The Ministry of the Interior (MOI) has selected 21 wetland areas that are expected to be listed as wetlands of national importance in February, bringing the total number of such wetlands to more than 100, a ministry official said yesterday.
The newly selected wetlands cover a total area of 20,000 hectares in 14 cities and counties, the official said, citing an initial assessment report of national wetlands for released by the Construction and Planning Agency this year.
The new sites include one listed as a world-class wetland on the Changhua Coast, 10 listed as national-level wetlands in the Tamsui River basin, Taoyuan County’s Hsutsuo Harbor (許厝港), Nankunshen (南鯤鯓) in Tainan County and other areas, and 17 of local importance in Hisnchu, Nantou, Pingtung and other cities or counties, the report said.
In the agency’s first assessment conducted in 2007, 75 sites were identified as wetlands of national importance, the official said.
This year, the ministry’s wetlands evaluation panel selected the 28 sites as nationally important wetlands from a number of wetland areas recommended by 36 civic groups, schools and public and private institutions, the official said.
The ministry also made adjustments on the grades of the original 75 wetland sites. For example, the Jhubei Lianhua Temple wetlands — the habitat of several rare aquatic carnivorous plants — was proposed to be upgraded to a national-level wetland site with the aim of strengthening habitat protection there, the official said.
The final assessment report will be made public on Feb. 2, World Wetland Day, when a ceremony to present accreditation certificates will be held, the official said.
Taiwan was listed in 14th place among the world's wealthiest country in terms of GDP per capita, in the latest rankings released on Monday by Forbes magazine. Taiwan's GDP per capita was US$76,860, which put it at No. 14 on the list of the World's 100 Richest Countries this year, one spot above Hong Kong with US$75,130. The magazine's list of the richest countries in the world is compiled based on GDP per capita data, as estimated by the IMF. However, for a more precise measure of a nation's wealth, the magazine also considers purchasing power parity, which is a metric used to
Taiwan yesterday expelled four China Coast Guard vessels that entered Taiwan-controlled restricted waters off Lienchiang County (Matsu) shortly after the Chinese People’s Liberation Army announced the start of its “Joint Sword-2024B” drills around Taiwan. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said in a statement that it had detected two China Coast Guard ships west of Nangan Island (南竿) and another two north of Dongyin Island (東引) at 8am yesterday. After Chinese ships sailed into restricted waters off Matsu shortly afterward, the CGA’s Kinmen-Matsu-Penghu Branch deployed four patrol vessels to shadow and approach the vessels, it said. The incidents pushed up to 44 the number
Renovations on the B3 concourse of Taipei Main Station are to begin on Nov. 1, with travelers advised to use entrances near the Taiwan Railway or high-speed rail platforms or information counter to access the MRT’s Red Line. Construction is to be completed before the end of next year, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp said last week. To reduce the impact on travelers, the NT$95 million (US$2.95 million) project is to be completed in four stages, it said. In the first stage, the hall leading to the Blue Line near the art exhibition area is to be closed from Nov. 1 to the end
Taipei’s Ximending (西門町) shopping area welcomed the most international visitors, followed by Taipei 101, Songshan Cultural and Creative Park and Yangmingshan National Park (陽明山國家公園), a list of the city’s most popular tourist attractions published by the Taipei Department of Information and Tourism showed. As of August, 69.22 million people had visited Taipei’s main tourism spots, a 76 percent increase from 39.33 million in the same period last year, department data showed. Ximending had 20.21 million visitors, followed by Taipei 101 at 8.09 million, Songshan Cultural and Creative Park at 6.28 million, Yangmingshan at 4.51 million and the Red House Theater (西門紅樓) in
RSS