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Assessment of wetlands shows diverse benefits

The Construction and Planning Agency (CPA) under the Ministry of the Interior has announced initial assessment results of the nation's wetlands, dividing them into three ecological categories.

Seventy-six wetlands in the country were classified as global-class, national-class and local-class wetlands after assessments by agency officials.

Wetlands play an important role in keeping the ecological balance by replenishing underground water reservoirs, filtering water, mircoclimate control, flood detention, coastline protection and providing shelter to organisms, an agency official said.

In addition, wetlands are also important for science and educational research, tourism, and serve as a gene bank due to the diversity of their organism species, the official said.

The black-faced spoonbill habitat to the north of the Tsengwen River (曾文溪) mouth and Ssutsao Wetland (四草溼地) in Tainan were the only two classified as global-class wetlands, official said.

Once dotted with salt fields and fisheries, the Ssutsao Wetland was designated as a wildlife reserve in 1994.

With three of Taiwan's four mangroves -- Lummnitzera racemosa, Avicennia marina and red mangrove -- the Ssutsao Wetland is rich in biological diversity, and is an important midway point for birds passing through the Asia Pacific region.

Currently, the Tainan City Government works with local non-governmental groups to provide guided tours for visitors.

On the other hand, the northern bank of Tsengwen River mouth, in Tainan County, is an important habitat for black-faced spoonbills that fly into the region each year after the autumn equinox and spend the winter there.

Other than the birds, the mangrove forests and animals like fiddler crab are also ecological treasures in the region, Tainan County official Yen Chiu-hsiung (顏秋雄) said.
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