Embankments built with cement along irrigation channels and creeks flowing through farms are causing an ecological disaster in farming villages across the country, Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Tien Chiu-chin (田秋堇) and environmentalists said yesterday.
It’s not difficult to identify irrigation channels on green fields in rural Taiwan because the water usually flows in fixed routes with cement embankments.
“Irrigation associations across the country have been building embankments with cement for a long time. However, this is causing a big ecological disaster,” Tien told a news conference at the legislature. “With cement surfaces, animals won’t be able to build shelters.”
Various civic groups — including the Ecology Education Center of the Pingtung Teachers’ Association, the Taiwan Environmental Protection Union, Green Party Taiwan, Citizens of the Earth Taiwan and a dozen other environmental and cultural groups — organized the press conference to voice their worries.
Ecology Education Center executive director Chu Yu-hsi (朱玉璽) said that two of the irrigation channels near where he lives were recently cemented over.
“Studies show that many fish species commonly found in -irrigation channels and rural creeks disappear after they are cemented,” Chu said. “I think irrigation associations’ job is to help farmers maintain the natural embankment of irrigation channels and creeks, not to cement them over.”
Council of Agriculture figures show that, among the 70,000km of irrigation channels nationwide, about 50 percent have been built with cement.
With the passage of the Farm Villages Revival Act (農村再生條例) last year, the groups are worried that the cementing over of irrigation channels will accelerate.
Pointing out the importance of irrigation channels, Chen Yen-hua (陳彥樺), a member of an ecological -consultation firm, said that these channels act not only as resting places for wildlife, but also as agents of water conservation and filtration.
“In addition, irrigation channels are sometimes important migration routes for amphibious animals,” Chen said. “If they are all covered by cement, it will certainly be a huge disaster for the ecosystem.”
In response, Department of Irrigation and Engineering official Chen Yen-yuan (陳衍源) said at the press conference that the council also supports a more eco-friendly way of constructing and maintaining irrigation channels.
“Most irrigation channels are covered in cement because many farmers think cement construction is better,” he said. “But we’d love to work with environmental groups to promote more a eco-friendly way of dealing with irrigation channels.”
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