When Yeh You-chin (葉有進) was a boy, he often ate migratory birds. But 50 years on, he is now at the forefront of efforts to preserve the feathered visitors to his home in southern Taiwan.
Yeh, the 59-year-old chief of Fangshan Township (枋山), recently opened an exhibition hall devoted to the brown shrike, which passes through the area every year and until recently, did so at great risk.
“I remember how the air was filled with the strong smell of roasted shrikes,” Yeh said. “Some villagers made more money catching birds than people in the cities.”
Times have changed, and conservation efforts have now moved to the forefront of most people's minds in this rural area. The exhibition hall is testimony to this development.
“Visitors to the exhibition center can learn about brown shrikes, their relationship with human beings and their plight once they are caught in traps,” Yeh said.
For centuries, residents in the south looked forward to autumn and winter, when migratory birds would fly in from northern Asia.
They called them “divine blessings” because of the delicious flavor they added to the simple rustic fare they normally put on their dinner tables.
But over the past generation the situation has changed, and the birds are now referred to as “friends from far away.”
The dozens of species of migratory birds are now seen as more useful alive than dead, because they can help boost tourism revenues.
Persistent conservation efforts have paid off as a less-dangerous environment has led to more birds visiting each year, in turn also luring more tourists to regions such as Hengchun (恆春) near the country's southern tip.
“The Hengchun area has become one of the world's top 20 spots for appreciating birds of prey,” said Tsai Yi-zung, a bird expert at Kenting National Park.
Among these is the gray-faced buzzard, better known locally as the “National Day bird” because its arrival coincides with National Day celebrations on Oct. 10.
The number of gray-faced buzzards in September and October hit a 20-year high of 49,000, the national park said.
“The public mindset has changed over the past 25 years,” Tsai said. “I can't guarantee no one here ever eats a bird, but it’s definitely a very, very small number.”
This is not just because rising standards of living meant Taiwanese no longer have to rely on wildlife for vital extra protein.
The law also plays a role, and both the rules and their implementation have become stricter, with illegal bird catchers risking jail time of up to six months.
But there is still room for improvement, said Yu Wei-daw of the Taipei-based Chinese Wild Bird Federation.
Police arrested two hunters in Hengchun in October and later found a rich haul at their homes, discovering 36 dead gray-faced buzzards.
Meanwhile, educational programs sponsored by the national park seek to make the schoolchildren more conscious of the need to protect natural heritage.
“Many of the children who have been through the programs have become adults, and they — unlike their parents — no longer eat the migratory birds,” Tsai said.
Taiwan would benefit from more integrated military strategies and deployments if the US and its allies treat the East China Sea, the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea as a “single theater of operations,” a Taiwanese military expert said yesterday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a researcher at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said he made the assessment after two Japanese military experts warned of emerging threats from China based on a drill conducted this month by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Eastern Theater Command. Japan Institute for National Fundamentals researcher Maki Nakagawa said the drill differed from the
‘WORSE THAN COMMUNISTS’: President William Lai has cracked down on his political enemies and has attempted to exterminate all opposition forces, the chairman said The legislature would motion for a presidential recall after May 20, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday at a protest themed “against green communists and dictatorship” in Taipei. Taiwan is supposed to be a peaceful homeland where people are united, but President William Lai (賴清德) has been polarizing and tearing apart society since his inauguration, Chu said. Lai must show his commitment to his job, otherwise a referendum could be initiated to recall him, he said. Democracy means the rule of the people, not the rule of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), but Lai has failed to fulfill his
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
A rally held by opposition parties yesterday demonstrates that Taiwan is a democratic country, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, adding that if opposition parties really want to fight dictatorship, they should fight it on Tiananmen Square in Beijing. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) held a protest with the theme “against green communists and dictatorship,” and was joined by the Taiwan People’s Party. Lai said the opposition parties are against what they called the “green communists,” but do not fight against the “Chinese communists,” adding that if they really want to fight dictatorship, they should go to the right place and face
RSS