Alternative development of seacoast economies

The COA has undertaken a total of 153 projects in harbor areas with the aim of adding recreational and tourism functions to traditional fishing harbors. Renovation and infrastructure work, including resurfacing of docks and construction of recreational fishing platforms, has been undertaken at several fishing harbors including Wushi, Badouzi, Wuqi, and Xinzhu. Work has also been done to create a yacht harbor at Badouzi.

Responsible fishing

The COA has strengthened collection and analysis of fisheries data (such as catch statistics and resource estimates) in order to improve management of the deep-sea fishing industry and effectively enforce the law. Four patrols were undertaken of fisheries areas in the high seas, with boarding and inspection of 52 fishing vessels; another 183 were inspected at harbors. In addition, 58 observers were assigned to execute at-sea observation, for an average coverage rate of 6.7% for the Pacific, Indian, and Atlantic oceans. The ROC therefore meets the 5% coverage request of international fisheries organizations. These observers took 6,799 biological samples as well as 15,738 items of data, including fish bodies, creatures from by-catch, and at-sea photographs. With instruction and assistance from the COA, 96% of small-and medium-sized longline fishing vessels have been equipped with VMS . Finally, one port was added for unloading of fish for Taiwan’s Atlantic bigeye tuna fishing fleet and for transshipment of frozen tuna to Japan.

In efforts to support biodiversity, the COA completed 160,000 cubic meters of artificial fish reefs and released 10 million fish fry.

AFFORESTATION, FOREST MANAGEMENT, AND BIODIVERSITY

Afforestation

Afforestation is a policy that simultaneously addresses many needs: It improves the quality of the natural environment, creates an integrated and coherent ecology where plant and animal life can thrive, creates lovely scenery, increases the amount of outdoor recreational space available to citizens, contributes to the development of the rural leisure industry, and plays an important part in soil and water conservation, thereby reducing the risks from natural disasters. For these reasons, the COA has developed a vision of creating “a safe, eco-friendly, and high-quality homeland” through afforestation. New planting was completed on 3,815 hectares last year, while mountain-slope reforestation was conducted on 1,722 hectares, for a total of 5,537 hectares.

Sustainable forest management

In order to collect information about the condition of the nation’s forests, and as part of the building of a long-term monitoring system for the ecology, we launched the Fourth National Forest Resources Survey in 2008. From 2008 through December 2010, surveying was completed of a total of 164,000 hectares of publicly and privately owned land in northern Taiwan and parts of central and southern Taiwan, and of 1.156 million hectares in national forests, for a total of 1.32 million hectares. In addition, follow-up surveying was done in 1,533 permanent forest plots. Finally, work was completed on the third stage of storage and organization work for an information platform that will supply maps and data acquired through remote sensing.

The COA also enhanced forest protection efficiency and increased patrolling frequency, aimed at prevention of forest fires and at illegal or excessive logging. There were 33 responses to forest fires (with area totaling 39.2966 hectares), 130 incidents in which illegal logging was brought to a halt (with lumber totaling 451.722 cubic meters), and 14 incidents of halting of excessive deforestation (covering an area of 4.6102 hectares). Moreover, thanks to joint efforts of the COA and the special forest and nature conservation unit of the National Police Agency of the Ministry of the Interior, a total of 266 cases of illegal activity (e.g. violations of the Forestry Act, the Wildlife Conservation Act, the Soil and Water Conservation Act, and so on) were handled, with 434 perpetrators sent into the justice system .

In an effort to strengthen restoration of the coastal ecology, enrich coastal scenery, and reduce damage from windblown sand, seasonal winds, salt, and tides, the COA completed 151 hectares of afforestation along the coast and on offshore islands and fortified the green corridor along the western seaboard.

Support for biodiversity

In 2010 the COA continued to (a) coordinate 38 projects with relevant ministries in implementation of the Biodiversity Action Plan; (b) maintain our biodiversity database and online resources; and (c) keep current our listings of scholars and experts working in related fields (now 708 names) and of plant and animal species that are found in Taiwan (now 52,599). In addition, in 2010 we published, in cooperation with the Academia Sinica, a book entitled The Avifauna of Taiwan, which gathers together research on, and observations of, avian life in Taiwan from the last 60 years.

The COA participates in the Svalbard Global Seed Vault project; in 2010 we further contributed 3,260 seeds from Taiwan soybeans.

The COA has continued with a demonstration program for management of a wetlands ecological park, for which sixty hectares of subsidence-affected farmland was rented. We also completed a project for restoring the terraced-rice-paddy ecology in the Bayan community of northern Taiwan, utilizing eco-friendly engineering methods to restore a century-old stone aqueduct and giving the plant and animal life that once thrived there a chance to recover; the project also will help revive the local economy.

The COA continued coordinating with the National Freeway Bureau to pursue ecological improvement projects to minimize ecological damage from highways.

In 2010 the COA completed a priority-evaluation system for management of invasive plant and animal species, as well as a mechanism for managing the division of labor among ministries and agencies. It also carried out monitoring and eradication of invasive species, including Mikania micrantha, Spartina alterniflora Loisel, Copsychus malabaricus, Kaloula pulchra pulchra, and Anolis sagrei.

Finally, we organized events to celebrate International Biodiversity Day (May 22) at which we exhibited progress made under the Biodiversity Action Plan over the last ten years. Participants included 31 ministries and other central government agencies, 21 city and county governments, and 24 non-governmental organizations.

CONSERVING, MANAGING, AND REHABILITATING THE LAND

Dealing with areas that are highly susceptible to flooding

In 2006, two sub-programs were launched to conserve the soil on mountain slopes in order to reduce the possibility of natural disasters. The first two stages (2006-2007 and 2008-2010), involving (respectively) 1,245 and 1,730 separate projects, have been completed, thereby securing an area of 892,000 hectares of mountain slopes and protecting 1.946 million people in flood-susceptible areas. A total volume of 23.086 million cubic meters of soil and gravel was produced through these projects.

The COA also undertook a total of 66 projects to improve farmland drainage in areas susceptible to flooding, completing 80 kilometers of drainage channels and 160 structures, reducing the potential flooding problems for 3,925 hectares of farmland.

Promoting the restoration of the national land

To achieve balance of the sediment yield in river watersheds, we have proceeded with a comprehensive investigation and plan and set out a clear division of responsibilities for related jobs. We have also proceeded with a disaster-prevention strategy that will combine hardware and software methods, and we have proposed follow-up control strategies based on the assessment of the inducing factors and extent of serious disaster events.

As part of its continuing implementation of two major programs to stop excessive cultivation or construction in areas of soil conservation, in 2010 the COA confiscated 856.14 hectares of illegally occupied forest land; moved faster to reclaim (with compensation) state-owned forest land that was rented out (recovering 1,000.2 hectares); and stepped up restoration work on damaged land (such as excessively cultivated land, areas where the soil has receded, forest fire areas, and collapsed slopeland), completing work on 1,122 hectares of damaged land.

Under the demonstration program for making wetlands parks out of land inundated under salt water as a result of subsidence, the COA has continued to rent 60 hectares of inundated land in Kouhu Township of Yunlin County and in the Xuejia District of Tainan City. In these spaces we are creating wetlands reserves and surveying the natural resources, with several goals: protecting biodiversity, slowing the rate of land subsidence, restoring land to a sustainable condition, and creating a foundation for the development of eco-tourism and other green industries. Ideally these projects will benefit local economies, the quality of life of all citizens, and the environment.

Promoting integrated conservation in river watersheds, stabilizing slopeland, and preventing disasters

The COA has been proceeding with a comprehensive plan for management and conservation of the Shihmen Reservoir and its catchment area. A total of $1.979 billion has been appropriated for the second stage of this plan (2009-2011). The conservation and management plan of the Shihmen Reservoir has achieved the following targets: stabilizing sediment with a total volume of 8.28 million cubic meters, increasing the completeness ratio to 62%, and extending the life of the reservoir.

To promote slopeland treatment and disaster prevention, we have continued conservation and management in reservoir watersheds to reduce the sediment flowing into the reservoirs and extend the lifespan of the reservoirs. In addition, the COA has speeded up the conservation of river watersheds and the safety of slopeland to create safe, high-quality, and ecologically-friendly environments in river watersheds, and to achieve the goal of the conservation of soil and water. A total of NT$621.4 million has been allocated for 91 projects.

The COA has sped up the plan for slopeland treatment, disaster prevention and the dredging of sediment deposited in rivers. During the term of the plan (2009-2010), the targets were to use funding totalling NT$4.97 billion to stabilize sediment with a total volume of 24.88 million cubic meters.

The COA has proceeded with the restoration of landslide areas, construction of sediment control works, and measures to deal with emergencies with a total of 304 projects in national forest land. The total area of restoration of landslide areas is about 365 hectares, and the total volume of the controlled sediment is about 8.25 million cubic meters. This work can achieve the restoration of the forests and protect the national forest land.

Constructing a network to prevent debris-flow disasters

Preventing debris-flow disasters

The COA (a) announced to the public 1,552 locations of potential debris-flow torrent, spread out over 19 counties, 159 townships, and 643 communities; (b) completed or revised Debris Flow Evacuation Plans for 551 communities; and (c) brought up to date the list of persons (totaling 34,483 as of 2010) who are to be protected under debris-flow evacuation plans.

Upgrading local capabilities to prepare for debris flow

In 2010, the COA undertook 252 drills or informational activities to prepare people to evacuate before potential debris flow, and trained 1,006 people to do specialized work in their communities to prevent disasters resulting from debris flow. We also promoted autonomous community-level disaster prevention projects in 167 rural villages.

Improving the debris-flow response mechanism

The COA conducted a reassessment of the rainfall threshold value for debris-flow warnings, and raised the figure from level eight (250-600 mm) to level nine (200-600 mm). In addition, the COA convened ten meetings (totaling 34 days and 3,037 participants) of the Debris Flow Disaster Emergency Action Team, notified 137,065 emergency contact personnel, issued red warnings 205 times, and issued yellow warnings 918 times.

Improving debris-flow torrent monitoring

In 2010 the COA: (a) continued to do 24-hour on-site monitoring at 17 fixed debris-flow monitoring stations across Taiwan, (b) provided data or images in response to queries, overlapping, and similar services on 22,642 occasions, (c) provided APP service for smartphones, (d) worked with the Ministry of Economic Affairs to develop the QPESUMS method for estimating precipitation volume, and (e) conducted exchanges or cooperation with counterparts in other countries on ten occasions.

Monitoring and management of slopeland

Locations where there is an urgent need for stabilizing soil and water resources are known as “designated water and soil conservation areas.” Long-term plans have been made or are being made for managing these areas. So far six conservation projects have been completed in such zones, while the COA has also provided guidance for long-term plans in seven other locations, and for the mapping of “designated areas” in two more cases. In addition, we completed classification standards for permissible slopeland use covering 3,123 hectares.

The COA (a) approved soil and water conservation plans (including simplified Soil and Water Conservation Statements) for slopeland in 1,452 cases; (b) did 1,944 inspections of ongoing projects of this type; (c) conducted SPOT satellite imaging in 3,366 cases; (d) conducted investigations into and forced a halt to illegal use of slopeland in 1,262 cases (with fines totaling NT$73.18 million and persons turned over to the judicial system in 79 cases); (e) provided guidance to local governments in creating soil and water conservation service teams, which provided service to citizens in 1,395 cases; (f) worked to improve public understanding of the importance of obeying the relevant laws in order to ensure that development and use of mountain slopeland is done safely.

The COA has continued to carry on refining laws and regulations governing water and soil conservation, proposing amendments when appropriate. In 2010, one set of regulations was issued as were three sets of amendments to regulations, while at the level of administrative directives, four were issued, 20 amended, and six either eliminated or suspended.

Rehabilitating aquaculture areas affected by land subsidence

In many areas where acquaculture is an important industry, excessive drawing of fresh groundwater has led to severe land subsidence, causing fish ponds to collapse and whole areas to be inundated by incoming seawater. The COA has selected several areas (including Yiwu in Kouhu Township in Yunlin County, and Xinwen and Dongshi in Budai Township in Chiayi County) for a demonstration program combining comprehensive water management, improvements to the landscape, and adjustment of production strategies. In these areas we have launched 16 infrastructure projects for seawater aquaculture; upgraded drainage in the subsidence-affected areas; completed 13,631 meters of water supply and drainage pipelines; completed 8,416.5 meters of roads; improved the quantity and quality of the supply of seawater needed for aquaculture ponds; and reduced drawing of underground water to prevent the collapse and inundation of fish ponds. Such measures will protect these parts of our nation’s territory from further deterioration and permit them to be sustainable productive.

Strengthening the irrigation infrastructure

Efforts to upgrade the irrigation infrastructure in 2010 yielded the following results: renovation of 395 kilometers of farmland irrigation aqueducts, completion of 918 related structures, and rezoning of 291 hectares of agricultural land. In addition, as part of the government’s economic stimulus plan, the COA expanded investment in infrastructure, in particular by speeding up a program to upgrade emergency water channels in rezoned agricultural land. Upgrading was completed on 434 kilometers of emergency irrigation canals, as well as on 495 structures. The COA also completed renovation and upgrading of irrigation canals on 1,938 hectares of land in early-stage redistricted farmland, as well as maintenance on 4,119 kilometers of irrigation canals for supply of irrigation water or for drainage.

Such measures enhanced safety for vehicles using agricultural roads, ensured the smooth operation of irrigation canals in rezoned agricultural areas, reduced water runoff and losses in canals, improved the environment for farm operations, improved the quality of life in local communities, provided jobs, and contributed to the government’s policy of stimulating the economy through infrastructure spending.