Save the Taiwan Pink Dolphins

Top environment news revealed

2012-01-03T15:33:00.002+08:00

A poll on the Taiwan Environmental Information Association (TEIA) Web site showed that the top three domestic environmental issues for 2011 were the plasticizer contaminated food scandal, the resurgence of the anti-nuclear movement and the halt of a naphtha cracker complex construction project by Kuokuang Petrochemical Technology in Changhua County. With a legacy of advancing industry at the expense of the environment it was not surprising that almost half of the issues voted on were to do with farmland and the impact of industry on the environment.

The Kuokuang Petrochemical project threatened to destroy the internationally important Dacheng wetlands in Changhua county and the project posed a major threat to the critically endangered Taiwan pink dolphins. The MFCU was a major player in causing the project development in Dacheng to be halted.

See the article in yesterday's Taipei Times titled "Top environment news revealed".

Misguided Talk of “Hotspots” Threatens Taiwan’s Humpback Dolphins

2012-01-03T14:47:00.004+08:00

The following is a translation of a letter by Allen C. Chen that appeared in the China Times on 29 December 2011.

China Times
29 December 2011

By Allen C. Chen

Taiwan’s Environmental Protection Administration yesterday held a meeting to review research on the environmental impact of expanding the Formosa Plastics Group’s Sixth Naphtha Cracker complex located on Taiwan’s central-west coast. The meeting addressed the findings of a study conducted by a team of researchers from National Taiwan University and National Sun Yat-Sen University commissioned by Formosa Plastics. The researchers found that wastewater discharged by the plant is likely to adversely affect the endangered Taiwan humpback dolphins* and cause their population to dwindle. This finding surprises no one.

The humpback dolphins are not the only victims of pollution by the Sixth Naphtha Cracker plant. Residents of the neighboring area suffer increased mortality from air pollution emitted by the plant. The local humpback dolphin population, already struggling to find enough food in the area’s over-fished waters, must breathe the same polluted air, and swim in seawater that is acidified by effluent from the plant. This harsh treatment of the critically endangered humpback dolphins calls to mind the recent eviction of homeless people from a Taipei park in wintry weather by city workers armed with water hoses. Do we really need more costly studies when the plight of these dolphins is already plain to see? Furthermore, in taking a close look at the team’s research, this author has found it contains an alarming and misguided proposition that may prove to be the final twist of the knife for the Taiwan humpback dolphins. The problem is a serious misuse of the concept of “hotspot,” creating a skewed picture of the humpback dolphin ecology.

The term “hotspot” is rigorously defined in the field of biology. Wikipedia, for example, defines “biodiversity hotspot” as a “biogeographic region with a significant reservoir of biodiversity that is under threat from humans”. An example of a generally recognized biodiversity hotspot is the Coral Triangle region between Indonesia, the Philippines, and Papua New Guinea, a region with over 800 species of tropical coral and 1,500 species of fish and shelfish. The Formosa Plastics research team’s arbitrary use of the term “hotspot” to describe the frequencies of appearances by members of a single humpback dolphin species is a fundamentally mistaken analogy.

The concept of hotspots has been misused and bandied about to mislead the general public ever since the environmental impact assessment for the Kuokuang Petrochemical project, and has even given rise to absurd claims that the Taiwan humpback dolphins are capable of “steering their own way” out of danger. This flawed research adopts the false premise that the humpback dolphins reside only in the “hotspots” and merely “transit” through other areas of the waters they inhabit. This has led, in the research and planning of protection zones, to a misguided focus on defining the “hottest hotspots.” The researchers have accepted successive rounds of funding from the public and private sectors to conduct study after study based on the same old false premise.

Accumulating data by observing cetaceans in the wild is a long and time-consuming process. This research team has declared its data on the distribution of the Taiwan humpback dolphins to be “classified” and has denied other groups access to the data for comparative study. It has not submitted its findings for review by any international scholarly publication. By taking this approach, it has continuously postponed the formulation of follow-up conservation policies. The result is that efforts to save the dolphins are being snuffed out with the passing of time.

By contrast, a number of papers by other experts already published in rigorously reviewed international publications show that the full range of the humpback dolphins’ habitat off of Taiwan’s west coast is one integral territory that cannot be divided up into zones, and certainly not into so-called “hotspots.” Yet these facts have been entirely disregarded by the government authorities in charge of conservation, to the dismay of the international community of cetacean experts. Even though half a year has passed since the suspension of the Kuokuang Petrochemical project, the conservation authorities have not taken any action. They remain in thrall to the absurd “hotspot” theory that has never been subjected to peer review, and that is killing the humpback dolphins. The present author and numerous international experts have written directly to President Ma and to the Minister of Agriculture to stress the crucial point that the humpback dolphin habitat cannot be divided up, but our voices have been ignored, and the false concept of “hotspots” has continued to spread.

The Taiwan humpback dolphin faces five devastating threats: disappearing habitat; declining inflow of fresh water, affecting food sources; domestic wastewater and agricultural and industrial chemical pollution; underwater noise; by-catching in gillnets. This conclusion, backed by ironclad evidence, was confirmed by international cetacean experts back in 2007, and published in an international journal and a book, but 5 years later the Taiwan government has yet to listen to the admonitions of these experts. In the face of this snail-paced bureaucracy and flaw-ridden local research, this author must pessimistically predict that the eastern Taiwan Strait subpopulation of humpback dolphins will be stricken from the “critically endangered” category on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species within the coming few years—not because we will have succeeded in our conservation efforts, but because the dolphins will have disappeared forever from the Taiwan Strait. When that day comes, there will be no question about who killed the Taiwan humpback dolphins.

Author Allen C. Chen, PhD, is a Research Fellow of the Biodiversity Research Centre Academia Sinica, Taiwan, a member of the Eastern Taiwan Strait Sousa Technical Advisory Working Group, and a specialist on working groups of the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

*Taiwan humpback dolphin commonly called Taiwan pink dolphin.

Study: Naphtha cracker is driving away dolphins

2011-12-31T21:35:00.004+08:00

An article in the Taipei Times titled Naphtha cracker is driving away dolphins: Study on 27 December 2011 reveals nothing we don't already know. The article stated "The meeting was to review a project investigating the ecology of an endangered dolphin species that was commissioned by Formosa Plastics Group. Environmentalists have long questioned whether the Formosa Petrochemical’s Sixth Naphtha Cracker plant in Mailiao might cause harm to dolphins in the nearby area." So-called environmentalists [Ah, I hate the way the TT loves to brand anyone who happens to show any concern for what is happening to our planet as an 'environmentalist. It's so belittling, condescending and demeaning and makes it sound like we're some strange crazed revolutionaries.], which include some of the greatest cetacean experts on the planet have long pointed out that the FP plant at Mailiao is causing problems for the dolphins. Pollution was one of the five major threats to the dolphins identified in 2007!

All that can be concluded from this "study" is that things are so bad that the researchers that are accepting funds and grants from Formosa Plastics can no longer hide from the fact that their benefactor is amongst the foremost of reasons that the Taiwan pink dolphin is on the very brink of extinction.

It's time these experts stopped keeping their data "classified" and made it public as well as publish some real peer-reviewed work instead of clouding the waters of a very clear-cut issue; Formosa Plastics and other such corporations are harming the dolphins and us humans with their pollution.

Update: See Misguided Talk of “Hotspots” Threatens Taiwan’s Humpback Dolphins for more comment on these so-called studies.

Protected Hawk Owl trapped in illegal net

2011-11-28T14:34:00.005+08:00

Bird trapped in a mist net. This one was already dead. We were able to rescue a few others.

Today's Taipei Times reports a protected Brown Hawk Owl Ninox scutulata was on rescued from an illegal bird net set up in the forests in Miaoli County’s Manapan Mountain (馬那邦山) area on Friday and sent to the Endemic Species Research Institute in Nantou County for emergency care.

Finally something about the rampant trapping of wild birds on Taiwan makes it into the press.

While the Brown Hawk Owl is protected under Taiwan's Wildlife Conservation Act the species isn't listed as threatened internationally on the IUCN's Red List of threatened species. However, locally on Taiwan the threat to the Brown Hawk Owl is such that it is listed as protected. The article goes on to say that two Mountain Scops Owls Otus spilocephalus and two Taiwan Hwamei Garrulax taewanus [Taiwan Hwamei is listed as 'Near Threatened' on the IUCN Red List] and other wild birds as also being found in the net which measured 200m-by-10m. The article also says that among the birds caught, only the Brown Hawk Owl was still alive when discovered by Forestry Bureau patrol officers.

The article then goes on to say, "the bureau said many people set up bird nets in mountainous areas to catch pigeons for ransom before the pigeon-racing season, but they often kill many wild birds in the process."

"The Hsinchu Forest District Office said that according to Article 19 of the Wildlife Conservation Act (野生動物保育法), it is illegal to set up nets or traps to capture wild animals and the capture or killing of protected species could result in a fine of NT$200,000 (US$6,570) to NT$1 million and a maximum sentence of five years in jail."

The article then ends by saying "The office said it would continue to crack down on illegal nets and traps in the area to protect the safety of wild animals in their habitat."

All very good claiming that it is illegal to trap wild animals but what's being done about it. The trapping of wild birds is rampant and takes place all over Taiwan. It's not hidden out of sight. It happens openly. Just take a trip on a TRA train down the island and you'll see the nets at regular intervals in rice fields, in fruit orchards, in vegetable gardens and even when there appears to be no apparent reason for placing a net there. This is taking place openly in just about every village across the island. Birds of all species are exterminated to protect produce. It doesn't matter if the species caught don't even eat what is being protected. All birds that fly into these invisible nets are destined to die a slow lingering death.

It's not just the farmers that net birds. You get the trappers that trap racing pigeons and then hold them for ransom. But countless wild birds also get caught in these nets and just get left to die. Others might be rescued and sold for release to religious groups. Birds being trapped for release by religious groups is big business in Taiwan. But we are told about 60% of these birds don't live to be released. They die.

Birds are also caught for the cage bird trade. About three years ago the protected status of many wild birds was removed and many endemic bird species can now be openly caught and sold. Just visit the local bird store. Each year in Taiwan countless wild birds fall victim to trapping. It is really time that something is done but don't count on it. Just like all the illegal trawling along the coast in full view of the coast guard. Forget the threat it poses to Taiwan's critically endangered pink dolphins. I hope we can hold the Hsinchu Forest District Office to their word that they are going to crack down on trapping. I'm sure if they put their mind to it they could bust several trappers in a morning. What's the bet that a month from now they've done nothing?

Mist net set to supposedly protect crops but such nets are indiscriminate in what they catch.

COA responds to ETSSTAWG letter

2011-11-19T19:27:00.002+08:00

The Council of Agriculture (COA) has responded to the letter of concern sent by the Eastern Taiwan Strait Sousa Technical Advisory Working Group (ETSSTAWG) to the COA after the group learned of a proposal to conduct live-captures of the Critically Endangered Taiwan pink dolphins for the purpose of scientific research. The COA response is follows below.

November 16, 2011

Dear Dr. Ross,

The Council of Agriculture (COA) has received your email of November 5 and letter of November 2 regarding Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin Sousa chinensis.

The COA would like to clarity that currently there are no research projects involving live capture and tagging of Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin in Taiwan. Special review of research purpose and method is required before this kind of project can be carried out. Since above-mentioned dolphin is listed as protected species under the Wildlife Conservation Act (WCA), Article 18 of the WCA stipulates that prior approval from central government is also required for relevant research programs. In addition, the application needs to follow the regulation of Article 21 of the Enforcement Rules of the Wildlife Conservation Act regarding procedure and documents.

Thank you for your recommendations about reviewing research projects concerning Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin.

Sincerely,

Council of Agriculture

ETSSTAWG letter to COA Minister

2011-11-19T18:26:00.004+08:00

The Eastern Taiwan Strait Sousa Technical Advisory Working Group (ETSSTAWG) has sent a letter of concern to Council of Agriculture Minister, CHEN, Wu-hsiung after the group learned of a proposal to conduct live-captures of the Critically Endangered Taiwan pink dolphins for the purpose of scientific research. A copy of the letter follows below.

TO:
Minister CHEN, Wu-hsiung
Council of Agriculture,
Executive Yuan
37 Nanhai Rd.
Taipei
10014
Taiwan
Republic of China

November 2, 2011

Dear Minister Chen,

It is with considerable concern that we receive unconfirmed reports on a proposal to conduct live-captures of the Critically Endangered Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins (Sousa chinensis) in the Eastern Taiwan Strait (ETS) for the purpose of scientific research.

As you know, this population numbers fewer than 100 individuals, and faces a number of conservation threats including pollution, fisheries bycatch, reduced freshwater flow into estuarine habitat, noise, and loss of habitat due to land reclamation. The Eastern Taiwan Strait Sousa Technical Advisory Working Group (ETSSTAWG) consists of 17 international marine mammal experts. This group was established in 2008 to provide expert advice and feedback on matters pertaining to this population of Sousa.

Despite the weather-related difficulties in conducting field studies of Sousa in the ETS, recent work has demonstrated that Sousa are present year-round in the nearshore waters of Taiwan (Wang et al. 2011, Marine Mammal Science 27: 652-658). This was based on direct observations and photographic identification of known individuals from a small vessel.

Additional research might provide more insight into the presence, distribution, demographics and habitat use of Sousa in the ETS. However, this new insight for a Critically Endangered species must fundamentally be based on the ultimate goal of conservation and recovery of the population. Scientific research must not become a new conservation threat to members of this population.

The ETSSTAWG has solicited external expert advice on the risks and benefits related to possible satellite-tagging of ETS Sousa. We summarize the feedback that we received in this letter.

Live-captures and tagging of cetaceans elsewhere reveals some important gain in scientific understanding of marine mammal ecology, but also the following:

• captures cause stress in both the targeted individual and other members of the population during netting and capture operations. This can affect the health and well-being of the population.

• captures can kill individuals through drowning in nets, boat strikes, and/or stress.

• capture operations over a sustained period of time can displace members of the population from preferred feeding or resting habitat.

• the attachment of satellite tags to Sousa will cause injury, and can lead to subsequent infection, illness and even death after release.

• the process of capture, handling, tagging and release of the individual may very well change the subsequent behaviour, distribution, and habitat use of the individual. This means that even the best data collected from successfully attached tags may lead to erroneous results and conclusions.

• Even if one or more individuals move beyond their distribution as presently understood, this does not reduce the importance of protecting what has clearly been established to be ‘Priority Habitat’.

In short, tagging Sousa entails a high degree of risk to individuals, something that could lead to impacts at the population level. The ETSSTAWG strongly opposes any form of live-capture or biopsy sampling of individuals of this Critically Endangered population for scientific or other purposes.

However, the ETSSTAWG does recognize the merit in conducting non-invasive research that provides more insight into the habitat needs of this small cetacean. In this context, we urge members of the scientific and management establishment in Taiwan to consider the following non-harmful research options to supplement what has already been published in the scientific literature:

• land-based surveys using photo-identification methods.

• Ship-based surveys using trained professionals on small vessels and by using best practices to minimize noise and stress to ETS Sousa.

• Acoustic monitoring using Passive Acoustic Monitoring (PAM) or Marine Autonomous Recording Units (MARUs) and/or other devices that record Sousa vocalizations throughout the year.

• A combination of acoustic and sighting efforts to provide complementary information.

• Increased efforts to monitor bycatch of small cetaceans and to recover any dead carcasses of ETS Sousa.

We note that in other regions where other populations of Sousa are being studied (e.g. Hong Kong), a combination of non-invasive approaches have been very successful in generating high quality scientific results in support of management.

In reviewing any research proposal that involves ETS Sousa, the ESTSSTAWG recommends that:

• The need for the study must be clearly explained, including a description of the potential way in which results will lead to different management scenarios.

• Why other methods fail to deliver answers to the questions posed.

• A comprehensive summary of the risks to members of the population associated with the study proposal must be included.

• The potential for physical or physiological trauma leading to compromised health or reduced reproductive potential be fully described.

• The minimum sample size required to generate information of value be discussed and explained in detail including statistical analyses.

• If there exist any risks to individual members of the population, the consideration of alternative study designs or approaches to research must be included and described.

In summary, the ETSSTAWG does not support any proposal to live-capture members of the ETS Sousa population or any study which relies on invasive methods such as biopsies. The risk of disturbance, injury and/or death outweighs any possible benefit associated with the resulting scientific information. On the contrary, the ETSSTAWG strongly considers non-invasive alternatives using a combination of acoustic technologies and direct observation to be likely to generate more defensible and meaningful scientific information without further harming this population.

Finally, while additional evidence of year-round habitat use along the nearshore waters of western Taiwan would incrementally improve our understanding of ETS Sousa ecology, it should not detract from the importance of protecting this area from impacts. Simply put, the shallow nearshore waters of the eastern Taiwan Strait represent Priority Habitat for ETS Sousa, and efforts must be made to reduce the threats of bycatch, pollution, freshwater discharge, noise and land reclamation in this area (Ross,P.S. et al, 2010. Averting the baiji syndrome: Characterising habitat for critically endangered dolphins in eastern Taiwan Strait. Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems 20: 685-694).

As always, the ETSSTAWG remains openly available for those seeking advice on matters related to ETS Sousa.

Sincerely,

Peter S. Ross, PhD
Chairman
Eastern Taiwan Strait Sousa Technical Advisory Working Group

Cc/
- Minister LEE, Lou-chuang, National Science Council chr@nsc.gov.tw
- Premier WU Den-yih, Chair, National Council for Sustainable Development c/o NCSD Secretariat Environmental Protection Administration umail@sun.epa.gov.tw
- Office of Legislator TIEN, Chiu-Chin ly11000a@ly.gov.tw
- Wild at Heart Legal Defense Organisation
- Matsu’s Fish Conservation Union
- Randall Reeves, Chairman, Cetacean Specialist Group, IUCN
- Members of the Eastern Taiwan Strait Sousa Technical Advisory Working Group

See: COA responds to ETSSTAWG letter

Little Taiwan has 17th biggest carbon footprint on the planet

2011-10-15T20:22:00.002+08:00

And in January the EPA was still trying to push the Kuokuang Petrochemical Project through that would have increased Taiwan's carbon emissions by 16%.

Taipei Times
Taiwan outproduces East Asia in carbon emissions
FILLING SOME BIG SHOES: The EPA says Taiwanese have a daily per capita carbon footprint of 19.6kg, almost four times the level recommended by the UN
Staff Writer, with CNA
Fri, Oct 14, 2011 - Page 2

Taiwan ranked 17th in the world and ninth in Asia in terms of its carbon footprint, the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) said, noting that the Asian ranking also includes Brunei and Middle Eastern countries

Each person in Taiwan, on average, produces 10.89 tonnes of carbon emissions a year, according to the world carbon emissions report published by the International Energy Agency this month. The figure indicated a decline compared with 2008, when it was 11.53 tonnes per person, the agency said.

“Taiwanese produce more carbon emissions than people in Japan, South Korea and mainland China,” the EPA said, commenting on a survey that was released on Tuesday.

Taiwanese have a daily per capita carbon footprint of 19.6kg, almost four times the UN recommendation, it said.

The survey, conducted by Uni-Survey Link Marketing Research and Consulting and commissioned by Mass Mutual Mercuries Life, found that the biggest source of carbon emissions was meat consumption. If one person consumes 432.5g of meat a day, 5.7kg of carbon emissions are produced, accounting for 29 percent of daily carbon emissions, it showed.

Meat consumption was followed by use of air conditioning, which produces 3.4kg of carbon emissions per day, and travel by car, which produces 1.7 kg of carbon emissions per day. People in managerial positions produce 25 percent more carbon emissions than average, mainly because they drive cars, the survey showed.

Although about 80 percent of Taiwanese believe they are environmental protectionists, they have done little to help conserve the environment, the survey found.

More than 90 percent of the respondents said they knew that taking mass transportation or riding bicycles would help reduce carbon emissions, but only 54 percent said they put that into practice.

As much as 83 percent of respondents were aware that reducing the use of air conditioning would help cut carbon emissions, but only 64 percent said they use air conditioning sparingly in the summer. Forty-eight percent said they knew washing clothes by hand was more environmentally friendly than using washing machines, but less than 19 percent said they took such action.

Commenting on the survey, National Taiwan University professor Wang Ya-nan (王亞男) offered some tips for reducing carbon emissions. She suggested cutting back on new clothes by one item, eating more fruits and vegetables and less meat, taking showers rather than baths, taking the stairs rather than elevators, using public transportation instead of driving cars, watch TV less and playing fewer video games.

She also suggested turning off lights and setting the thermostat on air conditioners no lower than 26°C. The survey was conducted between Sept. 26 and Monday last week among people aged 20 to 44. It collected 1,067 valid samples and had a margin of error of 3 percentage points.

According to statistics from the UN and the Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center under the US Department of Energy, Taiwanese produce 2.58 billion tonnes, or 11,580kg per person, of carbon emissions per year. The figure is the highest in Asia, far surpassing China, Japan and South Korea.

And yet again! Eighth Formosa Plastics fire since June 2010

2011-09-08T13:50:00.004+08:00

One of eight recent fires at Formosa Plastics. This one was in late July 2010: Photo courtesy of MFCU.

After seven fires in 15 months at the Formosa Plastics Group’s petrochemical complex in Mailiao, Yunlin County one would think that something really had to be done about their frequent fires. It would seem not. On Tuesday, September 6th FPG had fire number eight.

Formosa Plastics was the 2009 recipient of the infamous Black Planet Award; for those who have committed themselves to the destruction and downfall of our Blue Planet in an outstanding way.

The Formosa Plastics Group’s petrochemical complex in Mailiao is built on reclaimed land that was once prime pink dolphin habitat. Current and planned reclamation projects at the plant are further reducing the little remaining habitat of the critically endangered Taiwan pink dolphins. Shipping traffic at Mailiao Port and excessive pollution levels from the Formosa Plastics Plant are serious threats to the continued survival of the Taiwan pink dolphins.

See FPC Mailiao plant suffers another fire in the Taipei Times.

Driving the pink dolphins to extinction with green wind energy

2011-08-20T16:08:00.005+08:00

And yet another threat to the survival of the critically endangered Taiwan pink dolphins. SHIH Yen-hsiang, Minister of Economic Affairs, wants 1000 wind turbines off Taiwan's coast by 2030. And where does he plan to start? Miaoli! Yes, Miaoli. Well within the confirmed range of Taiwan's critically endangered pink dolphins. It's going to be interesting to see exactly how green the likes of Swancor and others wind power industry are. Will they be principled enough to say the location of these projects within pink dolphin habitat is wrong? Or will they just go for the money and damn the consequences?

See an English translation of an article that appeared in United Daily News:

Swancor Aims at One Billion NT$ Wind Power Business Opportunity
Economic Daily News
Reporter Zhou Yi Long
Taipei
2011.07.21 03:57 am

SHIH Yen-hsiang, Minister of Economic Affairs, pledged yesterday to actively develop offshore wind power and called for more than 1,000 wind turbines along Taiwan’s coast by 2030, with two trial development cases to be announced next month. Swancor Wind Blade Materials, expressed their confidence to win the bid and have planned to set up the first off-shore wind farms in Miaoli as early as 2012.

To produce 100-200 turbines for the subsequent large-scale business operation, Swancor pointed out that they will introduce investment partners and be in charge of operation

Swancor said that last year the company had been already cooperating with wind power companies Taiwan Generations Corp and Red Blades Windtek Corporation to build Taiwan’s first off-shore wind farm in Changhua county. Due to controversy over the endangered White Dolphin as well as other controversies, Swancor decided to change site, opt out of the partnership, and established subsidiary company, Cross-Straits New Energy Company ( provisional translation :海峽新能源公司,) for the promotion of wind power business. Swancor selected the area off of the Miaoli coast as the new development site due to the lack of environmental protection and fisheries issues, , and expressed their strong interest to cooperate with Ministry of Economic Affairs in promoting the development project..

SHIH Yen-hsiang, Minister of Economic Affairs, recently released sections of the new energy policy. In the presence of the favorable offshore environment and the need to accelerate renewable energy development, the government will actively pursue offshore wind energy development. This includes more than 1,000 wind turbines by 2030, total capacity of 4,200 MW equivalent to three nuclear power plants, cumulative industrial value of 500 billion NT dollars[17 billions USD], or 3.3% of total electricity supply.

Ministry of Economic Affairs claimed that two trial development cases will be launched next month with at least one billion NT dollars (34 millions USD) subsidy in place for two businesses to set up an off-shore wind mill demonstration by 2015, Taiwan's first offshore wind turbine. Following installments will be employed in Changhua, Yunlin, Chiayi offshore with an annual growth rate of 240MW

Ministry of Economic Affairs pointed out that domestic supply chain of wind turbine industry are well developed; companies such as TECO Electric and Machinery Co, Formosa Heavy Industries Corporation, Taiwan Advanced Composite Center, China Steel Machinery Corporation, and Swancor, are all well-equipped to for system assembly and manufacture of key components

上緯瞄準10億風電商機
【經濟日報╱記者周義朗／台北報導】
2011.07.21 03:57 am

經濟部長施顏祥周宣示要積極開發離岸風力發電，目標是2030年前新增逾1,000架風機，下月就將公告試辦兩案。風力發電葉片樹脂廠上緯（4733）昨（20）日表示，有信心奪標，計劃在苗栗籌設首座離岸風電場，首座風電機最快2012年就可完工。

上緯指出，後續大規模商轉所需的100部至200部風機，將引進其他合作夥伴投資，並負責經營。

上緯表示，去年原與永傳、紅葉風電等公司合作，於彰化籌建台灣首座離岸風電場，但由於彰化的白海豚保育問題等爭議，公司決議改變地點並改為自行開發，並成立子公司海峽新能源公司推動離岸風電業務，新地點選在沒有環保與漁業議題爭議的苗栗外海，將全力配合經濟部推展離岸風電的計畫。

經濟部長施顏祥日前公布部分新版能源政策，台灣海上風電場佳，為加速再生能源發展，政府將積極開發離岸風力機，目標2030年前新增逾1,000架風機，台灣總容量將達4,200MW（百萬瓦），發電量相當於三座核電廠，預估將創造5,000億元產值，並期望風能供電量可占總供電量的3.3%。

經濟部表示，將於下月公告試辦兩案，年底前先祭出至少10億元賞金，鼓勵兩家業者在西海岸設立離岸風力示範發電場，於2015年完工後，台灣外海將出現首座海上風力機，後續將在彰化、雲林、嘉義外海海域，以每年新增240MW的速度開發。

經濟部指出，國內已有完善的風力機產業供應鏈，包含東元電機、台朔重工、先進複材、中鋼機械、上緯等公司，都具備系統組裝及關鍵零組件製造的能量。

【2011/07/21 經濟日報】@ http://udn.com/

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For Your Information President Ma: “I am touched” Won’t Save the Taiwan Pink Dolphins

2011-08-12T22:55:00.002+08:00

Press Release:

Press conference to be held by Matsu’s Fish Conservation Union, Changhua Environmental Protection Union, Wild at Heart Legal Defense Association, Society of Wilderness, Taiwan Sustainability Union…….

Time: 1030 am Saturday 13 August 2011
Venue: Taipei Guest House (#1 Katekelan Blvd corner at intersection with Gongyuan Road)

Dozens of young people sent “save the Taiwan pink dolphins” postcards earlier this year to President Ma Ying-jeou imploring him to use his office to help ensure that all responsible agencies do whatever it takes to restore health and safety to the population of Sousa chinensis [pink dolphins] that inhabit the waters along the west coast of Taiwan. Mr. Ma, upon receiving the post cards said “I am very touched”.

However, 13 August 2011 marks the third anniversary the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) designation of the Taiwan Sousa population as CR or “critically endangered”, only one step away from extinction. The efforts taken by Taiwan to protect the dolphins and their habitat have fallen pitifully short of what is needed, raising concerns that this special population of animals unique to Taiwan could soon be lost forever.

On Saturday, 13 August 2011 we will deliver a petition to the president’s office expressing our hopes that Mr. Ma and all of those in his government, in addition to their being “moved” will take action appropriate to the severity of the situation for this population of fewer than one hundred animals and the habitat with which they share with millions of human occupants in western Taiwan.

We have the following three demands:
1. immediately declare “important habitat” for the area inhabited by the dolphins in accordance with the Wildlife Protection Act
2. confront and deal with illegal fishing practices in the area
3. convene an interagency meeting inviting environmental advocacy groups to deal with the five major threats* to the dolphins that were identified in the petition delivered to the Executive Yuan in January 2008.

We will show pictures at the press conference of emaciated and injured dolphins and will join a parade of large and small dolphins to the president’s office to deliver our petition!

For further information please contact Grace Gan (Ah Gan) Secretary General of the Matsu’s Fish Conservation Union 0928-926180

*habitat destruction, water and air pollution, noise, improper fishing practices, reduced flow of fresh water into estuaries.

報告馬總統：感動救不了白海豚記者會採訪通知

發起單位：
台灣媽祖魚保育聯盟、彰化縣環境保護聯盟、台灣蠻野心足生態協會、荒野保護協會、台灣永續聯盟（持續增加中）

時間：2011年8月13日（星期六）上午10:30
地點：台北賓館前（台北市中正區凱達格蘭大道1號）

今年年初數十位小朋友將寫滿「救救白海豚」的明信片送至總統府，希望馬英九總統能讓白海豚繼續健康快樂地活下去，收到明信片的總統直呼非常感動。但是，明天就是IUCN（國際自然保育聯盟）將台灣白海豚列入「極度瀕危（CR, Critically Endangered）」等級的三週年，回顧這三年政府的保育作為與進度，實在令人憂心。因此，明天上午環保團體與民眾將到總統府前陳情，請總統在感動之餘，更要付出實際行動和關注，否則這樣是救不了僅剩不到一百頭的白海豚的！
我們的主要訴求有三：
(1) 盡速劃設公告白海豚重要棲息環境
(2) 正視及處理不當漁法的問題
(3) 重啟跨部會議處理五大威脅*議題
唯有加快保育腳步，才能讓白海豚免於滅絕危機！

記者會現場將公布最新白海豚過瘦及受傷照片，並有大小白海豚布偶和我們一起游向總統府！

新聞聯絡人：台灣媽祖魚保育聯盟甘小姐 0928-926180

* 五大威脅為棲地破壞與消失、水與空氣汙染、水下噪音、漁具誤纏以及淡水注入減少。

The myth of industrial development

2011-08-09T13:58:00.005+08:00

One of seven recent fires at Formosa Plastics. This one was in late July 2010: Photo courtesy of MFCU.

A letter by Chi Chun-chieh in today's Taipei Times provides some perspective on the history of Formosa Plastics Group's sixth naphtha cracker plant in Mailiao Township (麥寮), Yunlin County. Just a brief note on a single point that we tend to differ in our opinion to that of Chi's letter. Chi states, "Quite a lot of people living in the area followed in the tracks of Mailiao residents before them, accepting the government’s promises and supporting the petrochemicals construction project. Luckily, thanks to the efforts of environmental groups and people from other areas, the Dacheng project was stopped."

Our observation was that indeed "quite a lot of people" living in the area did support the project but at the same time there were many that didn't. Ongoing protests and opposition to the petrochemical project by many local people who depend on the Dacheng wetlands for their livelihood were well documented. Being one of the major environmental NGOs involved in the issue our view was the Kuokuang Petrochemical Project was halted thanks to the efforts of both locals and people from other areas coupled with the efforts of both local and international environmental, science and social justice groups.

Taipei Times
The myth of industrial development
By Chi Chun-chieh 紀駿傑 /
Tue, Aug 09, 2011

Industrial giant Formosa Plastics Group (FPG) has been hit by a wave of public opprobrium after the seventh fire in just one year broke out at its sixth naphtha cracker plant in Mailiao Township (麥寮), Yunlin County. The company has been criticized over the state of the plant’s pipeline system in particular, as well as its poor safety management and cost-cutting corporate culture. Aside from these problems there is another issue that deserves attention: the longstanding idea that business investment will bring prosperity and development to outlying areas — a promise often made by politicians and entrepreneurs.

Even before the recent big fires that have provoked protests by people living near the plant, two major fires that broke out at FPG’s sixth naphtha cracker in July last year had already prompted thousands of local residents to organize marches, block roads and surround the complex.

More than 20 years ago, it was opposition by people living in Yilan County, where FPG’s sixth naphtha cracker was originally going to be built, that forced FPG to choose the “outlying” area of Mailiao as the site for the complex. At the time, people in Yunlin welcomed the proposed plant in the belief that industrial development would bring them a prosperous future with plenty of jobs. Many people saw the plant as a money-spinner and celebrated its arrival.

The reception given to the project at the originally planned location in the Lize (利澤) area of Yilan County’s Wujie Township (五結) was very different from what happened later in Mailiao. In December 1987, then-FPG chairman Wang Yung-ching (王永慶) took part in a televised debate with then-Yilan County commissioner Chen Ding-nan (陳定南).

Wang said that if Chen gave the go-ahead for the plant to be built in Yilan, it would be a highly ethical decision that would bring great benefits to the county. Chen, however, responded by saying that if he allowed the complex to be built in Yilan he would be blamed for generations to come for what he called a “criminal error.”

In view of the seven fires in one year at the plant in Yunlin, and the protests that have followed, one can well imagine how thankful Yilan residents must feel today about Chen’s decision not to let FPG build the plant in their county.

In the two decades since it was built, the sixth naptha cracker plant has not brought the promised prosperity to the area. Instead, it has brought the threat of cancer and other illnesses, as well as the menace of fires that can and have broken out at any time. However, over on the other side of the Jhuoshui River (濁水溪), in Changhua County’s Dacheng Township (大城), the government was until the beginning of this year still offering the same old lures of “jobs and prosperity” to try and persuade local residents to support the construction of an eighth naphtha cracker plant.

Quite a lot of people living in the area followed in the tracks of Mailiao residents before them, accepting the government’s promises and supporting the petrochemicals construction project. Luckily, thanks to the efforts of environmental groups and people from other areas, the Dacheng project was stopped.

From now on, in view of the string of fires at the FPG complex in Mailiao, the myth that industrial development will bring prosperity to any area should come under stricter scrutiny and criticism than it sometimes has in the past.

Chi Chun-chieh is an associate professor at the Department of Ethnic Relations and Cultures at National Dong Hwa University.

Translated by Julian Clegg

Local residents give Formosa an ultimatum

2011-08-03T11:09:00.004+08:00

One of seven recent fires at Formosa Plastics. This one was in late July 2010: Photo courtesy of MFCU.

Excessive pollution levels have long been common place at Formosa Plastics Group’s petrochemical complex in Mailiao, Yunlin County. Formosa Plastics was the 2009 recipient of the infamous Black Planet Award; for those who have committed themselves to the destruction and downfall of our Blue Planet in an outstanding way. One would think that after been singled out for having such a horrendous environmental track record that Formosa would take steps to clean up their image. Not on your life. Unbelievably Formosa took their toxic output to new levels. There have been seven chemical fires at the complex in past year.

After two fires at the complex just last week local residents have had enough. On Monday residents from the surrounding townships of Taisi (台西), Baojhong (褒忠), Dongshih (東勢) and Lunbei (崙背) came out in protest demanding a full suspension of operations at the plant. Tomorrow, residents of Mailiao Township(麥寮) will protest to send an "ultimatum" to Formosa to clean up or face continuous mass protest action.

The Formosa Plastics Group’s petrochemical complex in Mailiao is built on reclaimed land that was once prime pink dolphin habitat. Current and planned reclamation projects at the plant are further reducing the little remaining habitat of the critically endangered Taiwan pink dolphins. Shipping traffic at Mailiao Port and excessive pollution levels from the Formosa Plastics Plant are serious threats to the continued survival of the Taiwan pink dolphins.

See Rally planned at Mailiao plant and Industrial accidents show up safety talk in today's Taipei Times.

New Paper published on Taiwan pink dolphins

2011-07-19T15:07:00.002+08:00

The year-round presence of the Taiwan pink dolphins along the western Taiwan coast has been disputed over the years as a tactic against efforts to stop coastal development and its negative impact on the dolphins. A paper titled Evidence for year-round occurrence of the eastern Taiwan Strait Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins (Sousa chinensis) in the waters of western Taiwan by John Y. Wang & Shih Chu Yang has been published in the respected journal Marine Mammal Science. This paper clearly provides evidence that the Taiwan pink dolphins are present in the inshore waters of western Taiwan throughout the year. This paper is a valuable contribution to the conservation efforts to protect these unique dolphins and our thanks to researchers John Wang and Sichu Yang of FormosaCetus for their continued dedication in helping us understand these unique dolphins better.

2011 Jogging For Taiwan’s Pink Dolphins and Wetlands

2011-06-25T16:00:00.009+08:00

To help create awareness of the plight of Taiwan’s critically endangered Pink Dolphins and the need to protect our coastal wetlands we invite you to take a jog for our dolphins with us along the west coast.

Date: September 18, 2011
Time: 6am-12:30pm
Location: Fangyuan Bai-ma Pu-tian Temple, (No. 100 161 Ave., Fan-han Rd, Fangyuan Township, Changhua County)

Click table to enlarge.

- Your cloth race number is also your raffle number. Prizes will be given only with the presence of your cloth race number.

Prizes:
First three in each group will receive prizes and pins. We plan to start the prize ceremony at 9:30 (Participants must be present).
The eldest and youngest participants will also receive prizes.

Certificates:
Only for the 10.3km run. Please indicate that you would like a certificate on registration. We are unfortunately unable to provide ranking and race times due to limited staff.

Registration and Fees:
Please note there is no on-site registration. Please sign up online before Friday, August 19, or fax your registration form to 04-7769516 or email it to 7626609@gmail.com
This event uses ATM transfer for payment. Please sign in online after payment to complete the registration process.

Code 700
Account Name: Chuanghua County Environmental Protection Union/彰化縣環境保護聯盟
Account Number: 0081038-0396277
After finishing registration, you will receive confirmation from the hosting organization.
Once registration is completed, no refunds will be given.

Check-in:

In person
Bring ID card to the union’s office between 9/13 and 9/16 (Tuesday to Friday) 9:00-17:00

By mail
If unable to check-in with the above method, please check in by mail (indicate during registration). The mailing cost is 55NT/form if under 10 people. 10 people or more requires payment at delivery (limited to within Taiwan)

Transport Services:Transportation Services on the Day (must indicate during registration)
On the day of the event, a bus will depart from opposite the Changhua Train Station at 5am to Pu-tian Temple. At 12:30, the bus will depart from Pu-tian Temple to Changhua Train Station. The trip takes 1.5 hour one way. Round trip costs 100NT.
Parking:
If traveling by car please park in Pu-tian Temple’s parking lot.

Accommodation (must indicate during registration):
Participants who arrive on 9/17 at night can reserve rooms at Pu–tian Temple. 100NT per person. (Please arrive before 8pm on 9/17)

Other Activities and attractions:Hai Bin Market
Fresh oyster roasting
Local fishery
Le Huo NGO market
Cell Phone radiation test
Emergency rescue rehearsal
Oyster collecting
Oyster collecting car ride
Wetland organisms photo exhibition
Tidal flats ecology tour (sign up on site, limited space)

Contact Information: Environmental Protection Union, Chunghua.
Address: No. 354 Zhongshan Rd. Lugang Township, Chuanghua County, 505
Telephone: 04-7764467
Fax: 04-7769516
Website: http://tepucd.moc.tw/
Email: 7626609@gmail.com

2011 Jogging For Taiwan’s Pink Dolphins and Wetlands

2011-06-24T15:20:00.002+08:00

Changhua Environmental Protection Union is holding its annual jogging competition to raise awareness of the plight of Taiwan’s critically endangered pink dolphins and the need to protect coastal wetlands.

The competition will take place on September 18, 2011 at the Bai-ma Pu-tian Temple, in Fangyuan Township, Changhua Country (No. 100 161 Ave., Fan-han Rd, Fangyuan Township, Changhua County). Prizes will be given to participants! Transportation, accommodation, and parking are all provided.

Registration details will follow shortly.

Conservationists protest against nuclear policies

2011-06-08T13:25:00.005+08:00

On the eve of World Environment Day, environmental groups staged a demonstration urging the president to rethink the nation’s nuclear power policy. See the Taipei Times for the story.

Pink Dolphins and Kuokuang Petrochemical in the New York Times

2011-06-07T15:11:00.003+08:00

The internationally listed Dacheng wetlands which Kuokuang wanted to turn into a petrochemical complex.

On June 5th an article titled "Activism Gets Rolling in Taiwan" by Taiwan-based journalist Ralph Jennings featured in the New York Times. The article focuses on how a recent wave of opposition has halted the planned Kuokuang Petrochemical Project and how issues such as the plight of the Taiwan pink dolphin have become major issues in Taiwan. We're grateful for the publicity that the article gives the Matsu's Fish Conservation Union and our colleagues at Wild at Heart. While organisations such as ours have played their part in focusing attention on issues such as Kuokuang and the plight of the pink dolphins it would be wrong to overlook the fact that many Taiwanese have had enough of the environmental damage done by greedy organisations and individual through their irresponsibly managed heavy industry and have got to the point where they've said "This must stop now!"

See Activism Gets Rolling in Taiwan in the New York Times.

Work Suspension at the Sixth Naphtha Cracker Plant

2011-06-02T14:15:00.003+08:00

The following is a rough English translation of an article that appeared in a recent edition of the Hanji language Tian Sia magazine.

Work Suspension at the Sixth Naphtha Cracker Plant:
Why is Su Chi-fen so brave?
2011-05 "Tian Sia" Magazine No. 473

"I was finally able to sleep better last night," the Yunlin county magistrate Su Chi-fen said. Although she was smiling, fatigue and burden were evident on her face.

Her sports jacket, sneakers, and messy hair all reveal how stressed she has been over the past year. "Since last July, every time I think about the issue at the Sixth Naphtha Decomposition Factory, it’s almost as if a dark cloud were right above me," she said. In the eleven months from July 7, 2010 to May 18, 2011, Formosa Plastics has had four fires in the Sixth Naphtha Decomposition Factory.

Last Friday (May 27), Su Chi-fen made a decision that shocked the Formosa Plastics Group and other such industries around the globe. She demanded that Formosa Plastics’ vinyl chloride factory and South Asia Hai Feng factory both in Mailiao [Yunlin County] would terminate operations starting on June 1.

This is Formosa Plastics’ largest work suspension since the group was first founded forty years ago.

Using the idea for the first time in Taiwan that local government can demand work suspension within the petrochemical industry, this move by Su Chi-fen has had a profound impact on the economy.

The suspended South Asia Hai Feng factory is the fourth largest producer of vinyl chloride in the world and the third largest producer of diphenol. These are the main sources of profit for the South Asia Hai Feng factory. "Tian Sia" magazine learned from Formosa Plastics that the work suspension will cost them NT$34,400,000 a day. The downstream manufacturers’ fight for remaining materials has also become a serious concern.

The political trend has also changed.

"My friends have warned me to watch out for my own safety," Su Chi-fen said at 9pm at Taichung Railway Station. She showed signs of the pressure on her an hour after the interview. "Formosa Plastics’ relations are really good, from top to bottom," she emphasized.

Why is she so brave to make this big decision? Why now?

This May’s fire wasn’t as big as last July’s Naphtha Decomposition Factory fire. Why was there no heavy punishment at that time? Why is there work suspension and a NT$5 million fine this time round?

Although Su Chi-fen doesn't aknowledge it, the political trend has changed.

First, on April 22, President Ma Ying Jeou announced that he no longer supported the Kuokuang Petrochemical project and that the petrochemical industry must operate with higher quality standards.

Even though their biggest competitor, the Kuokuang Petrochemical project, has been stopped for now, Formosa Plastics’ Sixth Set Naphtha Decomposition Factory has not gained anything from this.

On May 12, the Sixth Set Naphtha Decomposition Factory’s pipelines for liquefied petroleum gas and isodecyl alcohol leaked and caught fire.

Shi Yan-siang, Minister of Economic Affairs, has always been an affable and easy-going man, but this time, he declared solemnly, "No worker safety, no petrochemical." He insists on supporting relevant responsible organizations to clarify the reasons for the fire and ensure everything is done strictly following the law.

The change in attitude of high-level officials’ is making lower-level personnel bolder.

After the fire on May 12, even Lian Jin Chang, Industrial Department deputy chief, personally delivered documents and explained legal rules on behalf of the Yunlin County Government. The documents were delivered on the 17th and returned to the Yunlin County Government on the 19th. It only took three days to confirm that the pipelines belong to the factory’s facilities and are subject to the Factory Management Advice Act’s 21st line and 3rd item: County departments must demand work suspension and ask for improvements.

In a meeting at the Department of Economic Affairs, he said, "If our department has the nessesary swords, I’d definitely go after them."

The Central Government gives the "Swords."

The Factory Management Advice Act was revised and passed in June last year. However, when the Department request an explanation from the Central Government after the fire occurred at the decomposition factory on July 7, the Central Government simply said "there’s no relevant law" and "it is unsuitable."

This time, the Central Government’s change in attitude empowered the Yunlin County Government.

Su Chi-fen admitted that the local government has to follow the laws when fining and punishing people.

For this cause, she asked the Democratic Progressive Party’s Legislative Department’s convener, Ke Jian-min, to hold a closed-door meeting discussing worker safety at the decomposition factory. Two days before the meeting, they also invited officials from the Central Government: Department of Economic Affairs’ Energy Office, The Interior Department’s Fire Department, Department of Construction, Department of Environmental Affairs, and fourteen other officials and county groups that are close to her. They had a debate over the best way to handle fifteen problems.

Something bad will happen again at the Sixth Set Naphtha Decomposition Factory.

The next day, Yunlin County’s Director of Construction Department and Minister of the Environmental Affairs Department both attended the "Formosa Plastics Mailiao Industrial Area Safety Management Meeting" held by the Vice Minister of Economic Affairs. During the meeting, the Central Government did not oppose the punishment administered by the Yunlin Country Government.

That night, Su Chi-fen wanted to hold a meeting with her supporting staff to establish boundary lines for local government. "Find the category, and I’ll make the decision."

"I’ve had a lot of discussion with county officials, from last year until now. There were at least a hundred meetings on worker safety at the Sixth Set Naphtha Decomposition Factory." In addition to trying to convince Central Government, Su Chi-fen also has to persuade her own staff that she is right. "I held so many meetings, because I don’t want to force any official to stamp anything reluctantly."

The confirmations and careful communication within and outside local government, along with the Central Government’s political trend since April, led to Su Chi-fen’s important decision made on the 27th to suspend work.

Although this might affect the Taiwanese economy, Su Chi-fen insists that the safety of the people in Yunlin is far more important.

She recalls her own incident at the fire scene on May 12. The fire was huge. Su Chi-fen was standing up wind, but when the wind direction changed, water from the firefighters’ hoses splashed over her.

While standing in the wind, she remembered an expert warned her that in April something bad would happen at the Sixth Naphtha Decomposition Factory this summer. Cold sweat was all over her body. Frightened, she kept asking why the expert said so.

The expert said that according to his experience with the worker safety meetings and his understanding of Formosa Plastics’ organizational culture, Formosa Plastics does not pay attention to worker safety. The words, unexpectedly, came true a month later.

The Central Government should conduct a national-level survey.

"I often think about what should be done to make the Central Government pay attention to this problem and to make high-ranking officials at Formosa Plastics realize that work safety is not a kid's game," Su Chi-fen said. This is why she decided to enforce a heavy punishment, so that Formosa Plastics can measure and compare the costs and profits of their behavior.

The condition for restarting the operation requires Formosa Plastics to have their pipelines checked in an advanced country and meet the proper safety standards (USA’s API570 pipeline testing range). The government must also conduct a national-level check-up to clarify the real reason.

Su Chi-fen and the Minister of Economic Affairs both insist "No worker safety, no petrochemical," but from the look of the current political trend, even if there were worker safety, is it still possible to have the petrochemical industry?

Su Chi-fen’s decision also affects the relationship between the future government and the petrochemical industry. "The local government should supervise and eagerly establish a supervisory relationship between the government and the petrochemical industry," she said.

This "new relationship" will be a new challenge for Formosa Plastics and all other companies in the petrochemical industry.

Controversial Taipei Dome gets the go-ahead

2011-05-27T13:52:00.002+08:00

Seems the Taipei City’s Environmental Impact Assessment Review Committee hasn't learned anything from the outcome of the Kuokuang project.

February 2009:- protestor in the in the last of nearly 700 old camphor trees, which are native to Taiwan, that were removed for a development project of which the legality was still before the courts and of which the environmental impact and zoning procedures were not yet complete.

In 2009 Stop Hushan Dam blog carried several posts on the clearing of the old Songshan Tobacco factory site in Xinyi before Environmental Impact Assessment had passed. The developer was given police protection to clear the site under highly dubious legality to put it mildly. More than two years on and the project only received the go-ahead yesterday by a city council-loaded EIA review committee in what can only be described as a mockery of the environmental impact assessment process. Songshan remains a continuing example of an environmental protection administration going all out to promote the interests of the developer at the expense of the environment and the local people. So much for all the political double speak on the need to "green" Taipei.

Yesterday Taipei City’s Environmental Impact Assessment Review Committee gave conditional approval to the controversial Taipei Dome construction project paving the way for the construction of the 500,000m2 commercial complex in the Xinyi District. The EIA Review Committee approved the project by a vote of eight to five. With city officials accounting for seven of the 13 committee members the pro developer outcome was hardly surprising. Taiwan Green Party spokesman Pan Han-shen accused the city government of hijacking the review process.

The Songshan Tobacco Factory was established under Japanese colonial rule in the 1930s. The area has remained an open green area supporting wildlife in the heart of Taipei for many years. After the factory was closed in 1998 the area was further able to revert back to its natural state and become covered in thick vegetation and has become a vitally important oasis for wildlife within Taipei providing critically important habitat for several rare species. In 2006, the Taipei City Government signed a contract with the Farglory Group to build a 429,000m² cultural and sports dome complex costing around US$695.9 million on the site. Environmentalists and local residents oppose the project.

See Taipei Dome gets a green light in today's Taipei Times.

Also see:
Taipei Times:- Green Party Taiwan halts tree removal at site of old Songshan Tobacco Factory

Update: Disregard for the legal process - The last of the great Songshan camphor trees

Update: It's gone ! Total disregard of the legal process - The last of the great Songshan camphor trees has gone !

More on the Songshan Tree issue

Songshan: Before and After Photos

Songshan update: case against activists dismissed

Two Pink Dolphins found Dead in Hong Kong

2011-05-24T12:40:00.002+08:00

On May 12th two pink dolphins [aka Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin; Chinese white dolphin; Sousa chinensis] were found dead in Hong Kong's Pearl River Estuary. The carcasses will be examined to determine the causes of death. 14 pink dolphin deaths were reported in the Pearl River Estuary last year alone and most were attributed to human activities. With the death of a Taiwan pink dolphin last month it clearly shows that human activities pose a very real threat to inshore estuarine dolphin species like the pink dolphin. With the unique Taiwan pink dolphin population being made up of about only 70 individuals in total the loss of just a single dolphin a year would be catastrophic.

Article in the Hong Kong press (in Mandarin)

Ongoing pollution crisis in the Dadu estuary

2011-05-23T11:55:00.003+08:00

Tundra Swans, a very rare sight in Taiwan, feeding on the mudflats of the Dadu River Estuary.

The ongoing saga of pollution crisis in the Dadu estuary continues. On 7 April opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and Green Party Taiwan members criticised the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) for failing to safeguard the important Dadu River Estuary Wildlife Refuge in Changhua from shocking levels of industrial pollution. Their calls appeared to fall on deaf ears.

A month later environmental groups and NGOs staged a protest outside the Presidential Office in an effort to call attention to the crisis and get the authorities to do something about it. Once again the authorities seem to be dragging their heels in doing something about the crisis.

The Dadu River Estuary is a vitally important wetland habitat for shorebirds, the critically endangered Taiwan pink dolphins and a host of other marine-dependant wildlife. The area is also an important fishery area so the toxins pose a direct threat to the people of Taiwan.

"Water, water, every where, Nor any drop to drink"

2011-05-18T22:35:00.007+08:00

Hushan's Yucing valley before it was dug out to make way for the highly controversial Hushan Dam.

"Water, water, every where, Nor any drop to drink" said Coleridge in 'The Rime of the Ancyent Marinere.' With the recent day spell we've been having in Taiwan; and is always the case when we experience one; talk of the need for new reservoirs comes to the fore in the media. "Water, water, everywhere and not a drop to drink" becomes the cry.

Typically the argument goes that Taiwan doesn't have sufficient reservoirs for its needs and there are volumes of wasted water pointlessly flowing down rivers from the mountains into the ocean. All that is needed is to build more dams and solve the problem.

Fresh water flowing into the sea is seen as wasteful and no thought is given to its critical role in maintaining vitally important estuarine ecosystems. The dust problem on the lower reaches of the Jhoushui River is conveniently forgotten. This dust-bowl situation in Changhua and Yunlin Counties has been created by the damming of the Jhoushui River in its middle course leaving the wide floodplain of the lower reaches dry and dusty with little water at the mercy of fierce coastal winds.

The dusty desolate lower reaches of the Jhoushui River on the border of Changhua and Yunlin Counties. This dust-bowl situation on the river's wide floodplain is attributed to reduced volumes of water in the river's lower course due to damming in its the middle course.

The cost to the natural environment in the damming of rivers is massive and irreversible. A prime example is the tremendous damage to the Huben-Hushan area with the current construction of the Hushan Reservoir project. This project poses a direct threat to the future survival of Red-Listed animals and plants such as the Fairy Pitta, Taiwan pink dolphin and Begonia ravenii. In addition, the risk the dam poses to people living nearby has largely been pushed aside but after the recent Japanese quake and tsunami should we not take a renewed look at the wisdom of constructing a dam in a very unstable area near the Jiji fault; the epicenter of the huge September 1999 earthquake.

The Huben-Hushan forest being cleared for the Hushan Dam project. The area is listed internationally as an Important Bird Area (IBA) because it is globally the most important breeding area for the IUCN Red-Listed Fairy Pitta.

An interesting letter appeared in the Taipei Times on Tuesday by Lee Ken-cheng, director of Mercy on the Earth, Taiwan urging a closer look at the benefits of addressing the problem water leakage on existing reservoirs to increase reservoir effectiveness rather than building new reservoirs.

See New take on how to meet water needs is necessary in Tuesday's Taipei Times.

Kuokuang grumbles about policy

2011-04-28T14:53:00.003+08:00

"Kuokuang grumbles about policy," well, so says today's Taipei Times. As expected the Kuokuang Petrochemical Technology Co has lashed out at everyone concerned except themselves because they have been forced to scrap their plan to build a naphtha cracking plant on the internationally listed important Dacheng Wetlands in Changhua County.

Kuokuang chairman Chen Bao-lang (陳寶郎) ranted, "Why wasn't the government aware that there were valuable wetlands in Changhua?" "If it was aware, why didn't it tell us at the very beginning of the project?" Obviously the planning of such a project takes several years. During that period shouldn't you look into possible environmental concerns? Does Chen really expect us to have sympathy for such poor planning? Could it be that Kuokuang was well aware of the importance of the wetlands? Could it be with the legacy of the Taiwan Environmental Protection Administration's (EPA) legacy as a rubber stamp body that they thought they could just get away with it? Get away with it just like so many other environmentally devastating projects have in the past.

The Dacheng Wetlands are listed as an Important Bird Area or IBA by Birdlife International. BirdLife International acts as the evaluation body concerning birds for the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The IUCN is the international body that draws up and puts out the Red List of Threatened Species. BirdLife International through its local partners identifies and lists areas that are of great national or international importance to birds. A quick glance at BirdLife's directory of 'Important Bird Areas in Asia: Key sites for Conservation' lists the Dacheng Wetlands as IBA TW-016. The directory was published in 2004. However, the Chinese Wild Bird Federation, BirdLife's Taiwan partner, published the Important Bird Areas of Taiwan in 2001. Come now chairman Chen? That's ten years ago! You mean to tell us you guys didn't even take a peak at the Taiwan IBA list? I somehow doubt it.

*The Dacheng Wetlands are often spelt using the old Wade-Giles system of romanisation and spelt "Tacheng."

Press Release: 2011 International Taiwan Pink Dolphin Workshop

2011-04-27T22:28:00.003+08:00

For immediate release

Your are invited to a press conference at 14:00 on April 28, 2011.

Recovery is Possible! Protecting the Taiwan Pink Dolphins As a Move to Sustainable Fisheries in Taiwan
"There are no hopeless cases, only people without hope and expensive cases." Micheal Soule ("father" of conservation biology)

Hosted by

Academia Sinica Institute of Biological Chemistry,
Matsu’s Fish Conservation Union,
Wild at Heart Legal Defense Association,
Eastern Taiwan Strait Sousa Technical Advisory Working Group

At the following location

Room 3A of the National Taiwan University Alumni Association Building
#2-1, Jinan Rd. Sec. 1, Taipei City

Contacts:
Grace Gan, MFCU, Secretary General 0928-926180
Robin Winkler, Wild at Heart Legal Defense Association, Director 0937-548722

Précis
The ETS Sousa [aka Taiwan pink dolphins] and Taiwan’s fisheries are in trouble. The above mentioned organizations have been hosting a series of events during the past week related to impacts of fisheries in the Eastern Taiwan Strait on the small population of critically endangered Indo pacific humpback dolphins that inhabit the coastal area between Miaoli and Tainan. The "Workshop on Fisheries and Conservation of the ETS Indo pacific Humpback Dolphin, Sousa chinensis" concluded this morning (Thursday, 28 April 2011) with a visit by the workshop participants to Taiwan’s Fisheries Agency, Council of Agriculture. The participants, comprised of marine, cetacean and fisheries experts and academics from Canada, Mexico, Taiwan, the United States and New Zealand have been invited by the host organizations to present their findings to Taiwan’s media, NGOs and other interested parties. Participants will share some preliminary observations following their six days of field trips, seminar and closed door work-shop on the compatibility of dolphin habitat conservation and sustainable fisheries. There will be a special announcement on the death of “TW3” in September 2009 – including photos from its healthier days.

Government says that Dacheng Wetlands to become a Reserve

2011-04-25T12:24:00.003+08:00

The internationally listed Dacheng wetlands were until Friday going to be turned into a petrochemical complex.

Following Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou’s opposition to the construction of the Kuokuang Petrochemical complex on the site of the internationally important Dacheng wetlands on the Changhua coast on Friday, Minister of the Interior (MOI) Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺) has announced that his ministry would soon begin the process to turn the area into a nature reserve. This is welcome news and we hope that this is the start of a new attitude by the government to rehabilitating the west coast which has been greatly damaged by heavy industry.

Given the government's poor environmental record, the question needs to be asked if this is just a government ploy to appear to be doing something for the environment so they can say "we've taken action" and then allow further so-called heavy industrial development at other locations on the west coast.

The Dacheng wetlands are an internationally listed important bird area (IBA) and vital habitat for the critically endangered Taiwan pink dolphins. Until Friday, the government was planning to reclaim these internationally important wetlands for a petrochemical complex.

See Changhua wetland to become a park in yesterday's Taipei Times.

Kuokuang might be moved overseas according to Premier Wu

2011-04-25T07:10:00.007+08:00

Taiwan Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) said on Saturday that Kuokuang Petrochemical Technology Co (國光石化) might seek an alternative overseas location possibly in Malaysia or Indonesia. On Friday Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou held a press conference at the Presidential Office and said that he opposed building the project in Changhua County after the government could no longer ignore the public outcry against this proposed environmental nightmare slated for the Chunghua coast. The state-run refiner CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) is the largest shareholder of Kuokuang Petrochemical Technology Co and the government has become increasingly unpopular as it has pushed for the go-ahead of this project which has resulted in the Ma Administration as being perceived as putting the interests of the petrochemical industry above that of the nation. Reports have suggested the complex would now be relocated further south to Yunlin or Kaohsiung. However, Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu (陳菊) was quick to say that her city "does not welcome the Kuokuang petrochemical complex" and would not accept any attempt by the central government to move a highly polluting industry there. The Yunlin County Government was also quick to voice their opposition to the idea and said "By no means can it be accepted."

The opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has understandably put the Ma Administration's apparent about-turn on Kuokuang down to electioneering.

See Naphtha cracker might be moved overseas: premier in yesterday's Taipei Times.

2011 International Taiwan Pink Dolphin Workshop: West Coast Field Trip

2011-04-24T21:04:00.008+08:00

Photos from today's West Coast Field Trip on the first day of 2011 International Taiwan Pink Dolphin Workshop.

Formosa Plastics at Mailiao in Yunlin County. Reclaimed land in known pink dolphin habitat.

The Dacheng wetlands, site of the planned Kuokuang Petrochemical project.

Former Taiwan Vice President Annette Lu meeting international cetacean scientists at the Dacheng wetlands.

Pink dolphin shirts at the Taiwan Glass Museum, Changbin Industrial Park, near Lukang, Changhua County.

Fish market, Lukang area, Changhua County.

Fish market, Lukang area, Changhua County.

Shark fins, fish market, Lukang area, Changhua County.

Fish traps right across a river, Lukang area, Changhua County.

Inspecting nets, fishing port, Lukang area, Changhua County.

Trawlers, fishing port, Lukang area, Changhua County.

See:
2011 International Taiwan Pink Dolphin Workshop kicks off tomorrow

Press Release: 2011 International Taiwan Pink Dolphin Workshop

2011 International Taiwan Pink Dolphin Workshop kicks off tomorrow

2011-04-23T16:27:00.006+08:00

The 2011 International Workshop on Fisheries & Conservation of the Eastern Taiwan Strait Indo-Pacific Humpback Dolphin Sousa chinensis kicks off tomorrow with a field trip to the west coast. An open workshop will be held at the Biodiversity Research Center, Academia Sinica in Taipei on Monday, April 25th. Closed report-writing sessions will be held at Academia Sinica on April 26-27th. An open conference will be held on Thursday, April 28th.

This workshop will be the fourth international workshop dedicated to saving these critically endangered dolphins. Previous workshops were held in 2004, 2007 & 2009. International speakers include:

-Dr. Peter S. Ross, a research Scientist with Fisheries and Oceans Canada. He's carrying out research into the levels and patterns of environmental contaminants in marine mammals, fish and fish habitat, and on the effects of contaminants on the health of aquatic biota. He holds Adjunct Professorships at Simon Fraser University and the University of Victoria.

-Dr. John Y. Wang, the principal biologist of the FormosaCetus Research and Conservation Group, an adjunct professor at Trent University (Peterborough, ON, Canada) and an adjunct researcher at the National Museum of Marine Biology and Aquarium (Pingtung County, Taiwan).

-Dr. Elisabeth Slooten, Professor at the University of Otago in New Zealand. She conducts research on Hector’s dolphins, sperm whales, bottlenose dolphins, right whales, seals, sealions and other marine mammal species. This research has been instrumental in solving conservation problems such as dolphin bycatch in fisheries, disturbance from whale and dolphin tourism as well as habitat modification.

-Dr. Karin Forney, is a Research Biologist with the Protected Resources Division at the [US] National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Southwest Fisheries Science Center. Since 1987, she has conducted research on abundance, distribution, ecology, bycatch, and status of over 20 species of cetaceans.

-The workshop is hosted by:
-Biodiversity Research Center, Academia Sinica.
-Wild at Heart Legal Defense Association, Taiwan.
-Matsu's Fish Conservation Union.
-The Society of Wilderness, Taiwan.
-Changhua Environmental Protection Union.

We will post reports on this blog as soon as they are released.

For more information see:
2011 International Workshop on Fisheries & Conservation of the Eastern Taiwan Strait Indo-Pacific Humpback Dolphin Sousa chinensis.

International Workshop Reports

Also see:
2011 International Taiwan Pink Dolphin Workshop: West Coast Field Trip

Press Release: 2011 International Taiwan Pink Dolphin Workshop

Ma sinks Kuokuang ! Time to break out the bubbly?

2011-04-23T15:18:00.002+08:00

Shortly after the Environmental Protection Administration’s environmental impact assessment (EIA) committee failed to reach a conclusion on the proposed Kuokuang Petrochemical Technology Co (國光石化) naphtha cracker complex yesterday, Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou told a press conference at the Presidential Office that he opposed building the project in Changhua County. This statement by President Ma has now effectively sunk the planned Kuokuang Petrochemical project in Changhua County.

The scuttling of this proposed environmental nightmare hopefully means that the Dacheng wetlands are safe from the petrochemical industry; well, at least in the immediate future. The loss of the Dacheng wetlands would almost certainly have been the death blow to the critically endangered Taiwan pink dolphins. This struggling population of unique dolphins could never have survived the impact that the planned Kuokuang Petrochemical project would have had on them. Ma said the complex, which was to be built on reclaimed land from the Dacheng wetlands, would have had an "unbearable" impact on the local ecology and environment.

The government has been firmly behind the planned Kuokuang Petrochemical project. One could quite easily have mistaken Premier Wu Den-yih for a petrochemical executive rather than the nation's premier considering how he has gone all out in his effort to get the green light for this project. Clearly, the government didn't anticipate such a strong reaction to their plans. Determined opposition to this project has forced the government to back down but has this caused a change of heart? Is Kuokuang just going to move to another front? Will we see it reemerge in Yunlin, Penghu or elsewhere?

The state-run refiner CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油), the largest shareholder of Kuokuang Petrochemical Technology Co has undoubtedly lost big money in this. It goes without saying that the private shareholders from the petrochemical industry have as well. What's the government going to do to compensate for this loss? Yesterday, Ma went on to say, "However, we will not and cannot give up on the petrochemical industry."

Is it time to break out the bubbly in a victory celebration? Or in the battle against the petrochemical giants vs Taiwan's environment, has just the position of the front shifted? Any bets on Penghu?

See Taskforce equivocates on naphtha plant in today's Taipei Times.

Also see After nine hours, still no verdict on Kuokuang’s EIA.

Pink Dolphin Carcass

2011-04-21T14:15:00.004+08:00

The carcass of the critically endangered Taiwan pink dolphin found earlier this month on the Chunghua Coast at Shengu Village in Shengang Township is being kept at the National Museum of Natural Science in Taichung. The carcass is still awaiting examination as far as we know so the cause of death remains unknown.

We certainly hope that the Taiwan authorities will give full access to the carcass to independent experts. When access was given to independent international experts on the 2009 specimen, the head was still frozen and could not be examined properly. Access to a skeleton of the animal that stranded in 2000 has previously been given but many bones were missing so this obviously limited the value of such access. Access to view the skeleton of the stranded animal from 2009 has not been given to independent international experts to date. As the entire carcass was recovered in good condition this skeleton should be complete but the current status of the 2009 specimen is unknown and no official comprehensive scientific report on the results of tissue samples, causes of death etc has been issued.

We'll continue to update the blog with any additional information we learn on this tragic issue.

Carcass of a stranded Taiwan pink dolphin is removed by the Coast Guard:- photo Lee Creek-tin, Canton News.

Also see:
Another Taiwan Pink Dolphin Death (April 2011)
Taiwan Pink Dolphin Beaches and Dies on the Coast at Tonghsiao (Sept 2009)

Two Pink Dolphins found Dead in Hong Kong

Another Taiwan Pink Dolphin Death

2011-04-14T16:01:00.006+08:00

The Coast Guard has reported finding a dead Taiwan pink dolphin at Shengu Village in Shengang Township on the Chunghua Coast on 11 April. Cause of death isn't known. The carcass has been removed to the National Science Museum in Taichung.

The loss of a single critically endangered Taiwan pink dolphin is extremely concerning as the loss of a single animal could be catastrophic to this unique population that is poised on the brink of extinction.

In September 2009 a Taiwan pink dolphin drowned in Miaoli after becoming entangled in what was almost certainly fishing gear.

We'll be following developments closely and will post additional information as it becomes available.

See Taiwan Pink Dolphin Beaches and Dies on the Coast at Tonghsiao (Sept 2009)

Update:
Pink Dolphin Carcass

Also see:
Two Pink Dolphins found Dead in Hong Kong

Ma playing election games as he links his decision on Kuokuang to next year’s presidential election

2011-04-08T13:03:00.006+08:00

The Dacheng wetlands in Changhua; the Kuokuang petrochemical project plans to reclaim these internationally listed wetlands that are home to the critically endangered Taiwan pink dolphins and a host of other threatened species to build petrochemical factories.

Presidential Office spokesman Lo Chih-chiang (羅智強) said that no decision had been made over the future of the controversial Kuokuang Petrochemical Technology Co (國光石化) project. Lo went on to say that as President Ma weighs the options, government agencies would "make preparations" for different scenarios. Quite what those scenarios are; well, Lo didn't elaborate. He then said that Ma would make a decision before next year’s presidential election.

Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou, the man that holds the future of Dacheng Wetlands and the fate of the Taiwan pink dolphins in his hands: photo Wikipedia commons.

So, what does that mean? With Ma's wishy-washy politics it could mean anything. I guess it could mean Ma is sitting on the fence and as the presidential elections come to a head he'll go with whatever he thinks will get him more votes. Come on President Ma ! Take a stand for the environment. Do what's right. Put a stop to Kuokuang now and stop playing election games with Taiwan's environment.

See No decision yet on Kuokuang park, Lo says in today's Taipei Times.

Lawmakers criticize EPA over pollution in Dadu Estuary

2011-04-08T12:44:00.003+08:00

Tundra Swans, a very rare sight in Taiwan, feeding on the mudflats of the Dadu River Estuary.

The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and Green Party Taiwan yesterday criticised the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) for failing to safeguard the important Dadu River Estuary Wildlife Refuge in Changhua from shocking levels of industrial pollution yesterday. The Dadu River Estuary is a vitally important wetland habitat for shorebirds, the critically endangered Taiwan pink dolphins and a host of other marine-dependant wildlife. The area is also an important fishery area so the toxins pose a direct threat to the Taiwan's Human food chain.

See Lawmakers criticize EPA over pollution at refuge in today's Taipei Times.

Disappearance of endangered Black-faced Spoonbill in Tainan

2011-04-07T13:16:00.004+08:00

An endangered Black-faced Spoonbill in southern Tainan: photo courtesy of Richard Yu.

Conservationists have become increasingly concerned over the future of the endangered Black-faced Spoonbill (Platalea minor) as numbers of wintering spoonbills in the Chiku Protected Area in Tainan nose-dived this winter.

For years, flocks of tourists from around the world have been coming to Chiku in the Zengwen estuary to enjoy the sight of hundreds of Black-faced Spoonbill feeding in this wetland. Chiku is known as globally the major wintering area for this endangered IUCN Red-listed species. However, this year, many tourists went away disappointed. The number of Black-faced Spoonbills in the protected area has fallen drastically. Winter spoonbill counts have numbered above 1600 in previous years. Shockingly, the count was a mere 246 this December 2010. By the 2011 Lunar New Year, the spoonbills had all but disappeared with numbers often being in single digits inside the protected area.

According to the Black-faced Spoonbill Ecology Exhibition Hall Facebook page, the count on April 6 was just 89 spoonbills within the protected area.

On April 7 and 8, Taijiang National Park and the Taiwan Endemic Species Research Institute (TESRI) will jointly hold an international conference to discuss possible causes for the decline in the number of endangered Black-faced Spoonbill in southern Taiwan.

Though no causes have been determined, initial investigations suggest that environmental disturbances such as industrial activities, Air Force training in the area, the effects of the flood of 2009, and possibly others, may have forced the birds to go elsewhere to seek food.

Spoonbills have been sighted in other areas of Tainan, Beimen, Budai, and other parts of the Yunlin-Chiayi coast; areas where they are not typically found in high numbers. Indeed, this is a most alarming development. Large birds such as spoonbills act as an indicator species. These birds are clearly showing that something is very wrong on Taiwan's south-west coast. We need to seriously think about so-called developments along Taiwan's west coast such as the planned Kuokang Petrochemical Project on the central-west coast and the impact they are having on endangered species like the Black-faced Spoonbill, Taiwan pink dolphin, Saunders's Gull and a host of other threatened species. We'll be watching events at Chiku closely.

Also see:
Black-faced Spoonbill Ecology Exhibition Hall

Society for Marine Mammalogy sends letter to Taiwan President over concerns for the Pink Dolphins

2011-04-06T12:52:00.004+08:00

The Society for Marine Mammalogy; which is the largest professional group in the world dedicated to the study of marine mammals and consists of approximately 1,000 scientists from 60 countries; has sent a little of concern over the future of Taiwan's unique pink dolphins to Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou. I'm sure all who are working towards saving these dolphins welcome this show of support from the Society for Marine Mammalogy and await President Ma's reply with great anticipation.

From the Society for Marine Mammalogy website:

"The plight of the Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins (Sousa chinensis) of the Eastern Taiwan Strait
24 February 2011

President Ma Ying-jeou
122, Chong-cing South Road Section 1,
Chung-cheng District,
Taipei 10048,
TAIWAN

Dear Mr. President Ma:

I write to you regarding the plight of the Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins (Sousa chinensis) of the Eastern Taiwan Strait.

The Society for Marine Mammalogy is the largest professional group in the world dedicated to the study of marine mammals and consists of approximately 1,000 scientists from 60 countries. The Society's goal is to facilitate the understanding and conservation of marine mammals and their ecosystems.

As you are no doubt aware, fewer than 100 dolphins remain in this geographically isolated population. In its Red List of threatened species, IUCN has declared this population to be 'Critically Endangered', thus according it the highest level of conservation concern. Documented threats to this population include:

•fisheries bycatch
•habitat destruction (land reclamation)
•pollution
•water diversions (reduced flow into estuaries)
•underwater noise and disturbance
The proposed 4,000-hectare land reclamation project (Kuokang Project in central Taiwan) for a petrochemical facility centered in the small area of sea still occupied by these dolphins is a threat to their survival. Such a development would eliminate important habitat and likely result in a reduction in the size of the remaining dolphin population, reducing further its chances of survival and recovery.

These dolphins live in shallow coastal waters and are highly vulnerable to getting caught in fishing nets. Increased fishing pressure in nearshore waters inhabited by the dolphins is another major threat to the survival of this population.

Biology and Aquarium, a panel of national and international experts concluded that the combination of threats facing humpback dolphins could result in their extinction from the waters of Taiwan (http://www.iucn-csg.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/2007-Wang-et-al-ETS-Sousa-Conservation-Action-Plan-ENGLISH.pdf). This loss of biodiversity would be inconsistent with national commitments made under the Taiwan Biodiversity Action Plan ratified by Executive Yuan on August 15, 2001.

We urge the government of Taiwan to take an international leadership role in conserving this internationally important population for future generations. This would mean dramatically altering the plans for the Kuokang Project and restricting fisheries that use entangling nets in coastal waters of the Eastern Taiwan Strait.

On behalf of the Society for Marine Mammalogy, I extend an offer to provide any additional advice needed regarding the biology and ecology of Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins.

Sincerely,

Randall Wells, PhD
President
Society for Marine Mammalogy"

Buy a patch of Land. Help Save a Pink Dolphin !

2011-03-04T09:50:00.006+08:00

Since April 11, 2010 the Matsu's" Fish Conservation Union (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.)

This area is just north of the Jhuoshuei River in the largest wetland in western Taiwan. It is home to many diverse species of marine animals and oysters beds that have been farmed by local residents for generations. And just off the coast in shallow waters live the unique Taiwan pink dolphins. The Taiwan pink dolphins now number fewer than 100 and are listed as Critically Endangered. According Tsai Chia-yang (蔡嘉陽) director of Taiwan Environmental Protection Union Changhua Division, the National Property Administration has put the current value of the land in the area at only NT$100 [US$3] per square meter. “So why don’t we put our money together to purchase 200 hectares of the most sensitive land?” Tsai said. Since April 2010, more than 50,000 people have pledged to do just that. You, too, can help with this effort to create a Land Trust. Show the Taiwan government that you don’t want to have a petrochemical plant built in the wetland, in the home of the pink dolphin.

Help Save the Pink Dolphin by pledging your support today!
Click here to download the pledge form in English.
Click here to download the pledge form in Chinese.

For more information, contact: Miss Wu of the Taiwan Environmental Information Center Email: landcrab0105@gmail.com
Phone: 02-23021122

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

Taiwan Pink Dolphins and the Kuokuang Petrochemical Project make it onto the BBC again

2011-03-03T11:58:00.007+08:00

Taiwan Foreign Correspondents' Club trip to the Dacheng wetlands. Members under the dead palms in front of the Formosa Plastics HQ in Mailiao.

Following the trip by the Taiwan Foreign Correspondents' Club to the Dacheng wetlands last Thursday, the controversial Kuokuang Petrochemical Project and the plight of the local communities and the critically endangered Taiwan pink dolphins have made it onto the BBC website for the second time in just over a month. An article and film clip titled Opposition to Taiwanese chemical plant grows outlines some of the different points of view expressed by Kuokuang and then those opposed to the project. The Taiwan Foreign Correspondents' Club's trip to the Dacheng wetlands was co-organised by the Changhua Environmental Protection Alliances, TEDxTaipei and Wild at Heart Legal Defense Association.

Note:
*The BBC refers to the Taiwan pink dolphins by their alternate common name; Taiwan white dolphins.

Also see: Taiwan Pink Dolphins make it onto the BBC

Wu needs to provide more than lip service

2011-03-03T09:30:00.003+08:00

Attorney Severia Lu voices some thought-provoking comment in a recent letter to the Taipei Times on the threat that the Kuokuang Petrochemical Project poses to the nation's food supply. Lu has been actively involved in the legal effort against the infamous Kuokuang Petrochemical Project planned for Changhua Country which will destroy internationally listed vitally important wetlands which are key habitat for the critically endangered Taiwan pink dolphins and several other threatened species. The area is also situated right in the middle of Taiwan's rice-basket and main aquaculture region where the toxic fallout from Kuokuang will cripple the local farming and fishing communities.

Wu needs to provide more than lip service
By Severia Lu 陸詩薇

2011-02-28
Taipei Times

On Feb. 17, Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) declared that food security should be elevated to the level of national security. One cannot help but feel we have been here before. At the time of the 15th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in Copenhagen in 2009, Wu announced the establishment of a UN Framework Convention Climate Change task force that included a number of national security officials. The task force said the government believed climate change should be elevated to the level of national security.

It is reassuring that the government finally recognizes climate change and food security are national security level issues. However, Vice President Vincent Siew (蕭萬長) has been courting Kuokuang Petrochemical Technology shareholders since 2008, assuring them a proposed plant for Changhua County would proceed. The environment impact assessments (EIA) for an overall petrochemical industry policy have yet to be finished, while the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) has fast-tracked the assessments for the Kuokuang project.

The EPA has been hampered by the constant errors in Kuokuang's submitted materials, indulging the firm by repeatedly allowing it to submit additional information and has even been giving Kuokuang guidance during EIA meetings. This makes us suspect that the government is either being duplicitous or suffers from a split personality.

First, the Kuokuang project is entirely inconsistent with the government's policy of energy conservation and carbon emissions reduction. Even if a reduced-scale plan is implemented, Kuokuang will still be belching out 7.29 million tonnes of carbon dioxide a year. EPA statistics show each household in Taiwan contributes about 7.82 tonnes of carbon dioxide a year. That means the annual volume of greenhouse gases of the Kuokuang plant would be equal to emissions of 932,225 households.

The government wants people to do their bit for the environment by turning down their air-conditioners, wearing lighter clothing in the summer and switching to bikes, but it is willing to allow Kuokuang to spew more than 930,000 households' worth of carbon emissions every year. What's good for the goose is apparently off- limits for the gander.

Changhua County is the key grain and rice-producing region in Taiwan, responsible for 35 percent of national production. It is equally important for vegetables, having the second-highest national yield and providing 41 percent of national demand. In 2008, Changhua as a whole produced 28 million chickens, and one of every two eggs produced in Taiwan comes from this region. Major urban areas close to the proposed plant site account for roughly half of the area of Changhua County. Eighty-three percent of Taiwan's oysters and clams come from the Yunlin and Changhua county coastlines.

Taiwan's food self-sufficiency rate stands at just 30.6 percent, yet the government is steering Kuokuang in a project that will decimate the nation's food basket. Convincing the public that food security has been elevated to national security level will be a hard sell.

Both the government and the pro-development lobby are keen to portray the Kuokuang issue as a showdown between the economy and the environment. However, if we take Wu's words at face value, purely from the perspective of climate change and food security, whether or not building the Kuokuang plant is an issue of national security.

The Kuokuang EIA process is moving into its final stages. We will soon know whether the government is sincere in its intent to raise climate change and food security to national security status, or whether they are just paying lip service to the idea.

Severia Lu is an attorney.

TRANSLATED BY PAUL COOPER

Symposium on Climate Change, Industrial Policy and Risk Regulation

2011-03-02T12:49:00.004+08:00

Symposium on Climate Change, Industrial Policy and Risk Regulation

Hosts:
The Chinese Association of Low Carbon Environment
Technological Policy and Risk Governance Center, NTU
Taiwan Economic Association
Public Economic Research Center, NTU

Date: March, 5, 2011 (Sat.) 13:10-18:00

Venue: Room 1119, College of Law, National Taiwan University

Registration:
1. Online Registration until full
http://www.nd.ntu.edu.tw/news/news.php?Sn=727
2. On site Registration (at venue)

The Purpose for this Symposium:
Recently, people from all sectors in Taiwan are debating on the issues about the direction of national policy for major industrial development, climate change, health risk and social economical assessment. Colleagues in academics also pay high attention on this issue, so we want to stand on the academic positions to conduct an objective and substantial discussion. Hope it will provide government a rightful reference for the direction of administration, hence we held this symposium.

On one hand the academics notice the serious deviation between the policies of sustainable development and industry; on the other hand, they have great concern with whether the issues in public health, economic, food and land resource could be fully clarified. Many colleagues express that the importance of responsibility for academics is to correct the foresight of national development and to use the scientific objective and truth to design the development of industrial policy.

Therefore, this symposium will uphold the direction of sustainable energy guideline因and energy conservation action plan and probe into the related climate change, industrial policy and risk regulation. The target of this symposium is to offer the government and the society a thinking standpoint by cohere the common sense on balanced development and maintenance of total control to energy intensive industry.

Notice:For a better environment, we recommend that our guests preparing tableware and cups by yourselves.

Taiwan needs a real energy policy

2011-02-20T11:18:00.003+08:00

The Dacheng wetlands in Changhua; the Kuokuang petrochemical project plans to reclaim these internationally listed wetlands that are home to the critically endangered Taiwan pink dolphins and a host of other threatened species to build petrochemical factories that will be supplied by coal-fired power plants.

Today's Taipei Times editorial titled "Taiwan needs a real energy policy" brings home just how shortsighted the Ma regime is when it comes to planning the way forward with regards to the nation's energy policy. Clearly, Ma and his government see coal as the way forward in order to supply the power needs of the petrochemical, steel and other high-energy consumption industries which they favour. While Ma pays lip service to the need to cut the nation's carbon emissions the actions of his government in promoting projects like the controversial KuoKuang Petrochemical Project clearly show that they have no intention of doing so.

See Taiwan needs a real energy policy in today's Taipei Times.

Taiwan Foreign Correspondents' Club to visit the Dacheng Wetlands

2011-02-17T12:57:00.003+08:00

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

Taiwan Pink Dolphins make it onto the BBC

2011-02-16T09:36:00.003+08:00

Taiwan pink dolphin: Photo courtesy of FormosaCetus Research and Conservation Group.

On February 1st the Taiwan pink dolphins* featured on the BBC News in an article titled Taiwan endangered species focus of new awareness. The article also has links to the following organisations: MFCU, EAST, Greenpeace and the COA. This international exposure of threatened species and environmental issues in Taiwan is good and a big thank you to Cindy Sui and the BBC News for it. Just a point to note. The caption for the dolphin photo states, "The population of Taiwanese white dolphins has plunged because of factory pollution." Factory pollution is one of five major threats to the dolphins. The IUCN lists the five major threats to the Taiwan pink dolphins as:
- by-catch in fishing gear;
- reclamation of estuarine and coastal regions for industrial purposes;
- diversion and extraction of freshwater from major river systems of western Taiwan;
- release of industrial, agricultural and municipal effluent into rivers and coastal waters;
- noise and disturbance associated with construction, shipping and military activities.

Note:
*The BBC refers to the Taiwan pink dolphins by their alternate common name; Taiwan white dolphins)

Recent articles on the Kuokuang Petrochemical Project appearing in the Taipei Times

2011-01-30T19:20:00.005+08:00

The following is a list of articles on the Kuokuang Petrochemical Project that have appeared in the Taipei Times during the past week. The planned Kuokuang Petrochemical Project will have a extremely negative impact on Taiwan's central-west coast; vital habitat for the critically endangered Taiwan pink dolphins and host of other wildlife. The project will also destroy the livelihoods of many of the fishing and farming communities in the area.

Cracker may be built overseas 2011-01-25
"The Minister of Economic Affairs said a naphtha cracking project would not proceed unless it passed an environmental impact assessment review" Sounds very noble. But with a rubber-stamp-body legacy; would the EPA go against the wishes of the government and actually put a stop to the project?

Environmentalists urge protection for Changhua wetland 2011-01-26
See New hope ! High School Protest.

Protesters rally against KKPTC plan 2011-01-27
Hundreds of people — mainly university students — staged a rally outside the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) to protest the Kuokuang Petrochemical Park.

Re-evaluate Kuokuang’s Changhua County plan 2011-01-28
Former EPA Minister Winston Dang speaks out against Kuokuang. I'm sure those against the Kuokuang Project appreciate his speaking out in opposition to the project but is this not just Dang promoting himself? He seems to have forgotten that his EPA wasn't any better. Remember Hushan? A case of the pot calling the kettle black? Both the former and present EPA ministers have failed in safeguarding the environment terribly.

Panel tells Kuokuang to review project 2011-01-28
TEMPORARY REPRIEVE:Opponents of the proposed petrochemical project said the ruling fell short of their expectations.

New hope ! High School Protest

2011-01-26T12:07:00.005+08:00

The Dacheng wetlands in Changhua; the Kuokuang project plans to reclaim these internationally listed wetlands to build petrochemical factories.

Opposition to the planned Kuokuang Petrochemical development on the Chunghua coast mounts. Earlier this week, the Minister of Economic Affairs said Kuokuang Petrochemical's eighth naphtha cracking project would not proceed unless it passed an environmental impact assessment review and relocating the development project overseas could be an option. Exporting Taiwan's petrochemical industry can't be a good thing but it does show that that a good many people in Taiwan have had enough of the petrochemical industry and all its pollution and destruction of the local environment.

An article in today's Taipei Times caught my eye. The article titled Environmentalists urge protection for Changhua wetland gave no hint of the little gem of hope mentioned in the final paragraph. Protesting against the Kuokuang Petrochemical project that plans to turn the internationally important mudflats and wetlands on the Chunghua coast into reclaimed land to build petrochemical factories has gone on for several years. Today, for example, an ongoing protest vigil begins outside the offices of the Environmental Protection Administration. The Taiwan environmental movement continues to fight tooth and nail to stop the Kuokuang project and save the wetlands which are vitally important habitat to the unique and critically endangered Taiwan pink dolphins and several other threatened species like the Saunders's Gull. However, What really made me take note was this sentence: "Meanwhile, also in Changhua County, more than 100 students at National Changhua High School staged a campus sit-in in protest over the Kuokuang project."

It might seem rather trivial to many of our readers that reside in Western democracies that a hundred high school students staged a sit-in. What's the big deal? The big deal is this type of thing almost never happens in Taiwan schools, let alone Taiwan universities. The education system in Taiwan sadly still has a long way to go before it truly shakes off the shackles of the country's authoritarian past. Military personnel on high school campuses are a common sight at just about every high school in the country. They are their to help with discipline and guidance. Any form of protest is usually put down with an attitude of students should spend all their time at their studies and not involve themselves in any form of protest; even while in their 3rd and 4th years at university; when most are old enough to vote.

It is truly encouraging to see high school students take a stand against something that will impact very negatively on their futures and generations to come. A very big hand for those students at National Changhua High School for their brave effort. Hopefully this is an indication that the youth of Taiwan have had enough of the greed, pollution and destruction that characterises the petrochemical industry in Taiwan and are starting to take a stand.

Note: the Dacheng Wetlands are listed internationally as an important bird area or IBA.

Greenpeace Tuna Protest:- Divide and conquer ?

2011-01-26T10:51:00.003+08:00

On Monday [24th January] a member of Greenpeace launched the first ever Greenpeace protest in Taiwan by trying to stop a tuna carrier from leaving the port of Kaohsiung. The Taipei Times reported that a protester climbed onto the anchor cable of the refrigerated tuna transporter the Lung Yuin shortly before the vessel was to leave port. The protester, a Thai citizen, was arrested by port police. On article on the Greenpeace website states that the activist has since been released without being charged.

Because of the political standoff between China and Taiwan most mainstream environmental organisations won't work in Taiwan for fear of upsetting the Chinese Bear across the Taiwan Strait which could impact negatively on their work in China. Given that Taiwan is one of the world's great biodiversity hotspots it is a great tragedy that this island of extreme natural wonder is held ransom by the fear of upsetting the authoritarian regime across the Strait. Against this backdrop, it is encouraging to see that Greenpeace seems to have an interest in working in Taiwan and exposing some of the issues the Taiwanese environmental movement has been up against for many years.

While most in Taiwan's environmental movement appreciate the apparent desire of Greenpeace to do something about the nation's notorious tuna industry there is without a doubt tremendous suspicion of Greenpeace's motives.

Local environmental groups remember well the fiasco of how Greenpeace China tried to establish a subordinate office in Taiwan that seemed nothing short of another attempt at forcing Beijing's "One China" policy on the people of Taiwan. Many local environmental groups will also remember how when seeking support from Greenpeace over the Hushan Dam issue that Greenpeace seemed to lead the environmental alliance against the Hushan Dam up the garden path and then refused to help the local environmental effort or even send the Taiwan Government a letter of concern over the environmental impact of the project.

If Greenpeace sincerely wishes to work in Taiwan it really needs to start off in a spirit of transparency and reconciliation. Greenpeace can't hope to achieve anything meaningful and lasting in Taiwan without local support. Greenpeace needs to clearly state just what its motives are. Without Greenpeace clearing the air and taking steps to address the fiasco and insulting behaviour that characterised the attempt of Greenpeace China to bring Beijing's brand of the environmental movement to Taiwan Greenpeace is doing nothing short of undermining the efforts of the local environmental movement and their effectiveness. If Greenpeace can clear the air and truly partner the local environmental movement in a spirit of respect and equality they are sure to discover that the Taiwan environmental movement will welcome their efforts with open arms; and hopefully see Greenpeace taking a stand for efforts to save Taiwan's west coast and the pink dolphins.

Save the Pink Dolphins: Join us for Afternoon Tea

2011-01-20T10:18:00.004+08:00

Dear friends of Taiwan environment,

Thank you for your concern and support of the Taiwan pink dolphin (Sousa chinensis Matsu’s Fish) conservation effort. We would like to invite you to a special fundraising event on Sunday, February 13, 2011.

Protect Taiwan’s Beautiful West Coast—Save the Pink Dolphin!

Four years ago, six organizations learned of the plight of the Eastern Taiwan Strait population of pink dolphins—that they faced almost certain extinction in the very near future with a drastically reduced population numbering around just 75—and very quickly formed the Matsu’s Fish Conservation Union (MFCU) to begin work to save them.

The Union’s mission is to educate the public about the pink dolphin, to advocate for the protection of the dolphin’s habitat, and to be a watchdog for any industrial development that adversely affects that habitat. In addition, we support scientific research on the pink dolphin, convene international conferences on pink dolphin research, and promote exchange of information with international conservation groups.

Even with limited financial resources and a skeletal staff, the Matsu’s Fish Conservation Union and its dedicated volunteers have achieved much in the last three years.

• Volunteer Training
- Held training sessions for volunteer guides and dolphin observers for three years running.
Attendants for each session numbered over 120.

• Education, Publication and Protest
- Organized a protest march against the development of Kuokuang petrochemical plant. Over 10,000 people were estimated to have participated in this march to the Presidential Offices on November 13, 2010.
- Organized the first annual Taiwan Pink Dolphin Road Race on April 25, 2010
- Organized Thousands Protect the Changhua Coast event on October 25, 2010
- Published children’s picture book, Alive, about the pink dolphin
- Produced a number of short films to educate the public

Taiwan's Critically Endangered Pink Dolphins
《媽祖魚（白海豚）保育短片》
《帶著白海豚去遶境》
《台灣的極危險瀕臨絕種白海豚》
- Provided on-shore dolphin-watching opportunities to the public.
- Held presentations on the pink dolphin situation in a variety of settings.

• Government Watchdog and Advocacy Work
Our long-term goals include being a watchdog for any development plans that would threaten the ecological system on which the dolphins depend. The threats are land reclamation along the coast for development, underwater noise, decrease of freshwater input from the river, entanglement in fishing nets and general air and water pollution in the dolphins’ habitat.

Currently, we are focusing our effort in advocating for habitat protection against the push to develop more highly polluting plants on the Changhua coast by Kuokuang Petrochemical. We are closely monitoring the planned diversion of waters from the Da-Du River for industry use.
- In January of 2008, as direct result of our successful lobbying and advocacy efforts, the topic of pink dolphin conservation and habitat protection has begun to be addressed by the Sustainability Commission of the Executive Yuan and potential impact on dolphin habitat is now required to be addressed in all environmental impact assessment reports for projects in the area.
- In 2009, again through successful lobbying and petition, we began consultation work with multiple government agencies on the pink dolphin issue and joined the Environmental Protection Agency on its research trip to Hong Kong to study their efforts in pink dolphin conservation.
- The Forest Service is expected to submit a draft on pink dolphin habitat protection, which would be sent to Wildlife Conservation Advisory Committee for discussion in early 2011.

• International Exchange
- Helped organize Second Annual International Workshop on Conservation and Research Needs of the Eastern Taiwan Strait Population of Indo-pacific Humpback Dolphins Sousa chinensis in September 2007
- Held workshop on Taiwan Pink Dolphin Critical Habitat, press conference and public hearing after the workshop. Papers from the workshop have been accepted for publication by Marine Policy in November 2010.

Please join us for this special fundraising event:
Protect Our Beautiful Coast, and Save the Pink Dolphin on February 13, 2011 at 2pm.
- Taiwanese food
- organic fruits and vegetables
- auction of arts and crafts items
- showing of videos on pink dolphin conservation

All proceeds will help pay for independent scientific research, an international workshop on fisheries and dolphins as well as administration and staffing costs of the Matsu’s Fish Conservation Union.

Help us make Taiwan the home for the pink dolphin now and forever. Please donate today!

Sincerely,

Chen-Yi Kan, Secretary General, Matsu’s Fish Conservation Union
Chia-Yang Tsai, Director, Changhua Environmental Protection Union
Robin Winkler, Founder, Wild at Heart Legal Defense Association, Taiwan

Time: Sunday, February 13, 2011, 2pm
Place: Y17台北市青少年育樂中心流行廣場五樓 (5F No. 17, Section 1, Ren-Ai Road, Taipei)
Tickets: NT$ 2000 (tax-deductible)
Account Name: Wild at Heart Legal Defense Association
Bank Name and Number: ：兆豐國際商業銀行城中分行（代碼：017）
Telephone: 02-23825789 Fax 02-23825810

Buy a Patch of Land, Save the Taiwan Pink Dolphins

2011-01-19T13:31:00.004+08:00

Buy a Patch of Land, Save a Pink Dolphin (Second Phase)
「全民認股守護白海豚」國民信託認股意願表（第二階段）

Pledge Form (No payment is necessary at this point.)

Please fill out this pledge form and email to Changhua Environmental Protection Union 7626609@gmail.com, or fax to 04-7769516.

* One share is one square meter. Each share is NT$119.

ARC or Passport No. ______________________________

Name __________________________________________

Contact Telephone ________________________________

Address _________________________________________________________

Email ___________________________________________________________

Pledge Amount (You may pledge up to 1000 shares in each area.)
Area 1. Eurasian Curlew No. of shares _____
Area 2. Black-faced Spoonbill No. of shares _____
Area 3. Little Egret No. of shares _____
Area 4. Saunders's Gull No. of shares _____
Area 5. Little Tern No. of shares _____
Area 6. Black-winged Stilt No. of shares _____
Area 7. Sentinel Crab No. of shares _____
Area 8. Soldier crab No. of shares _____
Area 9. Bristle worms No. of shares _____
Area. 10 Croaker No. of shares _____
Total No. of shares _____NT$______

How did you hear about Buy a Patch of Land, Save a Pink Dolphin?

________________________________________________

Anything else you would like to let us know?

_________________________________________________

Thank you for your support!

Scaling down Kuokuang Petrochemical to get EIA passed

2010-12-31T16:17:00.004+08:00

The Taipei Times reports that the Kuokuang Petrochemical Park investment project will be scaled down to increase the chances of it passing an environmental impact assessment according to state-owned oil refiner CPC Corp. It appears that the new strategy to get this environmentally destructive project's environmental impact assessment(EIA) passed is to scale it down and get that passed and then increase the size of the planned petrochemical park by submitting small expansion projects to ultimately achieve the original planned petrochemical park. See Petrochemical plan to be scaled down: CPC Corp, Taiwan in the Taipei Times.

Happy New Year !

2010-12-30T22:49:00.002+08:00

Happy New Year and all the best for 2011 !

"Because every green measure, every conservation effort and all the little economies we could make in our daily lives, may look insignificant if we choose to look at the big picture. On the other hand, if we view that big picture as millions of little choices made by people just like us, that's how we can come to understand why it's our own choices that are so important."
A comment posted on Birdforum by James Owen.

International Workshops

2010-12-26T21:08:00.002+08:00

International Workshops:

3rd [Habitat] Workshop (2009)
Averting the baiji syndrome: conserving habitat for critically endangered dolphins in the Eastern Taiwan Strait

2nd Workshop (2007)
Taiwan Pink Dolphin Workshop - Press Release

Report of the 2nd International Workshop on Conservation & Research Needs of the Eastern Taiwan Straight Population of Indo-Pacific humpback Dolphins

1st Workshop (2004)
Report Of The First Workshop On Conservation And Research Needs Of Indo-Pacific Humpback Dolphins, Sousa Chinensis, In The Waters Of Taiwan.

Research Action Plan For The Humpback Dolphins Of Western Taiwan.

The Kuokuang hearing debacle

2010-12-20T13:46:00.003+08:00

On Tuesday 14 December a legislative hearing on the planned Kuokuang petrochemical complex was held in Dacheng, Changhua County. The hearing was characterised by anger and frustration. It was a fine example of what a failed hearing was. But that may well be just what the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) wanted. See the following letter, MOEA runs Kuokuang hearing into the ground by attorney Severia Lu and Janis Wang from the Wild at Heart Legal Defense Association that appeared in the Taipei Times last Wednesday.

MOEA runs Kuokuang hearing into the ground
By Severia Lu, Janis Wang

The legislature Recently passed a resolution under the Administrative Procedure Act (行政程序法) requiring the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) to hold a legislative hearing on the Kuokuang Petrochemical case within two months. It subsequently passed a motion stipulating that at least one preparatory hearing be held before the legislative hearing.

Public reaction was originally quite positive because transparency and public engagement are needed for issues this controversial and it would be the first time in Taiwan a hearing of this kind had been required, aimed at clearing up any contentious issues through a thorough discussion.

However, the ministry held the legislative hearing in Dacheng, Changhua County, yesterday, amid angry — and sporadically violent — scenes outside as many people were denied access because of the high turnout. And, according to our understanding, those who could enter were limited to three minutes in which to voice their opinions. There was no preparatory hearing.

Yesterday’s events attest to the uniqueness of the Kuokuang case and the special handling it requires. Not only is the case hugely complicated, it has also been highly controversial, not only among members of the public, but also among thousands of academics and members of Academia Sinica.

While it is true that Article 58 of the Administrative Procedure Act allows administrative bodies to use their own discretion in holding these preparatory hearings, the MOEA’s perfunctory approach to this process has been a waste of legislative resources and an insult to the intent of the act.

The format of the legislative hearing the ministry insisted upon was little different from other public hearings we have seen related to this case, held under the requirements of the Environmental Impact Assessment Act (環境影響評估法). Each side gets to say, or rather shout, their piece, and the exchange just descends into an ideological slinging match that goes nowhere. This shows the importance of a preparatory hearing, in which each side is allowed to present their main points, focus on the contentious issues and exchange information. Then, the objective of the legislative hearing is to enable the government to obtain the pertinent facts before it makes any decisions.

The ministry’s International Trade Commission (ITC) frequently holds administrative hearings, so the ministry clearly has a lot of expertise and experience in such things. However, the MOEA appears to have decided not to allow pertinent information to be considered on the Kuokuang case and to not allow other parties to participate in the process. These are little more than ploys to reduce potential controversy and risks.

If the government were really interested in hearing what the public had to say and in clearing up any issues and impacts this project would have on the lives and health of those who came to the hearing to voice their concerns, it would expect the MOEA to do its job and hold a meaningful legislative hearing conducted in a proper manner. The ministry should have had a preparatory hearing, and could have involved other government bodies. This would have ensured that the original intent of the Administrative Procedure Act was fulfilled, and would also have avoided further conflict.

Instead, the MOEA has tried to manipulate the system and, in doing so, demonstrated its contempt for a resolution made in the nation’s legislature. It has trampled roughshod over the Administrative Procedure Act and seriously damaged public trust in the nation’s administrative institutions.

Severia Lu is an attorney at the Wild at Heart Legal Defense Association. Janis Wang is a representative at the association.

TRANSLATED BY PAUL COOPER

Also see:
Factions clash at Kuokuang hearing

2009 Habit Workshop: Averting the baiji syndrome: conserving habitat for critically endangered dolphins in the Eastern Taiwan Strait

2010-11-30T14:51:00.002+08:00

The 2009 Habitat Workshop report has been published as a peer reviewed paper titled Averting the baiji syndrome: conserving habitat for critically endangered dolphins in the Eastern Taiwan Strait. Click to view the paper.

2010 Environmental, Economic, & Social Justice Film Festival begins Saturday

2010-11-18T13:20:00.003+08:00

-------------------------- Click picture to enlarge --------------------------

A reminder that the 2010 Environmental, Economic, & Social Justice Film Festival takes place in Taipei this weekend. The festival begins at 14:00 on Saturday with the Taiwan Premiere of Michael Moore's Capitalism: A Love Story. This event is free to the public. For festival details click here.

Photos: 11/13 Say No to Kuokuang Petrochemical! March

2010-11-16T10:18:00.006+08:00

Thousands braved the rain on Saturday afternoon to send a firm message to the authorities that Kuokuang and other such petrochemical projects should be done away with. Despite dubious legality even to the point of ignoring Supreme Court orders, the Central Taiwan Science Park expansion projects are being forced into reality by the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) that seems to confuse its function of environmental protection with that of economic development and by Premier Wu Den-yih who seems to behave more like a petrochemical executive these days than the nation's premier.

The planned Kuokuang Petrochemical Project will lay waste to the Dacheng mudflats and wetlands which are of huge importance to the continued survival of Taiwan's west coast ecosystems and have also been listed internationally as an Important Bird Area because of their importance as a wintering ground for several threatened bird species. Local fishers and communities that depend on the wetlands and mudflats for their survival will have their way of life destroyed. Dacheng is also vital remaining habitat for the critically endangered Taiwan pink dolphins and the view of the majority of international cetacean experts is that if the project goes ahead the negative impact on the dolphins will almost certainly be the nail in the coffin that drives these unique animals to extinction.

What follows are some photos of Saturday's march against the Kuokuang Project and Taiwan's petrochemical industry. Photos courtesy of Taiwan Environmental Information Association (TEIA), MFCU and Wild at Heart Legal Defense Association.

See:
Protesters urge reverse in petrochemical policy in the Taipei Times.

November 13, march:- Say No to Kuokuang Petrochemical! Protect our wetlands on the Chunghua coast!

11/13 Petrochemical Policy should turn Green Salvation Parade

November 13, march:- Say No to Kuokuang Petrochemical! Protect our wetlands on the Chunghua coast!

2010-11-11T10:52:00.009+08:00

------------------------- Click picture to enlarge -------------------------

On Saturday 13 November 2010, an environmental protection march primarily focused on Kuokuang Plant and other petrochemical issues will take place in Taipei. Petrochemical projects are the Kuokuang Plant planned for Changhua, the FPG 6th Naptha cracker expansion in Yunlin and the 3rd cracker in Kaohsiung. All these petrochemical projects will have a devastating impact on Taiwan's natural environmental. The march is a registered permitted march so foreign persons in Taiwan who wish to join do not need to worry about deportation for being outside of their visa purposes! Meet other marchers at the Zhongxiao Fuxing MRT Station at 14:00 and marchers will march to the Presidential Square at 15:00 where there will be a gathering, and a street party and performances start at 17:00.

Date: Saturday 13 November 2010
Meeting Point: Zhongxiao Fuxing MRT Station
Time: 14:00
Contact: jwang(at)wildatheart.org.tw

For more infomation visit the official website.
Also see:
11/13 Petrochemical Policy should turn Green Salvation Parade

Photos: 11/13 Say No to Kuokuang Petrochemical! March

Photos:- 2010 TEIA Ecological Fair and Dolphin Music Festival

2010-11-09T13:53:00.007+08:00

On Saturday 6th November 2010 the Taiwan Environmental Information Association (TEIA) Environmental Trust held its 2010 Ecological Fair and Dolphin Music Festival in Fangyuan Township, Changhua County. The purpose of the festival was to promote the purchase of surrounding land to preserve the natural environment and to raise awareness of the threats to the local communities in Fangyuan and Dacheng and the surrounding natural environment from the expansion of the Central Taiwan Science Park. Much of the surrounding area will be destroyed if the planned Kuokuang Petrochemical project goes ahead. The project will destroy the traditional way of life of many local farmers, fishers and oyster farmers. Pollution is of serious concern to the locals and natural environment alike. Reclamation of much of the Dacheng wetlands, an internationally listed Important Bird Area (IBA) will devastate the vitally important mudflats that are critical to preserving what remains of western Taiwan's natural environment on the over-developed west coast. This area is critically important habitat for Taiwan's critically endangered pink dolphins and its loss would more than likely drive the struggling Taiwan pink dolphins to extinction.

Various NGOs and concerned groups set up information booths to advise visitors on issues of concern.

Local produce was available for visitors to sample. Visitors queued for the well-known local oyster pancakes.

TEIA's Dr John Tsai, an expert on the globally threatened Eurasian Curlew, speaks to visitors about the Kuokuang Petrochemical issue.

Various local artists brought their message to the visitors through music and song.

Views of the critically important mudflats that will largely disappear if the Kuokuang Petrochemical project goes ahead. The mudflats are an internationally listed important bird area and are wintering grounds for endangered species such as the Eurasian Curlew and Saunders's Gull and vitally important habitat to the resident critically endangered Taiwan pink dolphins.

Also See:

TEIA Environmental Trust Ecological Festival 2010

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

Academics against new Kuokuang plant

Dolphins in the waters around FPG and Dacheng

FPG land reclamation in pink dolphin habitat update

More recent Pink Dolphin photos

MFCU Press Release

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

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

2010 Environmental, Economic, & Social Justice Film Festival

2010-11-08T11:13:00.006+08:00

Taiwan Premiere:- Capitalism: A Love Story - Michael Moore

The 2010 Environmental, Economic, & Social Justice Film Festival will be held on Saturday, November 20 and Sunday, November 21 at Taipei Stock Theater. The Festival will kick off at 14:00 on Saturday, November 20 with the Taiwan Premiere of Michael Moore's Capitalism: A Love Story.

Date: Saturday, November 20 & Sunday, November 21.
Time: 14:00
Where: Taipei Stock Theater, 3F, No. 34, Section 1, Ba-de Road, Taipei.
Website: http://sites.google.com/site/wildatheartfilmfest/
Contact: comment@wildatheart.org.tw
Phone: 886-2-2382-5789

This event is free to the public, however, donations are welcome and will defray administrative costs. Any amount exceeding the administrative costs will go to support Wild at Heart's ongoing litigation, lobbying and education activities.

-------------------------- Click picture to enlarge --------------------------

November 20, 2010; Saturday
14:00
Capitalism: A Love Story (127min)
16:00
The Story of Bottled Water (8min)
The Story of Cosmetics (8min)
Bullshit (72min)
18:00
The Poisoned Sky (93min)
20:00
Texas Gold (26min)
Invisible River (29min)
The "Missing" Village (17min)

November 21, Sunday
14:00
Taiwan's Critically Endangered Pink Dolphins (9min)
The End of the Line (82min)
16:00
Total Denial (92min)
18:00
Path to Paradise (102min)
20:00
The Power of Community: How Cuba Survived Peak Oil (53min)

Sponsoring Organisation: Wild at Heart Legal Defense Association

Co-sponsors:
Anti Changbin Coal Plant Alliance;
Earth Passengers;
Green Formosa Front;
HSU Wen-fong, film director;
Laboratory of Fish Ecology & Evolution, Biodiversity Research Center, Academia Sinica;
LIN Jia-an, film director;
Luminoso Film Co., Ltd;
Matsu's Fish Conservation Alliance;
Taipei Stock;
Taiwan Watch Institute;
VideoDB Enterprise Inc.;
Wind Music International Corporation;
WO MEN Films.

11/13 Petrochemical Policy should turn Green Salvation Parade

2010-11-04T10:27:00.008+08:00

On Saturday 13 November 2010, an environmental protection march primarily focused on petrochemical issues will be held in Taipei.

The Kuokuang Plant planned for Changhua, the FPG 6th Naptha cracker expansion in Yunlin and the 3rd cracker in Kaohsiung are all petrochemical projects that will have a devastating impact on Taiwan's natural environmental. The march is a permitted march so foreign persons in Taiwan who wish to join do not need to worry about deportation for being outside of your visa purposes!

The march will convene in front of SOGO on the corner of Chunghsiao East and Fuxing Roads and marchers will march to the Presidential Square where there will be a gathering with talks and some performances.

Date: Saturday 13 November 2010

Assembly Point: Outside SOGO Department Store, corner of Chunghsiao East and Fuxing Roads.

Time: 14:00
March to Presidential Square at 15:00.
Street Party at 17:00

Contact: jwang(at)wildatheart.org.tw

More details are given here but are in Hanji so if you are a non Hanji reader you'll need to use Google translator to read it or ask a Hanji reading friend.

Also see:
November 13 March:- Say No to Kuokuang Petrochemical! Protect our wetlands on the Chunghua coast!

Photos: 11/13 Say No to Kuokuang Petrochemical! March

TEIA Environmental Trust Ecological Festival 2010

2010-11-02T13:36:00.004+08:00

The Taiwan Environmental Information Association (TEIA) Environmental Trust 2010 Ecological Fair and Dolphin Music Festival will take place this Saturday (6th November 2010) in Fangyuan Township, Changhua County. Transport to Fangyuan leaves from the square in front of the Chunghua Train Station before 10:30am or via the Changhua-Yuanlin bus from the Changhua bus station (about 100m from the train station) on the Fangyuan-Putian Temple bus at 08:50,09:20,12:40.

Details can be found on the TEIA website. Details are in Hanji but can be viewed in English using a translator such as Google translator.

See:- Photos:- 2010 TEIA Ecological Fair and Dolphin Music Festival

IUCN Cetacean Specialist Group website

2010-11-01T14:53:00.003+08:00

The IUCN Species Survival Commission's Cetacean Specialist Group (CSG) now has a website. The International Union for Conservation (IUCN) is the organisation responsible for the Red List of Threatened Species.

Several members of the CSG have been actively involved in efforts to study and save the critically endangered Taiwan pink dolphins. The CSG has included the workshop reports from both the 2004 and 2007 ETS Sousa (aka Taiwan pink dolphin) workshops held in Taiwan amongst their downloadable reports.

IUCN Cetacean Specialist Group website.

The Silver Ghosts of Huben

2010-10-31T19:29:00.002+08:00

By Impiyani

Before dawn I was in Huben. It was still very dark and there was a chill in the air as I turned into the yard of Mr. Chang's traditional Taiwanese house. Multitudes of dogs snarled and yapped. They didn't seem very happy to see me. A large roster came over. He seemed friendlier. It was almost as if he was coming over for a predawn chat before doing his morning duty and waking the neighbourhood. Mr. Chang came out and we headed off up the track following the river. We both bounced around on our motorcycles as we made our way to his little wooden cabin further up the valley. Today we had a purpose. We were after the very elusive Silver Ghost of Taiwan's forests.

We reached the cabin and parked the motorcycles. We loaded up and climbed down onto the rocks in the river. To go deep into the Huben forest one has to follow the course of a river or stream. The steep cliffs and thick vegetation make it impossible to get deep into the remote parts of the forest other than by this means. Streams in Huben are very rocky. Generally, they don't carry very much water but when it rains they become raging torrents.

It was still dark as we started on our way. We hadn't gone far when the predawn calling of an endemic Taiwan Partridge started. Mr. Chang responded and the partridge called back. It wasn't far off but the thick forest shielded it from view. We carried on and in the east dawn began to break. The calls of songbirds surrounded us but it was too dark to see anything.

High in the trees above us a Crested Serpent Eagle greeted the new day with a call. Mr. Chang smiled and called back. The eagle immediately responded. We carried on with the soft calls of the eagle floating to us on the breeze.

It was hard going. Despite the chill in the air I was beginning to build up quite a sweat. Mr. Chang indicated we were getting close. Even the slightest rustle of clothing is enough to startle the Ghost. We moved very quietly. We carefully stepped from rock to rock. The forest was just light enough to see a short distance ahead now. We moved forward slowly. We would stop to listen and scan the area ahead for movement. Mr. Chang's sharp ears caught something. I hadn't heard it but he said he had. The Ghost was near.

We moved on. The river narrowed and vegetation had taken root in the stream bed. We stopped and searched the shadows ahead. One second I was looking at a shadow and the next instant the Ghost stepped forward from out of the shadow. We both saw the Ghost at the same instant. There it was. The distinct silver-white back, crest and tail contrasting against the dazzling blue of the body and the fire-red face and legs. I started to shake with excitement. I could hear my heart drumming in my ears. The Ghost melted into the vegetation and disappeared. I stood there breathless. There really wasn't enough light for a shot but I took my camera out of its bag and moved forward.

I crept over boulders and moved towards where the Ghost had vanished. I crept forward and once again it stepped out of the shadows. It was very dark but I took a few shots just to capture the moment. In an almost dream-like state I watched the Silver Ghost moving about in front of me.

A male Swinhoe's Pheasant (Lophura swinhoii) moves through the Huben undergrowth.

Robert Swinhoe had discovered the species, endemic to Taiwan, in April of 1862. He sent the skin to the great English ornithologist John Gould. Gould was the Curator and Preserver at the museum of the Zoological Society of London. It was the height of the great voyages of discovery and Gould was in the unique position of being on the receiving end of skins that were being sent to the Society from every corner of the globe.

Gould had thus described an extraordinary number of species from around the world. Amongst these were Darwin’s legendary finches. He wrote up the description for Robert Swinhoe’s new pheasant and it was published in the 1863 edition of The Ibis. Even the stuffy Victorian, Gould, was impressed by Formosa's Silver Ghost and stated, “This exceedingly beautiful species is one of the most remarkable novelties I have had the good fortune to describe.” He named the species after Swinhoe; Lophura swinhoii. When this majestic species was first revealed to the West, many dubbed the newly described Swinhoe's Pheasant as the world's most beautiful bird. To some, it remains so, and certainly the noble gent I was watching totally captivated me with its graceful splendor.

The pheasant moved off slowly. It was unaware of my presence and I was able to watch it for about two minutes in all. All too quickly time passed and it melted back into the forest. Mr. Chang and I pressed on. I was euphoric. This was my first Huben male. The Swinhoe's Pheasant is considered a bird of the mid elevation mountain forests. The handful that inhabit the lowland hills of Huben indicate that the species certainly did inhabit the central Taiwan lowland forests before humankind turned much of the lush lowland forest into monocrop fields, concrete jungles and industrial estates.

We moved on and then retraced our steps hoping to get another view of the pheasant. No luck second time round, so we pressed on again. Just as we came to a steep rise Mr. Chang’s sharp ears had heard something. We stopped and waited. Moments later I heard it too. There were Ghosts in the undergrowth. We waited. Suddenly Mr. Chang pointed. I didn't see anything and then my eyes caught a movement. There was a pair. I watched them stride through the undergrowth and then they vanished. It was time to head back.

Male Swinhoe's Pheasant (Lophura swinhoii):- Photo courtesy of Richard Yu.

We walked back down the stream. Monarchs, Fulvettas, and Bulbuls moved about through the trees. Some Taiwan Scimitar Babblers started to call. The Crested Serpent Eagle was calling, too. I was soaking the tranquility up and savoring it.At Mr. Chang's cabin we made some Oolong tea. We talked about Huben and its birds. I mentioned the Malayan Night Heron and Mr. Chang imitated the call. From just outside the window there was an immediate response. We both laughed. It was time to go and I climbed on my motorcycle. I had only gone a few meters when the Malayan Night Heron flew across the road. I stopped and snapped a quick shot of it in the early morning sun. It had been very good morning! And mornings such as this are becoming tragically rare.

Malayan Night Heron (Gorsachius melanolophus).

It has been several years since that morning. Since then, much of the Huben-Hushan Important Bird Area (IBA) has fallen victim to the Hushan Reservoir Project, a project that went ahead under extremely dubious legality. The stream is still there. The lower reaches below Mr. Chang’s cabin are covered in concrete now, just another of the concreted streams that have been covered over in the name of anti-erosion work. Too often streams in this area fall victim to schemes cooked up local contractors and officials where healthy streams that don’t have erosion problems get covered in concrete just for a quick buck.

The upper reaches of the stream are still good. The pheasants are still hanging on in their last lowland outpost. The reservoir will no doubt pose a serious barrier to threatened terrestrial birds like the Swinhoe’s Pheasant and Taiwan Partridge. It will increasingly isolate them as their genetic flow from the mountains is severed. Likely, the concrete will keep advancing slowly but steadily upstream and the trees will give way to fields and houses and the last lowland outpost of the noble Swinhoe’s Pheasant will be no more.

This is just one of many such tales. Downstream of the Hushan Reservoir project the fate of the Taiwan pink dolphins hangs in the balance. As we march into the second decade of the new millennium so much hangs in the balance. The catastrophe at Copenhagen has shown us that the world still doesn’t get it. In parting, I’ll leave you with a few words I saw in a post on Birdforum.net by a member named James Owen.

“Because every green measure, every conservation effort and all the little economies we could make in our daily lives, may look insignificant if we choose to look at the big picture. On the other hand, if we view that big picture as millions of little choices made by people just like us, that's how we can come to understand why it's our own choices that are so important.”

Taiwan pink dolphin (Sousa chinensis).

Shen's latest EPA green gimmick

2010-10-27T12:14:00.005+08:00

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

Under the 'Environment' heading in the Quick Take section of today's Taipei Times is a brief titled Government promotes green. It tells how Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) Minister Stephen Shen and his EPA plan to "encourage private companies and local residents to develop green industries and combat global warming and resource degradation." Shen went on to explain how they plan to "promote the birth of 50 low-carbon communities around Taiwan over the next two years, six low-carbon cities within five years and four low-carbon living regions with 10 years." This all sounds very good. It has an almost noble quality about it. But yet Shen and his EPA have given the nod to massive petrochemical development with the various expansions of the Central Taiwan Science Park (CTSP). Unless the EPA incorporates such 'green' plans into a massive crack down on and clean up of the petrochemical industry in Taiwan these 'green' plans are nothing but green gimmicks. When the EPA starts to abide by the Supreme Court rulings that they ignore on the CTSP expansions. When the EPA really goes after Formosa Plastics for its disgraceful environmental record and puts those responsible for incidents such as the three recent fires at Formosa Plastics and its affiliates behind bars then and only then will such green projects have any meaning other than the EPA pretending to be green.

Taiwan EPA Minister Stephen Shu-hung Shen. His profile shows he has a Ph.D. in chemical engineering. Photo:-Taiwan EPA.

From Taipei Times Quick Take:
Government promotes green

Taiwan is working to foster an environment that will encourage private companies and local residents to develop green industries and combat global warming and resource degradation, Environmental Protection Administration Minister Stephen Shen (沈世宏) said. The centerpiece of the government’s plan, Shen said, was to promote the birth of 50 low-carbon communities around Taiwan over the next two years, six low-carbon cities within five years and four low-carbon living regions with 10 years. To achieve these goals, the government will push companies and banks devoted to ecological conservation to open offices in “low-carbon special zones,” in which electric vehicles will serve as the main means of transport, Shen said, adding that the government also planned to make the agricultural sector more environmentally friendly and turn incinerators into biomass energy production centers.

Also see:
Yet another FPG related fire

Formosa Plastics on fire again

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

Wu going soft on Formosa?

Taiwan's rubber stamp EPA

Photos of the Nan Ya Plastics Corp fire

2010-10-14T14:39:00.009+08:00

Local residents gather to watch the Nan Ya Plastics Corp fire. No police or emergency management officials seem to be present to ensure the health and safety of residents and onlookers in this area. We would be interested to hear if this was indeed the situation.

On Sunday October 3rd, Formosa Plastics Group (FPG) affiliate, Nan Ya Plastics Corp, had a fire break out at their Chiayi Second Plant in Taibao City in Chiayi County. The blaze started at about 8:30am and raged for 17 hours before firefighters were able to extinguish the blaze. The plant produces a waterproof synthetic paper known as white pearl, or PEPA. No casualties were reported.

Two fires at the group’s petrochemical complex in Mailiao Township in neighbouring Yunlin County in July caused national outrage and provoked demonstrations. The October 3rd fire coupled with the two at the FPG Plant in Mailiao in July serve to highlight the groups ongoing horrendous environmental track record. FPG were the 2009 winners of the infamous Black Planet Award for their shocking disregard for the environment.

View of the Nan Ya Plastics Corp fire from the local cemetery. Photographing petrochemical fires from a cemetery must have a very sad feel about it.

The Nan Ya Plastics Corp fire from across the surrounding rice fields. Would you want to eat rice grown in these fields? Even without the fire I wouldn't. I wonder where this rice lands up?

Also see:
Yet another FPG related fire

Formosa Plastics on fire again

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

Wu going soft on Formosa?

Taiwan's rubber stamp EPA

Shen's latest EPA green gimmick

…and the Black Plant Award goes to…Formosa Plastics Group!

2010-10-13T09:17:00.003+08:00

Diane Wilson speaks to reporters shortly before green shareholders and stakeholders entered the Formosa Plastics Corporation Annual Shareholders Meeting in Taipei in an attempt to present Formosa with the Black Planet Award.

Diane Wilson, author of An Unreasonable Woman (2005), which chronicles her David vs. Goliath battle with Formosa Plastics Group in Calhoun County, Texas, was in Taipei on June 25th, 2010 to help present the Black Planet Award to CEO Lee Chih-Tsuen and the founding family of Wang Yung-Ching.

The Black Planet Award 2009 was bestowed on FPG by the ethecon—Foundation Ethics and Economics, an organization based in Germany—for FPG’s egregious social and ecological damage of global dimensions. The Wang family is among the richest in the world with assets estimated at more than 70 billion US dollars. Although there have been repeated demonstrations against FPG in Taiwan and elsewhere around the world, these pleas for a change in their attitude of seeming disregard for humans and the environment have fallen largely on deaf ears.

In order to gain access to the FPG board meeting, individuals including those who have been victims of FPG's horrendous environmental practices have bought shares in the company. This group of individuals has been called the small green shareholders. However, their attempt at entering the meeting hall and presenting the award—an oil stained globe—to the senior executives of FPG was foiled by security guards who barred their entry. After a bit of pushing, shoving and shouting, in protest Wilson and members of this entourage sat down in the hall and refused to leave. They were forcibly removed after about 30 minutes.

Diane Wilson, herself a Blue Planet Award recipient in 2006 for her courageous, decades-long fight against FPG over the pollution of the species-rich habitat in the Gulf of Mexico, led the group of more than 20 representatives of other Taiwan and US environmental organizations. They include Wild at Heart Legal Defense Association, Green Party Taiwan, Green Formosa Front, Mercy on the Earth Taiwan, Yunlin County Shallow Waters Aqua-culture Association, Taiwan Environmental Action Network, Taiwan Academy of Ecology Taipei Branch, Changhua Environmental Protection Union, the Calhoun County Resource Watch, and Injured Workers United.

Link to video of Diane et al at the Formosa board meeting.

See:
Green Groups Storm Formosa Plastics Corporation at Annual Shareholders Meeting - Taiwan's Newspapers Mum

Update: Environmental Groups Confront Formosa Plastics Corporation at Annual Shareholders Meeting

Breaking News: Greens storm the Formosa Plastics Annual Shareholders Meeting to present the Black Planet Award

Yet another FPG related fire

Formosa Plastics on fire again

Taiwan's rubber stamp EPA

2010-10-08T11:56:00.009+08:00

A local on her knees before legions of police officers guarding the Formosa Plastics management offices at Mailiao. Exasperated locals gathered to demand the government do something about Formosa Plastics and its toxic problems in the wake of the second fire at the plant in a month. A third Formosa-related fire raged down in Chiayi County last Sunday.

Taiwan EPA Minister Stephen Shu-hung Shen. His profile shows he has a Ph.D. in chemical engineering. Photo:-Taiwan EPA.

Accusations that Taiwan's Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) are nothing new. With Taiwan's legacy of almost four decades of Martial Law and five decades of one party dictatorship, rubber stamp government agencies have been a reality in Taiwan for most of its post World War II existence. The situation began to change after the first democratic elections in 1996 but old habits die hard and with the nationalist KMT regime returning to power in 2008 it would appear that the old bosses still have a preference for doing things the old way.

Indeed, you may be forgiven for mistaking Taiwan's Premier Wu Den-yih for a petrochemical executive and the EPA for Petrochemical Development Bureau. The EPA's continued favouring of development at the expense of the environment and the well-being of local communities is alarming. It is also creating a climate of desperation where whole communities feel powerless to stand against so-called development dictated by government. Supreme Court rulings are just ignored by the government and the government sends in the riot police as soon as communities voice their concerns. With the government's handling of the situation literally shutting the accepted legal avenues that communities have to address the situation by ignoring court rulings etc the government is setting the stage for a very dangerous situation where communities may well feel that they have no other option but to take the law into their own hands and that is usually a very sad and tragic road when travelled.

For more comment read today's Taipei Times editorial: EPA’s rubber stamp spells ‘doom.’

Also see:
Yet another FPG related fire

Photos of the Nan Ya Plastics Corp fire

Formosa Plastics on fire again

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

Shen's latest EPA green gimmick

New Pink Dolphin paper published in Marine Mammal Science

2010-10-07T13:55:00.002+08:00

A paper titled Evidence for year-round occurrence of the eastern Taiwan Strait Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins (Sousa chinensis) in the waters of western Taiwan by John Y. Wang and Shih Chu Yang was published online by the journal Marine Mammal Sciece on 30 September 2010. The paper which presents evidence to show that the ETS Sousa [aka Taiwan pink dolphins] is present in the inshore waters of western Taiwan throughout the year will appear in print in Marine Mammal Science in an upcoming issue. Wang and Yang have authored several papers on the ETS Sousa and are also the authors of the book Identification Guide to the Dolphins and other small Cetaceans of Taiwan.

Wu going soft on Formosa?

2010-10-06T11:47:00.009+08:00

Sunday's fire at FPG affiliate, Nan Ya Plastics Corp's Chiayi Second Plant in Taibao City in Chiayi County.

One would be forgiven for confusing the Taiwan Premier with an executive of the petrochemical industry. Premier Wu Den-yih seems to place the needs of the nation at a far lower priority than that of the petrochemical industry. In today's Taipei Times we are told that yesterday Premier Wu "urged Formosa Plastics Group (FPG) to tighten its internal controls after Sunday’s fire at Nan Ya Plastics Corp’s Second Plant in Taibao City, Chiayi County." He went on to say "he hoped the company would take [Sunday’s] fire seriously."

Premier Wu Den-yih. These days he seems to behave more like a petrochemical executive than the nation's premier: photo Wikimedia commons.

What's all this use of "urged" and "hoped"? Is fire safety voluntary in Taiwan's petrochemical industry? Wu, you're the nation's premier! How about something along the lines of "three fires since July is unacceptable! It is nothing short of disgraceful and and can only be seen as the result of a culture of grossly negligent management combined with substandard safety policies that puts profits above all else." After three fires surely members of FPG's top management need to be charged criminally?

For more on what our dear Premier Wu had to say see Wu urges FPG to tighten controls in today's Taipei Times.
For more comment see the editorial: Creating a culture of safety.

Another photo of Sunday's fire at FPG affiliate, Nan Ya Plastics Corp's Chiayi Second Plant in Taibao City in Chiayi County.

Also see:
Yet another FPG related fire

Formosa Plastics on fire again

Taiwan's rubber stamp EPA

Photos of the Nan Ya Plastics Corp fire

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

Shen's latest EPA green gimmick

Yet another FPG related fire

2010-10-05T14:38:00.009+08:00

Sunday's fire at FPG affiliate, Nan Ya Plastics Corp's Chiayi Second Plant in Taibao City in Chiayi County.

Another Formosa Plastics fire ! Yes, unbelievably there has been another one. On Sunday FPG affiliate, Nan Ya Plastics Corp, had a fire break out at their Chiayi Second Plant in Taibao City in Chiayi County. The blaze started at about 8:30am on Sunday and raged for 17 hours before firefighters were able to extinguish the blaze. The plant produced a waterproof synthetic paper known as white pearl, or PEPA. No casualties have been reported.

Two fires at the group’s petrochemical complex in Mailiao Township in neighbouring Yunlin County in July caused national outrage and provoked demonstrations. It is clear that in the wake of the July fires that FPG has just carried on with their usual profit-at-all-cost manner of conducting business. Sunday's fire serves to highlight the groups ongoing horrendous environmental track record. FPG were the 2009 winners of the infamous Black Planet Award for their shocking disregard for the environment.

Yesterday, FPG chairman William Wong apologized for the fire. Under the circumstances such apologies can't be seen as anything but a sarcastic joke. The toxic fallout from such fires cause tremendous environmental damage. The Environmental Protection Administration said it had collected samples of black-colored rain water believed to have been the result of the fire. With the EPA's record of cosing up to the petrochemical industry one can't help but question if the EPA could be considered "neutral" enough to actually be entrusted with the analysis of such samples? Any reports issued by the EPA regarding this have to be seen as potentially suspect. A totally independent enquiry needs to be made into this and the other two recent Formosa fires. Clearly, whatever pressure the EPA and cabinet gave FPG after the two Mailiao fires in July it hasn't resulted in any meaningful changes in the safety standards at the group's plants.

See Formosa Plastics chief apologizes for fire in today's Taipei Times.

Also see:
Formosa Plastics on fire again

Photos of the Nan Ya Plastics Corp fire

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

Wu going soft on Formosa?

Taiwan's rubber stamp EPA

Shen's latest EPA green gimmick

Taiwan Without the Petrochemical Industry…

2010-09-14T15:56:00.003+08:00

Take a look at this Global Voices post:

"What would have happened had the petrochemical industry ceased to exist in Taiwan? The Industrial Development Bureau (IDB) under Taiwan's Ministry of Economic Affairs has tried hard to convince Taiwanese citizens that if Taiwan does not build more petrochemical industrial plants, its economy will collapse and people will suffer. On the other hand, environmentalists, activists, and bloggers are looking forward to seeing the end of such a polluting industry destroying the island's lands, water, and air."

Click to continue reading the post.

Taiwan Pink Dolphin Videos & Film Clips

2010-09-10T15:12:00.003+08:00

Videos & Film Clips:

Taiwan Pink Dolphin Video

Video Footage of Taiwan's Pink Dolphins - Right In Front Of Formosa Plastics!

Taiwan Pink Dolphin Film Clips

Science Park Phase 3 development appeal rejected

2010-09-03T12:00:00.005+08:00

Yesterday the Supreme Administrative Court rejected the government's appeal against the July 30th ruling to suspend work on the Central Taiwan Science Park's (CTSP) Phase 3 development project.

The environmental impact assessment (EIA) for the project was ruled invalid by the Supreme Administrative Court on the 22 January this year. The Environmental Protection Administration, CTSP and developers ignored the ruling. Then, on July 30th the Taipei High Administrative Court again ruled against further development on the site, on the grounds that the National Science Council had not completed a comprehensive health risk assessment. The government's response to this was to question the ability of the judges and undermine the authority of the judiciary. Then, institute an appeal. But even before the court's had ruled on the appeal, EPA's Environmental Impact Assessment committee instead of sending the Phase-3 development project to a second round of review, chose to ignore the courts and gave conditional approval on Tuesday (2010-08-31) for the Phase 3 development of the CTSP at Cising and Houli to go ahead.

The ruling stopping work at the CTSP Phase 4 development (Kuokuang Petrochemical) in Erlin, Changhua County was revoked. The suspension of Phase 4 will now be up to the Taipei High Administrative Court.

See Science park's appeal rejected, Learning the lessons of Mailiao for Dacheng and Quantifying the non-quantifiable in today's Taipei Times.

Also see:
Academics against new Kuokuang plant

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

The saga of the CTSP Erlin Science Park and the Kuokuang Petrochemical Project

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

EPA and NSC appeal High Administrative Court order

Erosion of democracy and freedom Beijing style

Local residents block access to FPG plant

Local residents continue to block access to FPG plant

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

Isn’t It Time the Legal Community Spoke Up?

Science park development at Houli gets the nod

Taiwan's rubber stamp EPA

Photos: EPA gives Phase 3 CTSP the nod even if the courts say no.

2010-09-02T12:45:00.007+08:00

Photo A

Photo B

Photo C

Photo D

Photos A-D: local residents from Houli, stakeholders, environmental and rights groups, farmers groups and concerned citizens peacefully protested outside the EPA building in Taipei in the pouring rain on Tuesday calling on the EPA to follow the rule of law and send the project for a second round of review. Note the dress of the police. No riot gear is visible. A sure indication that protests were peaceful and police were not expecting trouble.

Photo E: observers view the meeting on a monitor in a different room.

On Tuesday (2010-08-31) the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) gave conditional approval for the Phase 3 Zone [Houli] of the Central Taiwan Science Park (CTSP) to go ahead. The decision to allow the highly controversial project to go ahead is in all likelihood illegal. The environmental impact assessment (EIA) for the project was ruled invalid by the Supreme Administrative Court on the 22 January this year. Then, on 2 August the Taipei High Administrative Court issued an injunction against further development on the site, on the grounds that the National Science Council had not completed a comprehensive health risk assessment.

During Tuesday's five-hour-long meeting local residents from Houli, stakeholders, environmental and rights groups, farmers groups and concerned citizens peacefully protested outside the EPA building in Taipei in the pouring rain calling on the EPA to follow the rule of law and send the project to a second round of review.

The EPA minister Stephen Shen allowed a few representatives from various groups against the project to briefly address the meeting. But for the most part, those against the development were shut out in the pouring rain while a few observers were allowed to watch proceedings on a monitor from a different room.

See EPA greenlights science park expansion plan in Taiwan Today.

Also see:
Academics against new Kuokuang plant

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

The saga of the CTSP Erlin Science Park and the Kuokuang Petrochemical Project

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

EPA and NSC appeal High Administrative Court order

Erosion of democracy and freedom Beijing style

Local residents block access to FPG plant

Local residents continue to block access to FPG plant

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

Isn’t It Time the Legal Community Spoke Up?

Science park development at Houli gets the nod

Science park development at Houli gets the nod

2010-09-01T12:16:00.005+08:00

Despite a Supreme Administrative Court ruling to void the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for the expansion of the Phase 3 Zone [Houli] of the Central Taiwan Science Park (CTSP), the Environmental Protection Administration's (EPA) environmental impact assessment (EIA) committee yesterday gave conditional approval for the project to go ahead.

It is no surprise that the EPA once more ignored due process and did exactly what Premier Wu Den-yih wanted them to do. Legally, the EPA's EIA committee were required to to send the Phase-3 development project to a second round of review. But with EPA Minister Stephen Shen at the helm of yesterday's proceedings, the EIA committee wasn't going to do anything other than agree with their boss; even if that decision was of extremely dubious legality.

So yesterday marked another very sad day in the rule of law under the Ma regime. Ma and his cabinet seem to care little for legal niceties, displaced farmers and rural communities, fishers, pink dolphins, and reducing the nation's CO2 emissions. It's all about growth you see. About ensuring their cronies in the petrochemical industry get exactly what they want so they can grow richer at the expense of the nation, its health and sustainably managing its natural resources. Surely there are less toxic ways to create jobs?

But wait, you say. The approval was conditional. The EPA didn't give the developers the green light to do exactly what they want. There were requirements regulating water usage, ambient water quality and emission of volatile organic compounds. Sadly, the EPA doesn't have a very good track record there. Perhaps a little tap on the wrist and a little fine like they have done with Formosa Plastics with its fires and excessive water usage.

For more see Science park development gets conditional approval in today's Taipei Times.

Also see:
Academics against new Kuokuang plant

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

The saga of the CTSP Erlin Science Park and the Kuokuang Petrochemical Project

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

EPA and NSC appeal High Administrative Court order

Erosion of democracy and freedom Beijing style

Local residents block access to FPG plant

Local residents continue to block access to FPG plant

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

Isn’t It Time the Legal Community Spoke Up?

Photos: EPA gives Phase 3 CTSP the nod even if the courts say no.

Taiwan's rubber stamp EPA

Dolphins in the waters around FPG and Dacheng

2010-08-31T14:19:00.004+08:00

It wasn't that long ago that the very existance of Taiwan pink dolphins in the waters around the Formosa Plastics Plant (FPG)was disputed by FPG. FPG is situated at Mailiao at the mouth of the Zhoushui River in Yunlin County. On the opposite bank is the Dacheng wetlands in Chunghua County. This is the site of the planned Kuokuang petrochemical plant complex. Much of the FPG plant is built on reclaimed land. Before the plant was built a large estuarine delta existed there. Much of it was destroyed when the Formosa plant was built in the early 1990s. Therefore, what remains of this important ecosystem needs the utmost protection for the continued survival of Taiwan's west coast.

The Zhoushui River is Taiwan's largest river. The estuarine ecosystem at the mouth of the river is critically important to the well being of the entire west coast. Large areas of tidal mudflats and the mixing of sea and fresh water in the Zhoushui estuary give rise to an area of tremendous ecological abundance. Numerous fish species spawn in the estuarine waters. It is home to top predators like the unique Taiwan pink dolphins. The abundance of crustaceans and other marine life create one of the most important migratory stops and wintering areas for East Asia's shorebirds. The vulnerable Saunders's Gull (Larus saundersi) use the area as a vital part of their wintering habitat. Because of the area's importance to migrating and wintering shorebirds, which would include the the globally endangered Black-faced Spoonbill (Platalea minor) and the fact that it is a vital wintering area for the Red Listed Saunders's Gull the area has been listed as an internationally important bird area (IBA) by BirdLife International. The Dacheng Wetlands is listed as IBA: TW-016.

The Dacheng area is vitally important to the communities that surround it. Local fishers depend on the area for their livelihood as do oyster farmers and other aquaculturists. The destruction of the wetlands will destroy these traditional communities way of life.

Originally FPG and developers denied the existence of pink dolphins in these waters. Conservationists and researchers were accused of fabricating evidence and showing footage of pink dolphins filmed in Hong Kong waters. Conservationists and researchers would be bullied by pro development thugs at meetings. These thugs would disrupt meetings and hearings where evidence of pink dolphins in off the Zhoushui mouth was presented. However, evidence became so overwhelming that eventually FPG and developers had to concede that there were indeed pink dolphins in the waters around the FPG plant.

Photo A: Photo courtesy and copyright of FormosaCetus Research & Conservation Group.

Photo A shows a recent photo of a mother and calf pair (part of a larger group) in the waters around an area the has recently been reclaimed for a tree planting project at the FPG plant. See FPG land reclamation in pink dolphin habitat update.

Photo B: Photo courtesy and copyright of FormosaCetus Research & Conservation Group.

Photo B shows a recent photo of the same mother and calf pair shown in Photo A right up close to the sea wall of the area that has recently been reclaimed for a tree planting project at the FPG plant. What are these dolphins doing. Could it be that they are looking for their old home or feeding area? The reclaimed area is where dolphins fed in 2007 before work on the sea wall began in autumn 2007.

Photo C: Photo courtesy and copyright of FormosaCetus Research & Conservation Group.

Photo C is a recent photograph showing three pink dolphins at Dacheng with FPG in the background - they were first observed just south of Wang-gong and they were heading south slowly and clearly feeding (throwing fish out of the water, fish jumping to get away) along the way.

Also see Future home of Kuokuang Petrochemical! on The View from Taiwan blog.

A few photos- Chung Yuan Festival: The Ghosts Approach the President’s Office

2010-08-30T14:44:00.002+08:00

Protesters staged a protest outside the Presidential Office in the form of a Pudu ceremony.

Last Tuesday we posted a press briefing for a protest outside the Presidential Office. The protest was in the spirit of ghost month, which falls now during the seventh month of the lunar year. Protesters performed a Pudu ceremony outside the Presidential Office. The Pudu ceremony or ritual is one of the most important ceremonies of the Ghost Festival or Ghost Month as it is often called. During the event, people make offerings to the ghosts and spirits from the underworld during their month-long stay in the realm of the living.

Protesters said that seeing that the Presidential Office is unable to deal with some of the ghostly agitators in office they had invited NIAN Hsi-chieh, as the “Environmental Grand Taoist Master”, to offer up incantations for this year of the “wooden tiger” to show our utter disgust and disappointment with this sorry excuse for a government.

A few more recent Pink Dolphin photos

2010-08-27T14:43:00.002+08:00

Three more pink dolphin photos taken along the Changhua Coast on the morning of 22 August 2010 south of the Tadu River near the Changbin Industrial Park. Photos courtesy and copyright of Chang Hengjia, Taiwan Sustainability Union.

For more, see the Taiwan pink dolphin video.

Also see:
Recent Pink dolphin photos

More recent Pink Dolphin photos

Isn’t It Time the Legal Community Spoke Up?

2010-08-27T00:03:00.008+08:00

A letter by Robin Winkler of Wild at Heart Legal Defense Association. Wild is the Secretariat for the Matsu's Fish Conservation Union.

I was born in the US, and while I may be what most Taiwanese think of as a typical foreigner, the criticisms of how the “American way of life,” based as it is on excessive consumption and squandering of the world’s resources have long resonated with me. This has led me to spend most of the past 35 years in Taiwan, where upon arrival I was immediately taken by the people’s attitudes toward resources, attitudes that might be laughed at in my home country.

I first came to Taiwan in 1977, and saw how in many households family members would take turns to bathe in the same tub of water and then use it to water the flowers or mop the floor. When it came to using electric lights, people were careful to the point of stinginess. It was this energy-saving “Taiwanese way of life,” necessitated by the financial constraints of the time, that helped me fall in love with this place and its people.

Later and sadly for me however, as our economy took off, Taiwan blindly strived to achieve just the kind of American lifestyle that I had rejected. The result today is that the average amount of carbon dioxide emissions per person in Taiwan is three times the global average, and Taiwan’s emissions keep growing faster than anywhere else.

The sad thing is that when it comes to those American values that Taiwan **should** adopt, many people have not learned them thoroughly, carefully or properly, and people in leading positions who have studied abroad – mostly in the US – are often the first to betray those values. In Western societies, including the US, people take great care to abide by and uphold the rule of law. Government departments, in particular, are particularly attentive not to be seen as undermining the rule of law. It is a different matter in Taiwan. President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) received a doctorate in juridical science from Harvard University, but when serving as mayor of Taipei City he trampled the rule of law underfoot by refusing to pay the city’s National Health Insurance contribution arrears, as demanded by the Cabinet. His refusal continued after court decisions and even after an interpretation of the Council of Grand Justices ruled against his administration.

In a classic “follow the leader” Premier and former legislator Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) dismissed as “dark clouds” and “hocus pocus” a court decision ordering a halt to construction work on the Cising Farm (七星農場) extension of the Central Taiwan Science Park. It’s hard to decide whether to laugh or cry at such comments. Wu’s Cabinet team then willfully twisted the court’s decision, claiming that it meant the science park’s management administration would have to suspend its construction work (停工) but private corporations AU Optronics (友達) and Sunner Solar (旭能) could keep on operating(不停產). Then jumping into the fray comes Environment Minister Stephen Shen (沈世宏), who went even further, saying in emotive outbursts that “the court will pay the price” and claiming “judicial interference in environmental impact assessment matters”. Minister Shen has also busied himself with obfuscation tactics, spending endless hours penning newspaper articles berating the courts for their decisions and otherwise distracting readers from the substantive issues. This sort of behavior does raise questions on citizenship requirements for countries such as Canada.

The executive agencies ignore the laws passed by the legislature, and when the judiciary finds the executive agencies in violation of the law, the executive agencies spit on the courts’ decisions. How can we allow the legislature and judiciary to be treated by the Executive in this manner?

Through its actions, Taiwan’s government is gradually eroding and dismembering two fundamental values of Western societies – the separation of powers and the rule of law. We have been led to believe that these are core values for Taiwan, regardless of whether the Chinese KMT or the DPP is in the Executive. Having been educated in law in the US, I am both amazed and baffled by this trend. Ma’s governing team includes several ministers who studied in the US. These “counterfeit foreign devils” may speak fluent English, but when you look below the surface they seem more like students returning from China. To be fair perhaps we should note that while the principles of separation of powers and rule of law have been dominant in American thinking for over 200 years, we have only really had an opportunity to test these principles in Taiwan for the past twenty years or so.

But what really baffles me is where is the voice of Taiwan’s legal community in in the face of such brash abuse of process to the extent of bringing on a constitutional crisis. What accounts for the silence while the government proceeds with this systematic trashing of the law? In a country where legal scholars and professors are given so much reverence and stature, the rule of law needs you, the country needs you. Speak out!

Robin Winkler is chair of the Environmental Jurists Association and a former environmental impact assessment commissioner with the Environmental Protection Agency (2005-2007).
TRANSLATED BY JULIAN CLEGG

Letter originally posted on the Wild at Heart Legal Defense Association website.

Also see:
Academics against new Kuokuang plant

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

The saga of the CTSP Erlin Science Park and the Kuokuang Petrochemical Project

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

EPA and NSC appeal High Administrative Court order

Erosion of democracy and freedom Beijing style

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

Photos: EPA gives Phase 3 CTSP the nod even if the courts say no.

Taiwan's rubber stamp EPA

FPG land reclamation in pink dolphin habitat update

2010-08-26T12:47:00.013+08:00

Since 2007 we've had periodic updates on a land reclamation project in known pink dolphin habitat at the Formosa Plastics Group (FPG) plant at Mailiao, Yunlin County on the west-central coast. What follows are several recent photos from the reclamation site where trees are to be planted in a tree-planting for carbon gimmick. Destroying the marine habitat of critically endangered dolphins to plant trees on reclaimed land? Well, FPG was the winner of the infamous Black Planet Award for its shocking environmental track record. Last month two fires at the plant outraged local residents and caused horrendous toxic clouds that contaminated fields and fish farms.

Photo A (2008-08-08) shows a comparison of two photos taken of the same area. The top photo shows a dolphin in the area before reclamation work started in the autumn of 2007. The photo was taken in mid summer 2007. The lower photo shows the same area in August 2008. The area where the dolphin was is within the area between the two sea-walls. The approximate spot where the dolphin was is indicated with an orange arrowhead. FPG originally denied the existence of the pink dolphins in the waters around the plant but had to acknowledge their existence when researchers collected years of data and photographic evidence. Click to watch a film clip of pink dolphins swimming in the waters in the area where this reclamation project is taking place. The footage was filmed in the summer of 2007 shortly before work on the southern sea wall began.

Photo B (2009-03-05) shows the view from the shore looking out to where the dolphin in Photo A was. The area is now enclosed within the sea walls but still contains water.

Photo C (2010-07-16) is looking across the same area as in Photos A & B but from the base of the southern sea wall. The area is now being filled with sand and rocks.

Photo D (2010-07-16) is looking from the base of the southern sea wall towards the northern sea wall along the approximate former shoreline. The dolphin in Photo A was about midway between the two sea walls and just offshore.

Photo E (2010-07-16) is the view along the southern sea wall looking towards the tower which isn't visible now from this point.

Photo F (2010-07-16) shows the southern sea wall viewed from the pier. The tower is just visible to the left of the end of the wall. The former dolphin observation point used by researchers up until 2008 was just to the left of the trees.

Photo G (2010-07-16) shows sand being used for filling the reclamation area. In other reclamation projects fly ash and other such materials have been known to be mixed in with soil and sand. This raises concerns as to what exactly is being used as filler and is it free from toxins that could contaminate surrounding waters.

Photo H (2010-07-16) the end of the southern sea wall. The tower is clearly visible as are several ships. A flag marker for a fishing net is also clearly visible.

Photo I (2010-07-16) shows nets, fish traps and oyster beds in the channel south of the reclamation project. These pose a hazard to the dolphins. In September 2009 dolphin TW-03 drowned as a result of entanglement in fishing gear.

Photo J (2010-07-16) shows the view of another reclaimed area across the channel.

Photo K (2010-07-16) shows the view of another reclaimed area across the channel.

Photo L (2010-07-16) shows the view of part of the FPG plant from the pier.

Photo M shows a pink dolphin with the Formosa Plastics plant at Mailiao clearly visible in the background. The photo was taken just a few hours before the second fire in July at the FPG plant: Photo courtesy and copyright of FormosaCetus Research & Conservation Group.

Earlier reports:

Mailiao Reclamation Site - The Green Area ? (2007-09-30)

Pictures from Mailiao (2008-09-09)

Photos from Mailiao: more dolphin habitat gone ! (2009-03-06)

Dolphins in the waters around FPG and Dacheng (2010-08-31)

More recent Pink Dolphin photos

2010-08-25T11:55:00.007+08:00

16 pink dolphin photos taken along the Changhua Coast on the morning of 22 August south of the Tadu River near the Changbin Industrial Park. Photos courtesy and copyright of Chang Hengjia, Taiwan Sustainability Union.

For more, see the Taiwan pink dolphin video.

Also see:
Recent Pink dolphin photos

A few more recent Pink Dolphin photos

Chung Yuan Festival: The Ghosts Approach the President’s Office

2010-08-24T12:35:00.003+08:00

It's ghost month here in Taiwan. This morning we received the following press briefing which we've posted below.

Chung Yuan Festival: The Ghosts Approach the President’s Office
News briefing

The seventh month of the lunar year is the time when people traditionally pay tribute to the ghosts of departed souls. While it is known as “ghost month” the true spirit of the tribute is to honor the ghosts, spirits and others who protect the common people and the balance of the ten thousand beings.

Unfortunately we have been witnessing a tendency in policy, words and deeds of the government to enclose the farmers, favoring conglomerates and electronics and petrochemical companies, while ignoring the common people of flesh and blood, leaving environmental debt for the next generation to pay, and leaving the nation in ruins and the people impoverished. One can only conclude that the gods and spirits are very agitated.

Thus, on this day of the Pudu (普渡) ceremony (the 14th day of the Seventh Month of the Lunar Calendar, or 24 August of the solar calendar this year), seeing that the Presidential Office is unable to deal with these ghostly agitators, we have invited NIAN Hsi-chieh, as the “Environmental Grand Taoist Master”, to offer up incantations for this year of the “wooden tiger”. We also invite people from all walks of life to join in the ghost and spirit parade encircling the Presidential Office in a demonstration of the peoples’ utter disgust and disappointment with this sorry excuse for a government.

Time: Tuesday 24 August 2010 2 pm
Place: Presidential Palace (in front of the Taipei Guest House just south and from the MRT National Taiwan University Hospital Station

Sponsoring Groups: Matsu’s Fish Conservation Union (Wild at Heart Legal Defense Association Taiwan, Taiwan Academy of Ecology, Taiwan Sustainability Union, Taiwan Environmental Protection Union, Yunlin County Wild Bird Federation, Changhua Coastal Protection Union), Changhua County Environmental Protection Union, Green Party

Contact: Ms. WU Meng-chun 0963-324676, Ms. GAN Chen-yi 0928-926180

中元節神鬼日行總統府行動
採訪通知

農曆七月是民間習俗裡祭拜亡魂的月份，雖俗稱鬼月，然而心誠則靈，天地神鬼終究會保佑蒼生。但，政府政策圈地滅農、重財團輕庶民、債留子孫、禍國殃民，宛若神鬼亂舞；因此在農曆中元節當天，民間團體發起中元節神鬼日行總統府，請來「環境弘法師」粘錫麟老師獻誦〈庚寅年祭文〉，並廣邀各界「裝神弄鬼」，遶行總統府一圈，一吐人民的怨氣與不滿。敬邀媒體先進蒞臨採訪！

時間：2010年8月24日（星期二）下午兩點
地點：總統府前（台北賓館門口）

發起團體：
台灣媽祖魚保育聯盟（台灣蠻野心足生態協會、台灣環境保護聯盟、台灣永續聯盟、彰化海岸保育行動聯盟、台灣生態學會、雲林縣野鳥學會）、彰化縣環境保護聯盟、綠黨

新聞聯絡人：
吳孟純小姐 0963-324676
甘宸宜小姐 0928-926180

Update:
A few photos- Chung Yuan Festival: The Ghosts Approach the President’s Office

MFCU Press Release

2010-08-23T12:17:00.006+08:00

The following MFCU press release highlights the issue of non peer reviewed science that the [Taiwan] Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) and so-called developers like Formosa Plastics Group, Taiwan Power Company and Kuokuang Petrochemical seem so keen on favouring while ignoring the credible peer reviewed publications, findings and recommendations of both local and international experts.

PINK DOLPHINS:
WHERE’S YOUR MAMA?!
Press conference

Time: Monday 23 August 2010 10 am
Place: NTU Alumni Association Conference Rm 3C
No 2-1 Chin-nan Rd. Sec. 1 Taipei

The conservation of the unique Taiwan population of the Indo Pacific humpback dolphins (Sousa chinensis), also known as the “pink dolphins”,“Chinese white dolphins” or “Matsu’s Fish”, has long been the focus of attention of international scientists and conservation organizations. However, none of the relevant environmental impact assessment reports for development projects in or near the dolphins’ habitat has been approved by the international community of cetacean experts, nor have survey and research teams hired by the developer published on the impacts of the project in international peer-reviewed journals.

One has to wonder: does this group of researchers that takes on almost all the research projects from both government and industry really understand the pink dolphins? Or are they just lending their “academic credentials” as a stamp of approval for the development projects?

The team, lead by someone once given the title in the media as “Dolphin Mama” due to her very public position on conservation, has benefited from a slew of research projects ever since the pink dolphins started gaining public attention due to the research activities of international scientists (starting in 2002), the highlighting of the issue to the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) by local environmentalists (starting 2005), three international conferences and workshops convened in Taiwan (2004, 2007, 2009) by the aforementioned scientists and environmentalists, the formal petitioning to the Executive Yuan in January 2008, the establishment of the Eastern Taiwan Strait Sousa Technical Working Advisory Group (ETSSTWAG) which has offered assistance to Taiwan’s government, industry and researchers (January 2008), the declaration by the IUCN that the unique Taiwan population is critically endangered (August 2008) and a number of internationally published and peer reviewed journals and reports appearing nearly every year since the population was scientifically confirmed by a team of international scientists in 2002.

However, although the Dolphin Mama has been receiving research projects from government agencies (Forestry Bureau, Fisheries Agency) as well as developers (Formosa Plastics Group, Taiwan Power Company and Kuokuang Petrochemical) since 2005 including what is estimated to be well over 100 million NT$, however the results of the studies have not been been subject to peer review by cetacean experts.

This inevitably brings up questions and concerns over the quality of the research and the reports. Most recently the group, in representing Kuokuang Petrochemical developer, all but ignored what the international community believes to be the major impact of the project on the dolphins – land reclamation. Instead the group has been devoting itself to raising a number mitigation measures such as luring the animals to go around the construction site by feeding them fish and proposing many more research projects and other studies, while giving short shrift to the opinions of the international community and even making claims of “politics” playing in the decisions of the IUCN which resulted in this unique population’s designation of CR or critically endangered, the last step before “extinct in the wild”.

By refusing to stand up for the dolphins and insisting on rigorous scrutiny of the impact of the reclamation on their habitat, these “experts” are not only abdicating their duties as scientists, they also appear to be abandoning any idea of conservation for the dolphins.

At the press conference we will announce a recent international publication that discusses the serious impacts of the Kuokuang project on the survival of this population of dolphins. We have also invited Taiwan’s “teacher of teachers” when it comes to cetaceans, Professor YANG Hong-chia, who recorded sightings of the Indo Pacific humpback dolphins in Taiwan waters as early as 1963. Professor YANG will talk about how the deteriorating condition of our oceans around Taiwan for the past fifty years affects the Taiwan pink dolphins.

Host organizations: Matsu’s Fish Conservation Union (Wild at Heart Legal Defense Association Taiwan, Taiwan Academy of Ecology, Taiwan Sustainability Union, Taiwan Environmental Protection Union, Wild Bird Society of Yunlin, Changhua Coastal Protection Union), & Changhua County Environmental Protection Union.

Contact: GAN Chen-yi 0928926180

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

2010-08-21T15:18:00.010+08:00

Taiwan pink dolphin: photo courtesy of FormosaCetus Research & Conservation Group.

The Taiwan Environmental Protection Union, a member of the Matsu's Fish Conservation Union (MFCU) has launched a drive to raise funds to purchase 800 hectares of Dacheng wetland on the Chunghua County coast in an effort to help save this extremely important coastal habitat. The wetlands are vitally important for the survival of the critically endangered Taiwan pink dolphins and also several threatened bird species and marine life. The Dacheng [also spelt Tacheng] wetlands are also listed internationally as an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International/IUCN. Dacheng is a very important wintering area for the vulnerable Saunders's Gull (Larus saundersi).

Although Dacheng wetlands on the northern edge of the mouth of Jhuoshuei River are listed as an internationally Important Bird Area [IBA: TW-016] and is well known as an extremely important habitat for the unique Taiwan pink dolphins and many endangered fish and bird species, Kuokuang Petrochemical Technology Co. plans to build oil refineries in the area.

Mudflats at the Dacheng wetlands. These mudflats and estuarine waters are critical to the survival of the Taiwan pink dolphins and hosts of other wildlife.

In a previous drive 50,000 people signed up to purchase 200 hectares of Dacheng coastal wetlands in an attempt to block the construction of a petrochemical plant in the wetland area. Yesterday, the Taiwan Environmental Protection Union announced the beginning of the second phase of the project; to purchase another 800 hectares.

Environmental groups are still in the process of registering to create a trust fund. However, there are concerns that the government with its openly pro Kuokuang Petrochemical stance may well attempt to scuttle efforts to register the trust fund. The Kuokuang project is part of the 4th-phase-expansion of the Central Taiwan Science Park (CTSP). Last month the Taipei High Administrative Court ruled that construction work at the CTSP's Phase-4 zone in Erlin, Changhua County, had to be stopped until further environmental impact assessments were conducted and approved but the government has defied the ruling of the courts and allowed work to continue.

For more see Activists look to buy another 800 hectares of wetlands in today's Taipei Times.

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

Academics against new Kuokuang plant

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

The saga of the CTSP Erlin Science Park and the Kuokuang Petrochemical Project

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

EPA and NSC appeal High Administrative Court order

Erosion of democracy and freedom Beijing style

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?

Government defies the courts with the President's blessing

2010-08-20T13:36:00.012+08:00

Just two short weeks ago while commenting on the second fire within a month at the Formosa Plastic Group (FPG) plant at Mailiao, Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou said the government attaches equal importance to economic development and environmental protection, but if the two issues conflict, environmental protection would win out. Yesterday, Ma was defending the government's decision to defy a High Court order to suspend industrial production at the Central Taiwan Science Park's (CTSP) Houli site and to continue with production.

Just what is Ma up to? Ma has a real history of being wishy-washy and speaking out both sides of his mouth. Is this just another case of that? Two weeks ago, with Ma citing the Basic Environmental Act which says that environmental protection should be the priority if any economic or technological developments cause damage to the environment, one would have thought he was making a statement of support for the environment when it comes into conflict with the petrochemical industry. His utterings were on the same day as the High Administrative Court ruling on the CTSP expansion. OK, he was commenting on the Formosa Plastics Fire but when he went on to say his administration would handle related issues by adhering to the act one seemed to take him at his word and took it he wasn't just referring to the FPG fire at this point.

Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou: photo Wikimedia Commons.

With Premier Wu Den-yih remaining as defiant as ever following the court rulings over halting of the CTSP expansions, it appeared for a time that the President and Premier were on different teams. And then suddenly, the President seemed to fall in line with the wishes of his subordinate, Premier Wu. Should we be asking just who is calling the shots up at the top? The President, Premier and entire cabinet seem to be in open rebellion of the Judiciary. This raises extremely disturbing questions given the ruling party's authoritarian past. Does the KMT Government plan on turning back the clock to the Marshal Law era? The CTSP expansion seems to be fast becoming a tragic memorial to the death of Taiwan's west coast, the natural environment and the final nail in the coffin of the critically endangered Taiwan pink dolphins. Will it also mark the deathbed of an independent judiciary, the rule of law and democracy?

Critically Endangered Taiwan pink dolphins: photo Chang Hengjia, Taiwan Sustainability Union.

For more see President defends decision to allow controversial plan in today's Taipei Times.

In related news there were demonstrations outside the Fubon Bank's Taipei headquarters yesterday because the bank is a shareholder of Kuokuang Petrochemical Technology Co.'s planned petrochemical plant at Dacheng in Changhua County. The Kuokuang project is part of the controversial expansion of the CTSP which is proceeding in violation of a High Administrative Court ruling that the expansion should be suspended. Dacheng is an area of critically important habitat to the critically endangered Taiwan pink dolphins. The Dacheng area [also spelt Tacheng] is also listed internationally as an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International/IUCN. Dacheng is a very important wintering area for the vulnerable Saunders's Gull (Larus saundersi). For more on the Fubon Bank protests see Activists protest at Fubon Bank.

Three Saunders's Gulls in the foreground with Black-headed Gulls and other waders in the background: photo Wild at Heart Legal Defense Association.

Also see:
Academics against new Kuokuang plant

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

The saga of the CTSP Erlin Science Park and the Kuokuang Petrochemical Project

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

EPA and NSC appeal High Administrative Court order

Erosion of democracy and freedom Beijing style

Local residents block access to FPG plant

Local residents continue to block access to FPG plant

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

Isn’t It Time the Legal Community Spoke Up?

Science park development at Houli gets the nod

Photos: EPA gives Phase 3 CTSP the nod even if the courts say no.

Taiwan's rubber stamp EPA

Local residents continue to block access to FPG plant

2010-08-19T14:04:00.009+08:00

Protests outside the Formosa Plastics Plant at Mailiao in the wake of the second fire within a month at the plant: Photo - Wild at Heart Legal Defense Association.

Local residents yesterday morning continued to block access on one access road to the Formosa Plastic Group's (FPG) petrochemical complex at Mailiao on the Yunlin County coast in protest of two recent fires and excessive pollution levels generated by the petrochemical complex. Protesters disbursed after succeeding in disrupting traffic to and from the plant for part of the morning.

Understandably police were present to maintain order. However, the worrying trend of using police to defend the actions of unethical corporations continues. This creates the impression that the police are siding with corporations against the well being of suffering local communities. With the government ignoring court rulings to stop construction in planned petrochemical industry expansion projects the stage is being set for an extremely volatile situation as those effected by the projects are made to feel that even when they win in court the government and developers just ignore it and forge ahead regardless. Such a situation will almost certainly push people into taking the law into their own hands.

It is clearly unwise and unfeeling of the authorities to uphold the rights of petrochemical industry workers to work while totally ignoring the rights of locals to have a clean and non toxic environment. Many local farmers, fishers and aquaculturists have had their livelihoods ruined by the toxic fallout from two recent fires. Surely their right to work is equally as important as that of a petrochemical industry worker? But the police and authorities seem to be ignoring that.

The police really should be seen to be even-handed and not openly "pro" the petrochemical industry. Negligence, likely criminal, at the minimum must be the cause of some of the current pollution problems. It really is time for FPG and its management to come up against the heavy hand of the law that police seem so keen to dish out to anti petrochemical industry stakeholders in Yunlin, Changhua, Taichung, Miaoli and outside the Environmental Protection Administration in Taipei.

For more on yesterday's protests see Residents block access to FPG plant for a second day in today's Taipei Times.

Also see:
Academics against new Kuokuang plant

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

The saga of the CTSP Erlin Science Park and the Kuokuang Petrochemical Project

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

EPA and NSC appeal High Administrative Court order

Erosion of democracy and freedom Beijing style

Local residents block access to FPG plant

Government defies the courts with the President's blessing

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

Isn’t It Time the Legal Community Spoke Up?

Taiwan's rubber stamp EPA

Photos of the Nan Ya Plastics Corp fire

Local residents block access to FPG plant

2010-08-18T11:08:00.012+08:00

Legions of police officers guarding the Formosa Plastics management offices at Mailiao.

The second fire within a month at the Formosa Plastics 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.

Yesterday, local residents from the area around the Formosa Plastics Group (FPG) plant at Mailiao on the Yunlin County coast blocked access to the plant in a protest against excessive pollution levels caused by two fires at the plant last month. Clashes erupted when the police tried to forcefully remove and disburse protesting residents.

While one appreciates the need for the police to maintain order one can't help but note the irony of the situation and the worrying questions it poses.

The shocking international environmental track record of Formosa Plastics is no secret. From Mailiao, Taiwan to Illinois, USA, FPG has left a trail of toxic destruction. It was for this reason that ethecon, a German-based ethics foundation better known for the annual Blue Planet Award for outstanding dedication and service to the environment decided to bestow the infamous Black Planet Award for 2009 on Formosa Plastics for its dedication to the horrendous destruction it has unleashed on our planet.

On Sunday 25 July the second fire witin a month broke out at the FPG plant at Mailiao and once again toxic clouds engulfed the area. Fires at Formosa Plants are nothing new. Neither are they confined to Taiwan. The FPG fires at Illiopolis, Illinois in 2004 and Point Comfort, Texas in 2005 are just two other examples. Both fires resulted from poor safety management and standards.

The areas surrounding the FPG plant at Mailiao are know to have cancer rates around 6 to 7 times the national average (For more, see: FTV report on high levels of cancer in Mailiao and Taisi Townships in Yunlin County). Many local residents are farmers, fishers and aquaculturists. High levels of pollution and toxic waters destroy their livelihoods. Frustration and anger at Formosa is nothing new for many of these folks and their plight against the toxic corporate giant within their midst's has largely been ignored by the pro petrochemical industry authorities.

It is therefore not surprising that these people after the toxic fallout of two fires within in a month and the pathetic reactions of an indifferent government in the wake of the fires have found the situation intolerable and taken to the streets. After all, is the right to protest one of the pillars of democracy. However, before we continue we need to look at the current political environment these people find themselves in.

Just across the Jhoushui River from Mailiao in Chunghua County the battle over the controversial Central Taiwan Science Park (CTSP) is unfolding. Despite a Taipei High Administrative Court ruling last month that construction work at the CTSP's Phase-4 zone in Erlin, Changhua County had to be stopped until further EIAs were conducted and approved. The Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) has ignored the ruling and allowed companies that had already begun production or were building to continue to do so.

Further up the coast at Houli the EPA ignored a Supreme Administrative Court ruling against the EPA's Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) review of the CTSP Phase-3 zone in Houli, Taichung County in January and has allowed the development to continue. In both cases the seizure of farmland and displacement of rural communities to make way for so-called development has been a tragic reality. All the time the developers have been egged on by Taiwan Premier Wu Den-yih who is determined to see the CTSP expansions succeed regardless of what the courts say.

The environmental impact assessment process has not been transparent. Stakeholders, environmentalists, local residents have often been barred or simply not invited to meetings. When they try to attend they usually find legions of riot police barring their way. The president, premier and senior officials have snubbed local residents and refused to even meet them or hear their petitions.

Against this backdrop the situation on the ground certainly looks somewhat menacing and desperate. The people have tried legal options and when they succeed in the courts the government just ignores the rulings. When they go out onto the streets they are met by scores of riot police and leaders are detained because the "protest" has been deemed illegal by the police, which under the circumstances are being seen as enforcers of the will of the Premier Wu and the petrochemical industry rather than enforcing the rule of law and the orders of the courts. It would seem that Wu is setting the stage for a tragic disaster. If the people are left with no legal options then it is almost a certainty that they will feel the need to take the law into their own hands and the results of such actions will likely have very tragic consequences. Makes you wonder just who the real criminals here are?

For more on yesterday's protests see: Mailiao protestors block access to FPG plant.

Also see:
Academics against new Kuokuang plant

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

The saga of the CTSP Erlin Science Park and the Kuokuang Petrochemical Project

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

EPA and NSC appeal High Administrative Court order

Is the State turning the police into thugs?

Erosion of democracy and freedom Beijing style

Local residents continue to block access to FPG plant

Government defies the courts with the President's blessing

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

Isn’t It Time the Legal Community Spoke Up?

Yet another FPG related fire

Photos of the Nan Ya Plastics Corp fire

Erosion of law, democracy and freedom Beijing style

2010-08-17T12:03:00.011+08:00

For some thought-provoking comment on how the Ma regime seems to be rolling back democracy in Taiwan and slowly importing draconian-type legal concepts from across the Taiwan Strait see today's Taipei Times EDITORIAL: A very dangerous import from China. The handling of the Central Taiwan Science Park expansion comes to mind. Also, a letter by Julia Tong on the current struggle between Premier Wu Den-yih and the courts makes some very valid points on the current refusal of the Premier to respect the authority of the courts. See Wu let the dogs out?

Also see:
Is the State turning the police into thugs?

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

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

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

Isn’t It Time the Legal Community Spoke Up?

Science park development at Houli gets the nod

Photos: EPA gives Phase 3 CTSP the nod even if the courts say no.

Recent Pink dolphin photos

2010-08-16T12:17:00.006+08:00

Five photos of Pink dolphins taken on 12 August 2010 off the coast of Changhua County near the the Changbin Industrial Park . Between 10-15 dolphins were sighted. Photos courtesy and copyright of Chang Hengjia, Taiwan Sustainability Union.

For more, see the Taiwan pink dolphin video.

Also see:
A few more recent Pink Dolphin photos

More recent Pink Dolphin photos

Is the State turning the police into thugs?

2010-08-13T12:49:00.014+08:00

Police Officers barring entry into the EPA offices at a previous CTSP review meeting: photo courtesy MFCU

Yesterday police manhandled stakeholders that had gathered in opposition to the Central Taiwan Science Park's Phase-3 zone development at the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) offices in Taipei when they tried to observe an EPA review meeting being held at the EPA offices.

The EPA ignored a Supreme Administrative Court ruling against the EPA's Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) review of the CTSP Phase-3 zone in Houli, Taichung County in January. Then, last month the Taipei High Administrative Court ruled that construction work at the CTSP's Phase-4 zone in Erlin, Changhua County, had to be stopped until further EIAs were conducted and approved. The EPA has appealed the Taipei High Administrative Court ruling and has allowed companies that had already begun production or were building to continue to do so.

This is not the first time that stakeholders that oppose the expansion project have been barred from attending, left out of or simply not invited to attend review meetings. Many have alleged that the EPA and developers have tried to settle disputes in secret. Certainly, there has been a very worrying lack of transparency in the entire CTSP expansion process.

When the situation arises where the courts have ordered that work stops but the government allows it to go ahead just what are the police expected to do when the people protest? Clearly in this case the police are taking orders from and executing the desires of the present government even if it seems to go against the rule of law. At present there seems to be no questioning of the government's position by senior police officers. The police in Taiwan have a legacy of abuse. During almost four decades of Marshal Law they acted as the enforces of state policy for the autocratic Nationalist regime. Is the Nationalist government once again turning the police into thugs? We certainly hope not.

See Science park hearing sparks clashes in today's Taipei Times.

Also see:
Academics against new Kuokuang plant

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

The saga of the CTSP Erlin Science Park and the Kuokuang Petrochemical Project

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

EPA and NSC appeal High Administrative Court order

Erosion of democracy and freedom Beijing style

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

Photos: EPA gives Phase 3 CTSP the nod even if the courts say no.

Taiwan's rubber stamp EPA

EPA and NSC appeal High Administrative Court order

2010-08-13T11:18:00.012+08:00

Last Thursday, the Taiwan Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) said it would abide by the High Administrative Court's order to halt all expansion activities on the Phase 3 Zone Development of the Central Taiwan Science Park but on Monday, they along with the National Science Council, filed several appeals against the Taipei High Administrative Court's ruling on the third and fourth phase expansion of the Central Taiwan Science Park.

To be fair, the EPA and NSC are within reason entitled to a bit of leeway in their interpretation of what 'abide' means but it would appear that their interpretation seems to go way beyond the usual understanding of what the word is said to mean in your handy pocket dictionary.

It therefore came as no surprise that this past week the EPA and NSC have done everything in their power to get around, over and under the Taipei High Administrative Court's ruling while Premier Wu Den-yih strongly voiced his encouragement for the EPA and NSC to ignore the courts.

Exactly what the situation on the ground is at present seems a little sketchy. It appears that the NSC has halted or at least has said it will halt work on infrastructure at the Erlin and Houli sites but they would allow companies that had already begun production or were building to continue. It would seem that the 'powers that be' are once again employing their usual tactic of forging ahead regardless so that by the time the legality of the matter is ruled upon the outcome of the project is a fait accompli.

For comment in the press see:

Wu supports science park on allowing operations

Council suspends expansion work on science park

Ma's misplaced stream of tears

EPA, science park, NSC appeal ruling on park expansion

Also see:
Academics against new Kuokuang plant

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

The saga of the CTSP Erlin Science Park and the Kuokuang Petrochemical Project

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

Is the State turning the police into thugs?

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

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

Isn’t It Time the Legal Community Spoke Up?

Science park development at Houli gets the nod

Taiwan's rubber stamp EPA

Shen's latest EPA green gimmick

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

2010-08-06T11:02:00.009+08:00

The Taiwan Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) yesterday said they would abide by the High Administrative Court's order to halt all expansion activities on the Phase 3 Zone Development of the Central Taiwan Science Park, but then launched into an explanation as to why the court's decision was wrong and warned of the negative consequences of the court's decision.

Yeh Jiunn-horng, director-general of the EPA's planning department, tried to explain the EPA's position by using this analogy "Like a housing project that passes an impact assessment and the developer begins construction...Three years later, the environmental impact assessment becomes invalid, the building becomes illegal and all the tenants have to move out. More cases like this will happen. I can assure you that the Central Taiwan Science Park would not be the only one."

Yeh Jiunn-horng's comments tend to highlight the fact that the EPA seems more concerned with facilitating so-called "development" projects on behalf of large corporations than fulfilling its mandate of protecting Taiwan's environment.

With the legacy of a one party dictatorship and almost 40 years of marshal law, many of Taiwan's government departments have a legacy of being nothing more than rubber stamp bodies for the cabinet. Certainly, even the judiciary has been manipulated in the past. However, with the coming of democracy, many within the judiciary have tried to move in the direction of a real independent judiciary. Many within the government don't seem to understand what an independent judiciary is all about and struggle to comprehend that the judiciary isn't just there to do the governments bidding and must rule in favour of the government each time the government demands that is does.

The EPA has been accused of ignoring court rulings and due process. Many projects have gone ahead under extremely dubious legality. The Hushan Reservoir and old Songshan Tobacco Factory projects to name but two. In the case of Hushan, the then EPA Minister even overruled his own environmental impact assessment commission's ruling and allowed construction to go ahead.

The EPA's policy has appeared to many to be one of allowing projects of dubious legality to go ahead so that by the time the courts are able to rule on the issue, the project is a fait accompli. When a project begins under very dubious legality and later the law demands that it is halted the developer and the EPA have no one else but themselves to blame for the losses incurred. These developers know that they are engaged in projects of dubious legality and forge ahead because there is a legacy of being able to get away with it. Lets hope the courts are able to turn the environmentally-devastating Central Taiwan Science Park expansion into a very costly white elephant so that it serves as a very strong warning to unscrupulous corporations, the EPA and those in the government that want to sell out Taiwan's natural environment for a quick buck.

For more comment see:
EPA to "abide" by ruling on science park

Time to review industry policy

No place for groveling or praying in democracy

Also see:
Academics against new Kuokuang plant

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

The saga of the CTSP Erlin Science Park and the Kuokuang Petrochemical Project

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

EPA and NSC appeal High Administrative Court order

Is the State turning the police into thugs?

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

Photos: EPA gives Phase 3 CTSP the nod even if the courts say no.

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

2010-08-05T11:33:00.022+08:00

Premier Wu Den-yih continues on his crusade for the Taiwan petrochemical industry and seems to have totally lost sight of the fact that he is actually the Nation's Premier. On Friday, while commenting on the Formosa Plastic's fires, President Ma Ying-jeou's cited the Basic Environmental Act, which states that environmental protection should be the priority if any economic or technological developments cause damage to the environment. Ma then then went on to say his administration would handle related issues by adhering to the act. Yet, yesterday, the Nation's Premier was once again undermining the authority and independence of the Judiciary and calling the competence of the courts into question. In so doing, is he also not actually undermining the office of his boss, the President?

Premier Wu Den-yih. These days he seems to behave more like a Kuokuang Petrochemical executive than the nation's premier: photo Wikimedia commons.

The Basic Environmental Act clearly states that environmental protection should be the priority if any economic or technological developments cause damage to the environment. It is beyond a shadow of doubt that the expansion of the Central Taiwan Science Park is going to have a massive and irreversible impact on the environment of western Taiwan. Kuokuang's carbon dioxide emissions are expected to be around 12 million tonnes per annum according to the developers. Independent civic groups have shown that the real figure could be as high as 33 million tonnes. If the planned Kuokuang and Formosa Plastics development (8.3 million tonnes) go ahead it will increase Taiwan's carbon dioxide emissions by a huge 16% (based on the Taiwan's 2008 total carbon dioxide emissions). That's at the minimum. If projected figures from civic groups are used the total could be a shocking increase somewhere between 20-30%.

As the leaders of the nations of our planet focus on trying to reduce emissions the Taiwan Premier is on a mission to dramatically increase Taiwan's. Such actions can only be seen as defying global responsibility and totally out of touch with reality. Wu's attitude is one of absolute arrogance and his actions are immoral and irresponsible, if not even possibly criminal.

While the entire planet is being forced to cut back on emissions, does Wu not comprehend that if Taiwan dramatically increases its emissions this could well lead to punitive actions against Taiwan? Wu, by his own actions, is showing that he will stop at nothing to try satisfy the desires of the petrochemical industry. He will use forced land seizures to get the land needed. He has no problem driving farmers and villages off their land. He will destroy the livelihoods of fishing communities along the coast. He shows no regard for increasing cancer rates and the environment. Even designated important wetlands, like the the Dacheng Wetland an internationally listed Important Bird Area must just give way to the his brand of development. The likely resulting extinction of the critically endangered Taiwan pink dolphins isn't of concern when a quick buck can be made. Wu has shown nothing but contempt for the independence of the judiciary. He seems to believe that the Environmental Protection Administration is there to ensure that environmental issues don't get in the way of the petrochemical industry's expansion. He shows no respect to the nation's leading academics who have sent a strong message saying that Kuokuang is a bad idea. Wu seems to be leading the appeal against the High Administrative Court's decision. Does Wu believe the office of Premier puts him above the law. Wu really seems to have forgotten he is Taiwan's Premier. It really is time for President Ma to act against his wayward subordinate.

For more, see Wu backs appeal on science park.

Also see the following Taipei Times articles:
EDITORIAL : Environment trumps development

Recent land grabs just an echo of past actions

Kuokuang to shift to gas to salvage US$19bn plan

For more on the Pink Dolphin Blog see:

Also see:
Academics against new Kuokuang plant

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

The saga of the CTSP Erlin Science Park and the Kuokuang Petrochemical Project

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?

Erosion of law, democracy and freedom Beijing style

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

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

Isn’t It Time the Legal Community Spoke Up?

Science park development at Houli gets the nod

Wu going soft on Formosa?

Taiwan's rubber stamp EPA