Reaching out for conservation

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."