With urban areas in Taiwan slowly recovering from the fury of this summer's series of aberrant typhoons, there remain parts of the nation that have been scarred for many years to come, if not forever.
Huge areas of forested land in central and eastern Taiwan, especially in Nantou County and Hualien County, have been stripped bare by massive mudslides. Tonnes of topsoil has been washed away and the once green and lush forests have been turned into desolate, mud-caked areas void of flora and fauna.
While the nation's national parks have yet to file reports on the lasting damage to their lands, National Taiwan University's (NTU) geology and forestry departments and The Society of Wilderness (
PHOTO: HUANG WEN-HSIN
"It was the same after the [921 Earthquake]. We went straight out to check on the state of the land and an in-depth report was filed within weeks. I've still never seen a report from the national parks concerning lasting damage to flora and fauna in the wake of the earthquake," said Yuan Hsiao-wei (
"Sure, we hear about the damage to the parks' tourist facilities such as hotels and entertainment centers, but they seem to be rather slow when it comes to reporting on the natural environment," she said.
After Typhoon Toraji, which hit southern Taiwan in the early hours of July 30, the NTU geology department dispatched a team of researchers to central Taiwan to record the storm's devastation.
PHOTO: COURTESY OF NATIONAL TAIWAN UNIVERSITY AND CHEN KUO-HSIAN
The destruction caused by Typhoon Toraji was the worst in four decades. Over 100
people around the country were killed and a total of 1,700 homes were affected by flash floods and landslides triggered by the 700mm of rain that fell and high winds that lashed the area.
"Mudslides have been a problem ever since the KMT arrived in Taiwan. They set about deforesting large areas of land and never practiced sustainable harvesting of trees. Of course, the policy has changed and logging has been banned, but after years of rampant logging, the land has never recovered," said Payan Dalu (
PHOTO: COURTESY OF NATIONAL TAIWAN UNIVERSITY AND CHEN KUO-HSIAN
The NTU team focused its attention on landslides that had occurred in the National Taiwan University Experimental Forest (
Donated to the university by the government 50 years ago, the area incorporates the Chenyoulan (
Along with a huge abundance of native and non-native flora, the forest is home to over 300 species of fauna. The most prominent of the animals are the 108 species of birds, both seasonal and migratory, 43 of which are indigenous only to this area of Taiwan. The forest is also famous for its 150 species of butterflies, seven varieties of which can only be found in the mountains of central Taiwan.
PHOTO: COURTESY OF NATIONAL TAIWAN UNIVERSITY AND CHEN KUO-HSIAN
Suitably titled The Changing Color of the Land (
Its conclusions were blunt. Many of the areas that experienced the most devastating landslides this summer were the same areas heavily affected by seismic activity during and immediately after the 921 Earthquake in September 1999. The land had been earmarked for stabilization through the planting of grass and later trees to secure the land with a root system, thus stabilizing the soil. But the short period of time since the quake did not allow a sturdy root system to develop, Yuan said.
Although the planting of grass and trees to prevent landslides is a common practice around the world, environmentalists in Taiwan have begun to question the value of such programs.
PHOTO: COURTESY OF NATIONAL TAIWAN UNIVERSITY AND CHEN KUO-HSIAN
When Premier Chang Chun-hsiung (
"I think it's a waste of time and am sure the program was economically motivated rather than ecologically motivated," said Harry Huang (
Same old story
Despite such strong objections, the afforestation project is set to continue. The government plans to cover 230,000 hectares of land with over 10 million trees by 2004.
It's not only ecologists who are up in arms over the haphazard manner in which the program is being overseen. Aboriginal residents of areas prone to landslides understand the need to stabilize the land, but are calling for more thought and less speed.
"The planting program is not a bad thing. But when non-native trees are planted the ecosystem of the area changes," Payan Dalu said, adding that such tampering with the environment would do far more harm than good in the long run.
The seemingly proactive approach to afforestation adopted by the government of Chen Shui-bian (
According to Wang, the DPP is following the example set by successive KMT governments in dealing with problems that occur far from the nation's major cities.
"It's the same story every time. After nature has wrecked havoc, government officials appear and give cash to the local population and think that the problem will simply go away," says Wang. "Of course, it doesn't. What these problems need is long-term research into why and how they occur and future prevention of such problems."
No sooner had the National Taiwan University's research team returned to Taipei, than the forest was hit by Typhoon Nari. This time the destruction was far worse in terms of the loss of local fauna.
The university was unable to dispatch a team of researchers to the experimental forest following the typhoon because roads had been blocked by landslides. Instead, one researcher trekked into the forest.
In mid-July a team of students recorded 23 species of birds in the area of the experimental forest visited by the lone researcher. After Nari, the researcher was shocked to find that the bird songs that once echoed throughout the forest were gone. The forest was deathly quiet.
"I got a phone call [from the researcher] almost immediately. All she had to say was that there was no sound in parts of the forest," Yuan said. "It was quite disturbing, as the forest was home to a large number of species of birds, many of which were indigenous to the experimental forest."
The species of birds now lost to this area of land include such rare species as the white-eared sibia, the yellow-billed crow, the silver-eared robin, the white-bellied Formosan yuhina, the rufous-bellied babbler, the rufous-faced warbler and the yellow-cheeked tit.
Yuan, however, is confident that the disappearance of the birds is only temporary.
"I can't say how long it will take for the birds to return, but it will be over a period of years rather than months," she said.
In all, 5,000 hectares of land were affected by landslides in the experimental forest this summer. In other parts of the country, The Society of Wilderness report said vast tracts of forest suffered severe and long-lasting damage.
One hard-hit spot was the Shianjiaoshi valley (
Precious plants lost
Since 1997, the group has used the land to cultivate insectivorous plants, a floral family that includes the venus flytrap. Until as recently as 10 years ago there were 12 species of insectivorous plants growing wild in Taiwan. Due to acid rain, illegal cultivation of land and increasing use of pesticides, the numbers of these plants have dropped drastically.
The numbers had fallen so low, that the society was cultivating four varieties of insectivorous plants so that one day they would be replanted in areas where insectivores had already vanished.
Four years into a six-year program, it looked as if the society's hard work was paying off. Then came the typhoons.
"We believe that landslides destroyed absolutely every plant in the reserve. We couldn't find even one plant when we went to check after the typhoons. The valley was once roughly 15m deep, but now it's only 12m or 13m deep. There's about 1.5m of soil burying everything on the valley floor," Huang said.
The devastation has not only put the society's program back years and probably ended any hopes of reintroducing insectivores nationwide, it has also left the society with the rather difficult and painful decision of whether to abandon the plan entirely. Without the project, though, Huang said there was the possibility that many of the insectivores would become extinct in Taiwan.
Perhaps even more disturbing than the loss of the plants is the likelihood that the landslides that buried them can be attributed to human factors.
According to Huang, the Lotus Temple (蓮花寺), located on an adjacent hilltop, was to blame. The temple's reckless construction of a pavilion and the clearing of trees to provide an obstructed view of the valley were major factors, he said.
He pointed out the 45? gradient of the valley walls and noted that construction is forbidden on gradients higher than 30?. "And as for clearing away the trees simply to give people a better view, well, that's just ignorance and very, very irresponsible," Huang said.
Huang's strong words are similar to those heard recently in the Legislative Yuan about landslides in areas that had been used for the cultivation of betel nut. Since 1997, the government has been asking betel nut farmers to cut down their trees and replant their farms with other crops or plants that lead to less topsoil erosion, particularly on hills.
Farmers who comply with the program are offered incentives of NT$100,000 per hectare of replanted land with additional cash handouts of NT$30,000 per hectare of recultivated land for the next five years.
To date, less than 17 percent of the land used to grow betel nut trees has been replanted.
Both Yuan and Huang, however, feel that the betel nut farmers are taking the rap for a problem that isn't entirely of their own making. Farming of vegetables, in particular cabbage, and the use of pesticides are equally to blame, Huang said. Even the apple and pear orchards, that have become a favorite replacement crop for betel nut, can have a severe negative impact on the local environment, according to Yuan.
"It's a catch-22. People want fresh vegetables, but don't want to pay extortionate prices. The only way to keep the price down is to produce more, which in turn means that the vegetable farmers need more land," Huang said. "At present the only land available is on the tops or sides of mountains, which means more landslides in the future until the authorities deal with this problem."
Some have seen a possible windfall for the environment with entry into the WTO, which will allow more imports of frozen vegetables and may push some local farmers out of business. But many, including Huang, believe that while imported goods may be cheaper, people will still demand freshness, and, unfortunately, at whatever cost.
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