Ecologists, volunteers and more than 200 members of the public will be participating in a 24-hour "bioblitz" this weekend at Taipei's Hua-Jiang Wild Duck Nature Park.
Despite the fact that the wetland conservation area abuts Taipei's bustling Wanhua area, the park is home to a panoply of birds and other wildlife such as the green-winged teal, the little ringed plover and the black-crowned night heron.
"This is conservation in the public eye," said Liang Kwei-mei (
"Participants will help us take stock of all aspects of of ecological health in the park, from water quality to counting the number of birds," Liang added.
The workshop's Wu Hai-shih (
"The number used to be around 10,000, but there has been a decrease in recent years due to water pollution," Wu said. "We would like to educate people and improve our understanding of the situation with this event."
The bioblitz is a concept that was first popularized by American biologist E.O. Wilson.
It is a 24-hour inventory of all the plant and animal life in a given area, often with interaction between members of the public and specialists in different areas of ecology.
"We hope to make the Hua-Jiang bioblitz an annual event so that we can compare the results from year to year," Liang said.
"The biodiversity in Taiwan is a treasure," said Demerie Faitler, an American who has been familiar with Taiwan for 20 years. "The variety of altitudes and different microclimates all over the island means that there is amazing variation in species here."
The biodiversity carnival, to take place on Sunday at the park, will feature various awareness-raising games and activities seeking to educate the public on the wildlife in their immediate surroundings.
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