| Taiwan | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Location | Island southeast of China's Fukien province in western Pacific Ocean | ||||||||||||||||||
| National websites | Government Information Office and Taiwan Online | ||||||||||||||||||
| Embassy / Chancery in U.S. | Republic
of China, Government Information Offices
Information Division,TECO 6300 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 1510 Los Angeles, CA 90048-5204 |
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| Agencies responsible for biological inventory and conservation | Environmental
Protection Administration
41, Chunghwa Road, Section 1 Taipei, Taiwan R.O.C. |
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| Non-governmental organizations concerned with conservation | Taiwan
Endemic Species Research Institute
1 Ming-shen East Road, Chichi Township, Nantou County, Taiwan, 552, R.O.C. |
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| Major Natural Resources | Taiwan is endowed with agriculture, livestock, and timber, as well as fish, both fresh and salt water. The six national parks represent a diverse geographic distribution from steep cliffs to wind-carved stones to dormant volcanoes. Taiwan's island status gave rise to lots of endemic species of birds and insects. A few rare species of animals are shown to be descendants of the glacial period that survived in the cold altitude. Taiwan also participates in the aquaculture industry to raise fish. Nicknamed "Treasure Island" in its native Chinese, Taiwan also possesses a wealth of geological resources (precious stones). | ||||||||||||||||||
| Major Environmental and Conservation Issues | Taiwan's conservation efforts did not begin until a decade ago. Still pressured from economic interests, the government has a difficult task to preserve what's left. In order to save the island’s rare and endangered plants and animals, Taiwan must first alleviate the severe air, water, sewage, toxic chemical, and solid waste pollutions. Becoming increasingly industrial from its agricultural past, Taiwan's urban over-population threatens recent environmental efforts. On a bright side, Taiwan has saved landlocked Formosa salmon from extinction. Taiwan continues to plan for nature reserves and wildlife refuges, conduct habitat surveys of rare species, and promote educational campaigns. Since the announcement of the Wildlife Conservation Law, Taiwan has successfully enforced the law and cooperated to block smuggling of endangered species, such as those used in traditional Chinese medicine. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Statistics | Information Sources | ||||||||||||||||||
| Land area | 32,260 Sq. km | CIA info page | |||||||||||||||||
| Area of forest | 5,941 Sq. km | WCMC info page | |||||||||||||||||
| Area of wetlands | Not found, but do see a description from TESRI | sorry | |||||||||||||||||
| Area of territorial waters | 3,720 Sq. km | CIA info page | |||||||||||||||||
| Population: 21,908,135 (July 1998) | Density: | 679.11/Sq. km | CIA info page | ||||||||||||||||
| Area protected (ha) (only areas >1000ha) at all IUCN levels: | 426,597 | Fraction of land area protected (%): | 11.54 | WCMC info page | |||||||||||||||
| Major Protected Areas | 6 National Parks, 18+ Nature Reserves and 11+ Wildlife Refuges | Council of Agriculture | |||||||||||||||||
| Endemic Species |
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Taiwan Endemic Species Research Institute | |||||||||||||||||
| Endangered, Threatened and Vulnerable Species |
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World Conservation Monitoring Centre - Animal | |||||||||||||||||
| Extinct Species |
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World Conservation Monitoring Centre - Animal | |||||||||||||||||
| Species listed on CITES Appendices | Click here, then browse down and click on "Taiwan" | CITES-listed Species Database | |||||||||||||||||
| Legislation | |||||||||||||||||||
| Laws protecting endangered or threatened species | Wildlife Conservation Law and Recent Cases; Cultural Heritage Conservation Law | ||||||||||||||||||
| Laws protecting endangered ecosystems | Wildlife Conservation Law | ||||||||||||||||||
| Signatory to CITES | Taiwan is not a member of UN, so it cannot participate in CITES. However, Taiwan does support the CITES effort in many ways: International Participation. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Signatory to Ramsar Wetlands Convention | Did not sign | ||||||||||||||||||
| Signatory to Convention on Biological Diversity | Did not sign | ||||||||||||||||||
| Signatory to Migratory Bird Treaty | Not found | ||||||||||||||||||
| Member of International Whaling Commission | Not a member | ||||||||||||||||||
| Signatory to other international treaties designed to protect or manage biological resources | Cooperation with other countries such as South Africa and Viet Nam produced a number of meetings and treaties. See the Council of Agriculture website. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Natural Resource Use | Information Sources | ||||||||||||||||||
| Fisheries | Taiwan relies heavily on its fish industry, including far-sea fishing, coastal fishing, and aquaculture. Check out the detailed website of the Taiwan Fisheries Bureau. | Taiwan Fisheries Bureau | |||||||||||||||||
| Forestry / deforestation | A
brief word on forestry
and wood industry:
Taiwan puts great effort into the protection and conservation of forests. Reforestation aims at restoring the diverse forest geography. See the detailed site from the Council of Agriculture. |
Council of Agriculture | |||||||||||||||||
| Ecotourism | National Park System and Nature Reserves | Council of Agriculture | |||||||||||||||||
| Trade in wildlife products | Taiwan
protects a number of wildlife products, including bear gall bladder powder,
birds-of-paradise, ivory tusks, ivory products, musk adhesive plasters,
hawksbill specimens, hawksbill shell, leopard skins, Chelydra turtles,
horn frogs, scorpions and Asian bonytongues.
In addition, here's a project in wildlife trade, courtesy of Panda.org. |
Council of Agriculture | |||||||||||||||||
| Hunting | Not found | sorry | |||||||||||||||||
| Other uses of natural resources | Mining of precious stones; textile; furniture; computers | Taiwan Products | |||||||||||||||||
| Human Impacts on Natural Resources | Information Sources | ||||||||||||||||||
| Air pollution | Even
though Taiwan suffers from air pollution, the situation has been improving
in recent years. See an analysis.
An abstract of Taiwan's pollutions, courtesy of IGC.org |
Bureau of Air Quality Protection and Noise Control | |||||||||||||||||
| Water pollution | Taiwan suffers from severe water pollution and sewage problems for many decades, but great strides have been taken in recent years. | Bureau of Water Quality Protection | |||||||||||||||||
| Development activities | Urbanization of major cities (Taipei, Kaoshiung) grows at a steady rate. Over-population continues to be problematic in cities. | Agent of Urban Development | |||||||||||||||||
| Introduced species | Not found | sorry | |||||||||||||||||
| Legislation addressing these issues | Environmental laws and regulations | English translation | |||||||||||||||||
| Restoration and Reintroduction | Information Sources | ||||||||||||||||||
| Programs for restoration of damaged habitat | Instead of restoring, Taiwan is busy saving what's left of the ecosystem via habitat "preservation." One of the methods used is the National Park System and Nature Reserves to promote conservation. | Council of Agriculture | |||||||||||||||||
| Programs for ex situ conservation (captive breeding and reintroduction) of endangered species | With the extensive Wildlife Refuge, Taiwan actively participates in International Conservation efforts for the past decade. But Taiwan is more interested in saving what's still there instead of bringing back what's gone. | Council of Agriculture | |||||||||||||||||
Return to Endangered Species Protection around the World
Page compiled by Willie Chen as part of a class project in h90 "The Science of Biodiversity and Conservation" (Peter J. Bryant, Instructor), University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA 92697, USA