Tamsui River nature reserve provides sanctuary for red mangroves

2020/04/27

Tamsui River Mangrove Nature Reserve in New Taipei City provides a safe haven for mangals calling the banks of its namesake waterway home, highlighting Taiwan’s commitment to environmental conservation.

 The 76.4-hectare space was established in 1986 in accordance with the Cultural Heritage Preservation Act, promulgated four years earlier with the goal of protecting local ecosystems and biodiversity. It joins numerous parks, nature reserves and wildlife habitats established around Taiwan, together making up nearly 20 percent of the country’s total land area.

 For visitors strolling through the reserve, red mangrove trees are a familiar sight. But in 1979, the mangals had a lucky escape from a government plan to remove an expanse of trees to make way for social housing.

 It was only the raised voices of local botanists such as Chou Chang-hung, an academician at Taiwan’s foremost research institution Academia Sinica in Taipei City, that brought the project to an end.

“The 1970s were a time when environmental awareness was almost zero in Taiwan, with no legal protections,” Chou said. “But successfully stopping the housing development really changed the fortunes of the area.”

Concerted conservation efforts finally led to the establishment of the Tamsui reserve encompassing the land previously earmarked for development. According to Chou, the site is not only about preserving the target plant—any organism that thrives in a sediment deposition environment benefits from the reserve.

 Red mangroves, which grow in tropical and subtropical mudflats near estuaries and shorelines, provide essential protection from tidal erosion and typhoon surges, Chou said. This in turn allows an ecosystem supporting crabs, mudskippers, oysters, shrimps and other aquatic creatures to thrive, he added.

The reserve is administered by Luodong Forest District Office, one of the eight regional divisions of the Cabinet-level Council of Agriculture’s Forestry Bureau, the lead body overseeing national conservation activities. The Luodong office oversees reserves in parts of New Taipei and the northeastern county of Yilan.

 To help explain its work to the public, the office operates a Mangrove Ecocenter at Hongshulin station on the Taipei metro’s Tamsui-Xinyi line. Among its attractions is a 368-meter elevated scenic boardwalk available for ecotourists, nature lovers and birders that allows visitors to get up close and personal with the mangrove forest without harming flora or fauna.

 Chou has watched with satisfaction as the Tamsui mangrove forest has expanded over the past three decades, progressing from a small area to an extensive intertidal wetland ecosystem. He has remained deeply involved in Taiwan’s environmental movement since campaigning for the site’s preservation.

“The time has come for a return to equilibrium,” Chou said. “All of us must work for the benefit of this planet and its flora and fauna.”

Source: Taiwan Today (https://taiwantoday.tw/index.php)