There is an expanse of mangrove trees in Kaohsiung’s Cijin District that were originally growing in an intertidal zone, but in the wake of human development there are only a dozen mangroves left. Among them are four black mangrove trees and one limnitzera that are about 80 years old. Unusually, they are growing on dry land. Their presence bears witness to Kaohsiung Port’s historical development, and they have been listed by the city government as special commemorative trees.
The city government’s Agriculture Bureau says that silt from the Gaoping River, carried by sea currents, gradually accumulated behind Qihoushan. Over the months and years it became Cijin Island, which, combined with Dalinpu, forms a 12 km-long sandbank that blocks out waves from the open sea. This made Kaohsiung Harbor into a lagoon that was once full of mangroves. The period of Japanese rule, however, saw the beginning of construction of Kaohsiung Harbor, which was further expanded by the government after the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) moved to Taiwan, and this led to the unrestrained felling of mangroves.
A survey carried out in 1959 showed that there were still 3,401 mangrove trees in the area at that time. After all the changes that have happened in the intervening 60 years, however, an inventory of mangroves carried out by Kaohsiung’s Agriculture Bureau shows that only a dozen or so mangrove trees remain today, scattered around the junction of Cigang Road and Jhongjhou Second Road. Following the terrestrialization of the area in which they grew, they are now growing on dry land — a rare sight indeed. They stand close to the homes of local residents, and this is the only part of Kaohsiung Harbor where there are still mangrove trees growing.
Photo: Chen Wen-chan, Liberty Times
照片：自由時報記者陳文嬋
Grandpa Sun, who is 90 years old, lives right next to the mangroves. Every day he sweeps up fallen leaves, greeting the mangrove trees as if they were old friends. He sees it as a way to keep moving and stay fit, and he is still in fine physical shape. He remembers how in his childhood there were mangrove trees all over Cijin, but now there are only a dozen or so left, so we need to cherish them, he says.
(Liberty Times, translated by Julian Clegg)
高市旗津區有一大片紅樹林，原本生長在潮間帶，隨著人為開發僅存十多株，其中四株海茄苳及一株欖李高齡八十歲，罕見生長在陸地上，見證高雄港發展歷史，被市府列為特定紀念樹木。
市府農業局表示，高屏溪泥沙因海流搬運，逐漸堆積在旗后山後方，經年累月形成旗津島，與大林蒲連成長達十二公里的沙洲，阻擋外海波浪，使高雄港成為潟湖，盡是紅樹林的天下，隨著日治時代高雄港開築，加上國民黨來台後擴建高雄港，大肆砍伐紅樹林。
四十八年曾調查高雄港紅樹林尚有三千四百零一株。歷經一甲子時代變遷，農業局清查紅樹林群，如今僅剩下十多株，分布旗港、中洲二路口，隨著生育地陸域化，罕見生長在陸地上，與附近住戶毗連而居，成為高雄港碩果僅存的紅樹林生長區域。
高齡九十歲的孫爺爺與紅樹林毗連而居，每天打掃落葉，與紅樹林打招呼，就像他的老朋友，當成是運動健身，迄今身體硬朗。他回想小時候，旗津到處都是紅樹林，目前僅存十多棵紅樹林，應該要好好珍惜。
（自由時報記者陳文嬋）
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