科學證據需多方審查與辯證，尤其牽涉到國家發展與人民利益問題時，強而有力的科學證據必虛經嚴格的審查，特別是所謂同儕的審查，最好是由國際的相關學術期刊進行審議。然國光石化所委託的調查報告，除了 環評會議的委員之外，跟本無法透過類似國外研究期刊或是同儕審查方式進行。開發廠商更樂於有學術權威的背書，這樣「開發廠商/學術權威」所形成共生結構的例子，在台灣過去幾十年來通過許多高汙染的大型開發案屢見不鮮。
　第二，學者的角色極度混淆。當號稱台灣唯一的鯨豚專 家同時接受政府公部門委託計畫調查東台灣海峽白海豚的分布生態、行為等研究，確也同時接受國光石化開發廠商的委託案。對於白海豚保 育、濕地生態保護和開發之間的評斷與角色扮演，既是判官又是被判者。無法獨立於利益之外的角色扮演，更加重對於白海豚保育 與濕地保全的傷害。
　第三，忽略國際和依賴粗糙與錯誤衍生的環評調查。二○○七年發表於國際學術期刊「哺乳動物學」（Mammalia）的研究早已指出從苗栗後龍一路到雲林外傘頂洲是東台灣海峽白海豚族群的重要棲息海域，這 就足夠證明包括彰南大城海域皆是必須列為保護範圍的海域，然而，這些皆不被政府和開發廠商引用。反而是依照未同儕審查和為發表的環評 報告，劃蛇添足的去找出分布「熱點」，更錯誤的詮釋與衍生熱點的意義。如果是根據ＩＵＣＮ海洋保護區劃設的「熱點」原則，應 該是依據物種分布特性，維持天然廊道的暢通，而不是蓋個八百公尺寬水道作為「人工廊道」去訓練白海豚轉彎。香港機場的例子，就是一個 非常失敗的前車之鑑。
　第四，公部門的無能與無奈才是白海豚會轉彎這個謬論最大的隱 憂。主管白海豚保育業務的農委會只要「依法行政」，據野動法的要求將苗栗後龍一路到雲林外傘頂洲公告為東台灣海峽白海豚族 群重要棲息地，就如同將七家灣溪列為國寶魚台灣鮭魚重要棲息地方法一樣。任何在七家灣溪和附近台灣鮭魚可棲息的溪流範圍，所 有高冷蔬菜與水果皆要禁止。但白海豚分布的海域確面臨重大開發案的挑戰，在配合政府施政要求下，農委會顯得無能更是無奈。
　要知道，「只有健康的海洋，才有健康的白海豚；只有 健康的白海豚，才有健康的人類」。保護白海豚豈能鬆懈？（作者為中央研究院生物多樣性研究中心副研究員，ＩＵＣＮ瀕危海洋物種工作小 組專家群）

Also see:
Press Release: Pink Dolphins vs Kuokuang Petrochemical – Who is in Whose Way?

Taipei Times editorial says the dolphins might be smarter than Premier Wu

Buy a patch of land, help save a dolphin! - Taiwan NGOs to present 'wet' land trust application to the government this Wednesday (7 July)

EPA to abide by court ruling on science park but....

Plans to buy another 800 hectares of wetlands to save pink dolphin habitat and to protect threatened birds and marine life

Press Release: Pink Dolphins vs Kuokuang Petrochemical – Who is in Whose Way?

Press Release:
Pink Dolphins vs Kuokuang Petrochemical – Who is in Whose Way?
Time and Place: 2010/07/13 (Tuesday) 13:30
Environmental Protection Administration - Jhongjheng Rd Sec 1 #83, Taipei 行政院環 境保護署 (中正 區中華路一段83號)
Contacts: GAN Chen-yi 0982-225613 (Matsu’s Fish Conservation Union Secretary General)
SHIH Yue-ying 0911-761839 (Changhua Environmental Protection Union Secretary General)
Participating Organizations: Matsu’s Fish Conservation Union, Changhua Environmental Protection Union, Green Party Taiwan, Taiwan Environmental Protection Union, Wild at Heart Legal Defense Association, Taiwan Environmental Information, Society of the Wilderness, Office of Legislator TIEN Chiu-chin, participating scholars (other groups being invited)

Special Surprise Performance

At 2 pm the Environmental Protection Administration will hold an experts meeting on the Taiwan pink dolphins. Premier Wu Dun-yi doesn’t want the dolphins to get in the way of the Kuokuang Petrochemical project slated for the Dacheng wetland* area in southern Changhua County, a stones throw from the infamous Formosa Plastics Group’s Mailiao Offshore Industrial Park just to the south of the Jhuoshui River. Regarding the building of a 4000 hectare industrial park smack in the middle of the IUCN critically endangered population of the Eastern Taiwan Strait Indo-pacific humpback dolphins, Premier Wu says to the dolphins: “just go around it”. In the meantime environmental groups and those asking for a more long term approach to Taiwan’s economy say to the Kuokuang project: “just get lost!”

Can the dolphins “just go around it”? Premier Wu’s choice of words is often stunning, but for demonstrating ignorance and arrogance, as well as disrespect for the law, the environmental impact assessment system and the many scholars who are participating in the meetings.

The ETS population of the Indo-pacific humpback dolphin is already facing extinction according to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s August 2008 listing of the animals as CR or critically endangered. Who would have thought the highly educated Premier Wu would land such a blow against the dolphins, a blow that could well result in their extinction during his term in office!

The location of the Kuokuang Petrochemical Park is a mistake. Whether at the EPA meetings or in the Ministry of Interior’s Construction and Planning Administration hearings, the experts all agree the geological changes brought from the project to the ocean shore and floor will be a disaster, not to mention the impact on the Jhuoshui River Estuary. Moving the project north is also not an option according to the scholars. Kuokuang will suffer as will all the people in the wake of this poorly conceived development project.

Premier Wu Dun-yi apparently doesn’t know where the project is located or he would move the project instead of telling the dolphins to move. Kuokuang is going to cause Taiwan’s greenhouse gas emissions to sky rocket and put the nail in the coffin of the endangered population of ETS pink dolphins.

Makes one wonder what Ma Ying-jeou has been talking about when he mentions, carbon reduction, wetland protection and “saving the country through protecting the environment”?


Note:
*The Dacheng Wetland (also spelled Tacheng Wetland) in Changhua County at the mouth of the Jhoushui River in Central-West Taiwan is listed as an internationally Important Bird Area (IBA) by the IUCN/BirdLife International. The IBA registration of this internationally important wetland is TW016. The wetlands are critical winter habitat for the globally threatened Saunders's Gull Larus saundersi. Click to see the BirdLife International listing for the Dacheng Wetlands.

Also see:
Taipei Times editorial says the dolphins might be smarter than Premier Wu

Buy a patch of land, help save a dolphin! - Taiwan NGOs to present 'wet' land trust application to the government this Wednesday (7 July)

KK Petrochemical Plant: Why Should the White Dolphins “Just Go Around It”?

Plans to buy another 800 hectares of wetlands to save pink dolphin habitat and to protect threatened birds and marine life

Taipei Times editorial says the dolphins might be smarter than Premier Wu

Last Friday's Taipei Times editorial was titled "Dolphins might be smarter than Wu." Last Wednesday, Taiwan Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) when commenting on a planned harbor for the shipment of petrochemical products, stated that the dolphins should be able to just “make a turn” to avoid the hazardous and likely toxic waters of the planned harbor. The Taipei Times editorial's response to Wu's comment echos many of us when it says "such remarks simply show the stereotypical mindset and underlying assumption that we human beings are much more important than nature and don’t need to care about how serious the petrochemical project’s impact is on this area." Read the article below for more on Wu's comments and the planned trust fund for a public land project that hopes to secure some of the dolphins prime habitat for the dolphins and not the chemical industry.



http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/editorials/archives/2010/07/09/2003477451

TAIPEI TIMES EDITORIAL : Dolphins might be smarter than Wu
Friday, Jul 09, 2010, Page 8

"On Wednesday, several groups of environmental activists and oyster farmers from Changhua County jointly applied to the government to set up a trust fund to purchase coastal wetlands near the estuary of the Jhuoshuei River.

The trust fund for public land — the first of its kind in this country if it is approved — is aimed at protecting the endangered Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins and preserving the area’s unique ecosystem, which hosts a diversity of wildlife off Taiwan’s west coast.

According to the organizers, more than 31,000 people had signed up for the land-purchase drive as of Tuesday, subscribing 1.5 million shares of the fund worth NT$160 million (US$4.9 million) in total, which they said could buy up to 150 hectares of the most sensitive 200 hectares where Kuokuang Petrochemical Technology Corp plans to construct a new naphtha cracker.

The first challenge facing the activists, of course, is whether the trust fund will be approved by the authorities, as currently there’s no particular law that could be applied to this fund and no one knows exactly which specific government agency would be in charge of overseeing it.

Without first clearing the legal uncertainties regarding the trust fund, activists may be left only to watch Kuokuang Petrochemical Technology Corp proceed with the second stage of its environmental impact assessment of the planned naphtha cracker project.

However, what has caused more concern was a remark by Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) on Wednesday that dolphins should be able to “make a turn” to avoid a planned harbor for the shipment of petrochemical products in the area. According to local media reports, Wu said if the humpback dolphins could “make a turn” when moving toward Taichung Harbor, why couldn’t they do the same when swimming along the coastal area of Changhua County?

Mr Premier, no one would question the dolphins’ ability to learn to adapt to the environment, because they are probably one of the most intelligent aquatic mammals on Earth. Their ability to change course may indicate they are smarter than humans.

However, such remarks simply show the stereotypical mindset and underlying assumption that we human beings are much more important than nature and don’t need to care about how serious the petrochemical project’s impact is on this area.

Clearly, Wu favors the construction of the project. During his interview with two Chinese-language business dailies published on Wednesday, the premier said the Kuokuang project was a must for the nation’s economy. And later the same day, he told reporters that he was also worried that there would be a monopoly in the nation’s petrochemical sector under Formosa Petrochemical Corp without the planned project by Kuokuang, a subsidiary of state-run CPC Corp, Taiwan.

However, he has apparently turned a blind eye to increasing opposition to the project from 280 local academics over concern about its potential negative impact in terms of biodiversity loss, public health risk and increased greenhouse gas emissions, as well as dangers to water resources and the farming sector in the area.

With the whole world cutting greenhouse gas emissions to limit global warming, Taiwan’s plan to build the Kuokuang petrochemical complex, coupled with the proposed expansion of Formosa’s sixth naphtha cracker in Yunlin County, looks bizarre and lamentable, only to be topped by the premier making such an absurd remark about dolphins. Of more concern is the nation’s international image over the increasingly important matter of environmental protection."

Also see:
Press Release: Pink Dolphins vs Kuokuang Petrochemical – Who is in Whose Way?

Buy a patch of land, help save a dolphin! - Taiwan NGOs to present 'wet' land trust application to the government this Wednesday (7 July)

KK Petrochemical Plant: Why Should the White Dolphins “Just Go Around It”?

Buy a patch of land, help save a dolphin! - Taiwan NGOs to present 'wet' land trust application to the government this Wednesday (7 July)

For the last three months, MFCU and other NGOs have been asking members of the public to pledge money to collectively buy 200 hectares of land along the Changhua County coast, where Kuo Kuang Petrochemical Technology Corp. hopes to 'reclaim' over 4000 hectares of important wetlands on which to build oil refineries. (See Taipei Times article and film overview containing images of the proposed reclamation.)

More than 26 000 people have now pledged money for more than 1.3 million shares, which were priced at only NT$119 (~UD$4) each (119 is the phone number for emergency services in Taiwan).

On 6 and 7 July (Tuesday and Wednesday this week) we* will hold two public events as we collect final pledges and deliver our land trust application to the Ministry of the Interior.

Event details and how you can take part:

FIRST EVENT: 6 JULY 2010
On 6 July (Tues) we will parade past the Presidential Palace holding written messages from those who have pledged money, to ask President Ma to make good on his 2008 election promise to promote the use of environmental trusts to protect the environment. We will also hold a press conference.

We would like to invite all those who have already pledged money to join us in displaying these messages, which will also carry the names and numbers of shares of those who have pledged money – no other personal details will be printed on the forms!

When: Gather at 9.15 am on 6 July 2010 (Tuesday)
Where: Taipei Guest House, No 1 Ketagalan Boulevard, Jhongjheng District, Taipei (at the Ketagalan Boulevard/Gongyuan Rd intersection).
Who is invited: All those who have pledged to buy shares, and anyone else who would like to come along and make a pledge on the day or online now. Non-Taiwanese nationals in Taiwan and abroad can also make pledges, so please invite your non-Taiwanese friends to help save these wetlands!
What’s the plan:
1. 9.15 am: arrive at the meeting place promptly
2. 9.30 am: action starts, all hold up the pledge name list, then walk together along Ketagalan Boulevard to the Presidential Palace

Tips:
-Feel free to be creative and design your own slogans, paste/paint them to your body, or dress up like a pink dolphin or another coastal/wetland species!
-Remember to bring drinking water and wet weather clothes if you think you might need them
-Traffic at the site can be busy, please take care!

SECOND EVENT: 7 JULY 2010
On 7 July (Wed) we will present our application for the Jhuoshuei Wetlands Public Land Trust to the Ministry of the Interior and hold a second press conference. This will be the first time in Taiwan's history that the public will have collectively applied to buy land from the government in order to protect it. In this historic moment, we need as many people as possible who have pledged to buy shares to come and bear witness, and join us as we present the application to the government.

When: Gather at 10 am on 7 July 2010 (Wednesday)
Where: Ministry of the Interior, Central United Office, No. 5 Xuzhou Rd, Taipei City
Who’s invited: Everyone who has pledged to buy shares, and their families.
What’s the plan:
1. Gather at the meeting place at 10 am
2. Write down your hopes, wishes, blessings or other thoughts for the waterbirds, dolphins, oyster farmers and all others who depend on the Jhuoshuei Wetlands for survival.
3. Take part in a simple ceremony to wish well to all of the above (2)
4. 11.09 am (sticking with the 119 theme!) Together bear witness as an official from the Ministry of the Interior comes out to receive Taiwan’s first ever environmental trust application.

Tips:
-Remember to take drinking water and wet weather clothes
-If you have kids, bring them along!

If you can come to one or both of these events, please write to us with your full name, number of people in your group and tell us which event(s) you can attend, so that we can estimate numbers.

Contact:
Miss Wu of the Taiwan Environmental Information Center (the NGO that is managing the trust application)
Email: landcrab0105@gmail.com
Phone: 02-23021122

*NGOs participating in the land trust campaign:
Changhua County Environmental Protection Union, Taiwan Environmental Protection Union, Taiwan Environmental Information Center, Society of Wilderness, Matsu's Fish Conservation Union, Wild at Heart Legal Defense Association, Changhua Coast Conservation Action.

Also see:

Taipei Times editorial says the dolphins might be smarter than Premier Wu

Press Release: Pink Dolphins vs Kuokuang Petrochemical – Who is in Whose Way?

KK Petrochemical Plant: Why Should the White Dolphins “Just Go Around It”?

Update:
Plans to buy another 800 hectares of wetlands to save pink dolphin habitat and to protect threatened birds and marine life