Taiwan Foreign Correspondents' Club to visit the Dacheng Wetlands

The Taiwan Foreign Correspondents' Club is co-organising a trip to the Dacheng Wetlands in Chunghua County, with Changhua Environmental Protection Alliances, TEDxTaipei and Wild at Heart Legal Defense Association on Thursday February 24.

The trip is an opportunity to learn about the issues surrounding the controversial KuoKuang Petrochemical Project, a NT$40bn-plus petrochemical plant investment.

The Kuokuang plant is a government-led project to build a state-of-the-art petrochemical plant in Taiwan, and has been billed as part of the government\'s plans to boost Taiwan\'s petrochemical industry and create jobs. It has however been met with opposition from environmental groups because the site for the plant is in the Dacheng wetlands, an ecologically-important home for wildlife including the critically endangered Taiwan pink dolphins. It is also near areas that are the main rice-producing regions for Taiwan.

The trip will include a guided tour of the wetlands, visits to local oyster farmers who will be affected by the construction, and a talk/Q&A session with environmentalists and marine experts.

The TFCC is sponsoring T$500 per person for this trip. Wild at Heart Legal Defense Association and Coastal Conservation Action will also sponsor part of the cost for this trip. For fairness and balance, the TFCC will invite someone from Kuokuang as an executive tea guest later on to give us their side of the story.

Schedule:

8am departure, Taipei, High Speed Rail station.

9:40 arrive, Changhua Dalin/Dacheng Wetlands

9:40~11:30 Guided tour

11:30 ~ 12:30 visit local oyster farms

12:30 ~ 13:30 lunch

13:30~15:00 talks and Q/A

15:00~15:30 musical performance

15:30 Departure to Taipei


Talk/Q&A Speakers:

1. John Tsai, Director, Changhua Coastal Conservation Action

2. Robin Winkler, Chair, Global Green Congress, Taiwan

3. Allen Chen, Associate Research Fellow, Biodiversity Research
Center, Academia Sinica

4. Shiu-ru, Sun, Director, Changhua Wetlands Trust Project,
Environmental Information Center

5. Wu Sheng, poet and writer


Contact emails:
info@taiwanfcc.org
comment@wildatheart.org.tw