The government opened a marine national park office in Kaohsiung on Thursday in a move it said signified its determination to protect the oceans and marine life.
Minister of the Interior Lee Yi-yang (李逸洋) and Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu (陳菊) presided over the opening ceremony for the Marine National Park Headquarters, located in Metropolitan Park in downtown Kaohsiung.
Lee said that the headquarters will initially administer the country's first marine national park, the Dongsha Atoll National Park, in the South China Sea.
Lee said the ministry's Construction and Planning Agency will evaluate the feasibility of designating several scenic outlying islands, such as Green Island, the Penghu Islands and three islets off the northern coast, as marine national parks to better manage and conserve marine resources in those areas.
Noting that the establishment of the headquarters signifies the government's determination to raise the level of protection extended to the oceans and marine life to be on a par with global standards, Lee said the new office will focus on conducting marine resource surveys, research, conservation, management as well as manpower cultivation, the development of eco-tourism and raising public awareness of marine conservation issues.
Dongsha Atoll
The Dongsha Atoll National Park, covering Dongsha Island along with two coral reefs completely submerged at high tide -- the Beiwei Bank (also known as the North Vereker Bank) and the Nanwei Bank (or South Vereker Bank) -- is located 444 nautical miles (822km) southwest of Kaohsiung.
The government constructed a national monument on the island on June 30, 1989, and an adjacent structure to protect the monument on May 18, 1993, to assert its sovereignty over the archipelago.
poaching
The establishment of a marine national park administration was required because the marine resources and natural ecology in the area have been gravely damaged over the past decade because of rampant poaching by fishermen using destructive fishing methods such as poison and explosives, an Interior Ministry official said.
Government data shows the Dongsha islands cover an area of 350,000 hectares, with atolls accounting for 80,000 hectares.
Noting that the islands cover an area three times that of Taipei City, the official said the archipelago boasts the largest and most unspoiled group of atolls in the Western Pacific.
With their unique maritime eco-system, the official said the coral reefs surrounding the islands are the best in Taiwan's territorial waters. Dongsha's coastal waters are also known for their biodiversity, with 489 fish species and about 200 strains of coral documented, as well as numerous other marine species.
It has therefore become necessary for the government to set up the marine national park administration to better protect and conserve the natural ecology of the area, the official said.
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