(原文登於英文台北時報四月二十二日Feature Section, Page 17- 24)
Reaching out for conservation
At a recent conference in Hong Kong, environmentalists from both sides of the Taiwan Strait agreed that education was the key to the future success of conservation
By Chiu Yu-tzu
STAFF REPORTER
When Simon Liao (廖世卿), director-general of the Wild Bird Federation Taiwan (中華鳥會), left Hong Kong April 10 after a two-day conference of environmental protection NGOs he said there was much to learn from the struggles of his counterparts.
"Different [social] systems, different [conservation] actions," Liao said, summing up what he learned.
Liao was one of 60 participants at an international forum for NGOs and journalists from Taiwan, Hong Kong and China held April 9 and April 10 in Hong Kong.
[ Taiwan's international approach ]
At the forum, Liao made a presentation on bird conservation in Taiwan, saying his group had maintained close links with organizations abroad.
He also said that through their efforts, the federation had succeeded in securing the protection of the endangered fairy pitta, known in Chinese as the "eight-color bird" (八色鳥), by opposing a planned gravel extraction project in their habitat in Yunlin County and had rediscovered the Chinese crested tern (Thalasseus bernsteini, 黑嘴端鳳頭燕鷗) in Matsu (馬祖). The bird had been thought to be extinct.
These breakthroughs drew the attention of Bird Life International (國際鳥盟), an international NGO dedicated to the protection of birds, which sent representatives to Taiwan to press the government for protection of the fairy pitta.
Speaking from his experience, Liao said gaining foreign financial support and strategy consulting is an effective way to strengthen local conservation activities.
International cooperation has long been a model for Taiwanese environmental protection NGOs in acticies ranging from saving forests and rescuing endangered animals to raising public environmental awareness. Another focus of Taiwanese
NGOs has been education on conservation issues. Nineteen local branches of the Wild Bird Federation Taiwan, for example, carry out bird-watching activities in different areas as part of an outreach to the local public.
Some conservationists also focus on educating children. Kaohsiung-based Takao Hill Association for National Park (柴山自然公園促進會), recently carried out an outdoor education program for children in response to stress placed by humans on Formosan rock macaques (台灣獼猴, Macaca cyclopis) that live on the city's Takao Hill (打狗山).
The Kaohsiung City Council passed regulations prohibiting feeding of the monkeys because researchers had discovered the monkeys were overweight and some suffered from hypertension because they had eaten too many snacks tossed to them by visitors.
"We need to educate children in the field. We teach them how to appreciate plants and how to treat monkeys appropriately," Yang Ping-yu (楊娉育), a conservationist with the association told the Taipei Times.
[ Politics in the way in China ]
Lin Shengzhong (林聖崇), head of the Ecology Conservation Alliance (生態保育聯盟), which encompasses 44 Chinese grassroots environmental groups, said conservation in China was often hamstrung by political considerations.
"I believe that conservation groups and the media in China are frustrated because they have to keep political taboos in mind at all times," Lin said.
An example of such "political taboos" is the reluctance of the media to report news about saving forests in Tibet.
Most of the Chinese reporters attending the forum said they would not report on conservation issues related to Tibet because they are "too sensitive."
Taiwanese reporters responded by saying they were deeply interested in stories pertaining to deforestation in Tibet, and cited their role in the preservation of Chinese cypress forests in Chilan Mountain (棲蘭山) in Taiwan as one of the media's success stories in working toward conservation.
But while issues related to Tibet may be difficult to publicize, there are areas that receive appropriate attention, such as saving an endangered monkey in Yunnan Province (雲南).
Xi Zhinong (奚志農) first photographed the snub-nosed monkey (Rhinopithecus bieti 仰鼻猴) in Yunnan between 1992 and 1994. The endangered species prefers to perch in high-altitude conifers and typically shies away from humans. The monkey -- also known as the golden monkey (金絲猴) -- was almost hunted to extinction because of its prized soft golden fur. The Yunnan golden monkey is the most endangered of four types of golden monkey (滇金絲猴).
In 1994, as a public relations officer for the Yunnan forestry administration, Xi helped a US scientist from the University of California at Davis, Craig Kirkpatrick, conduct a comprehensive survey of the Baimaxueshan (白馬雪山) Nature Reserve.
Kirkpatrick's team estimated the population of Yunnan golden monkey in the 20,000km2 reserve in northwestern Yunnan near Tibet at under 1500. The monkeys stay in areas above 4,000m.
When Xi later worked for Chinese Central TV (中央電視台) in Beijing, he devoted himself to rescuing the endangered monkey and protecting their habitat.
A program produced by Xi, translated roughly as "Focus and Response" (焦點反彈), drew the attention of Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji (朱鎔基) in 1998, who expressed anger at large-scale logging in Yunnan. Soon afterward, a commissioner in Yunnan was dismissed for his failure to ban logging in mountain areas.
"Ecological conservation is an unstoppable trend not only in China but also the rest of the world," Xi, now Chairman of Yunnan-based Green Plateau Institute (綠色高原), told the Taipei Times.
Xi said studying the Yunnan golden monkey was of particular research value, because the monkey, which Tibetans call the "father of humans," physically resembles humans more closely than any other kind of primate.
Xi told the Taipei Times he wants to raise awareness of conservation issues in Yunnan among students and middle-class residents. He pointed to local programs, such as the annual Green Camp (綠色營) for college students as opportunities to teach ecological conservation.
Lu Hongyan (盧紅雁), a lecturer of Sichuan University (四川大學), has been especially successful at raising funds from abroad for education programs at the university. Lu's efforts have attracted support from several US foundations and has received significant exposure in the Hong Kong media.
[ Poverty holds back some areas ]
Xi and Lu's successes, however, are limited to relatively prosperous regions. Sun Dehui (孫德輝), chairman of the Black-necked Crane Association (昭通黑頸鶴保護志願者協會), faces different challenges in trying to protect the endangered crane in Yunnan's poverty-stricken Zhaotong Prefecture (昭通).
The black-necked crane is the only crane to live above 2,000m. It was discovered by a Russian in 1870 at Qinghai Lake (青海湖), in Qinghai Province, where the birds spend the summer. The cranes winter in Yunnan and Guizhou Province (貴州).
Dabaoshan Township (大包山鄉) of Zhaotong Prefecture was once a wetland and an important wintering site for the crane. But its wintering grounds were turned into crop fields despite the birds' status as a protected species.
Sun said Zhaotong is an optimal location for the crane, and each year, 500 to 900 birds gather there, accounting for one seventh of the species' total population.
Sun established the association in 1998 and has petitioned the government to support his group in protecting the birds. His actions, however, attracted consternation from local residents who often have barely enough to eat.
At the forum, Sun recounted how the birds have been hunted for food.
"I hope someday people can realize the value of protecting the crane," Sun said.
In Hong Kong, professors and professionals have spearheaded the conservation movement.
The Conservancy Association (長春社), the oldest conservation group established in 1968, has long lobbied authorities and held conferences on ecological conservation to impress upon the Hong Kong Government the importance of environmental protection.
Association members have sought to impose a balance between conservation and economic development. They have done so by clearly specifying areas with abundant and valuable ecological resources.
"Some areas still suffer damage caused by development even though they are listed as protected," said a member.
Last July, association members petitioned environmental officials to reconsider building a railroad. Conservationists argued in the petition letter that a perfunctory environmental impact assessment of the project did not reflect the fact that a fresh water wetland would disappear as a result of the development. The project is still under review.
Simon Liao of the Wild Bird Federation Taiwan believes that protecting endangered birds should not be hampered by borders and said saving China's black-necked crane would be one of his group's priorities over the next year. He also donated funds to Sun's Black-necked Crane Association.
For Sun, attending the forum and receiving support from his counterpart in Taiwan may mark his first step toward international cooperation. -ENDIT-
[photo: COURTESY OF SUN DEHUI]
The black-necked crane is an endangered species found in China. Its wintering grounds are being depleted for use as farm land.
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