The number of pheasant-tailed jacanas, an endangered species of bird that prefers shallow waters and typically nests in water caltrop fields, in Greater Tainan’s Guantien District (官田) has rebounded following a project last year to plant organic water caltrops, the Council of Agriculture told a press conference yesterday.
The pheasant-tailed jacana’s large feet and claws enable it to walk on floating vegetation in shallow water. They used to be a common sight hopping from leaf to leaf in paddy fields, earning them the nickname “lily trotter.”
Greater Tainan Pheasant-tailed Jacana Ecological Education Area director Won Rong-hsuei (翁榮炫) said about a decade ago the number of pheasant-tailed jacanas in Taiwan had dropped to less than 50 because of destruction of their habitat by land development.
When the high-speed rail line was slated for construction across the area, the environmental impact assessment committee said that a circle of 15 hectares should be preserved for the species, Won said.
During the past three years, the number of pheasant-tailed jacanas in the area has risen to about 300 because of conservation methods that include planting floating vegetation to restore the birds’ preferred environment, Won said.
However, the birds often leave the area and are sometimes poisoned by pesticide, Won said.
Lee Tao-sheng (李桃生), acting director-general of the Forestry Bureau, said the council provides rewards to farmers when they preserve nests in their paddy fields.
In addition, starting in 2009, the council has helped farmers get rid of weeds and water snails, and assisted them by planting water caltrops to rehabilitate the bird’s nesting environment, Lee said, adding that the total amount of pheasant-tailed jacanas in Greater Tainan had increased to about 700 this year.
Last year, the council also started a project with then-Tainan county’s Pheasant-tailed Jacana Ecological Education Area and the Tse-Xin Organic Agriculture Foundation (TOAF) to assist water caltrop farmers in Guantien to stop using pesticides and chemical fertilizers.
Seven farmers have joined the project and their crops have been sold through the TOAF Web site and at organic food stores.
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