Following President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) opposition to the construction of a petrochemical complex on wetlands along the coast of Changhua County on Friday, Minister of the Interior (MOI) Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺) announced that the ministry would soon begin the process to turn the area into a nature reserve.
“I have asked the Construction and Planning Agency [CPA] to begin negotiating with the local government to turn the coastal wetlands in Changhua County into a nature reserve,” Jiang said in a press release yesterday. “If everything goes smoothly, we hope to hold the first expert meeting in two weeks to plan the wetlands park.”
The announcement came one day after Ma voiced his opposition to Kuokuang Petrochemical Technology Co’s plan to build a petrochemical complex in the wetlands because of strong opposition from local residents, environmental groups and university students from around the country.
Jiang said in the statement that he has asked the CPA to launch a detailed survey of the ecosystem in the Changhua County wetlands as it seeks to reach a consensus with the local government.
“Since 2007, the ministry has declared more than 82 sites across the country protected wetlands of different degrees, covering as many as 56.8 hectares ... because we recognize that wetlands are an important mechanism in preserving animal species, purifying water, economic production, stabilizing the coastline, as well as in tourism,” Jiang said.
Environmental and ecological groups recommended that the Changhua wetlands be placed on the list of protected wetlands in 2007 and 2008. However, when the CPA published the latest list of wetlands to be protected as natural reserves in January, the Changhua wetlands were not named.
The CPA said at the time that the Changhua wetlands were not listed because the county government was opposed to it, drawing criticism from environmentalists and ecologists who said the Changhua wetlands — the largest remaining coastal wetlands in the country — were “sacrificed” because of the Kuokuang project.
The Changhua wetlands are an important habitat for many endangered bird species and the endangered humpback dolphin, it is also an important production region for farm-raised oysters.
CPA Director-General Yeh Shih-wen (葉世文) yesterday said the agency would contact academics and ecological experts to see when it would be convenient for them to attend a meeting before setting a date.
Asked whether he anticipated the county government to again oppose the area being placed on the protected wetland list, he said: “I really cannot say at the moment since we have not talked to the local government yet.”
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