Sun, Sep 04, 2011 page3

• FEATURE:Dongsha Isles may be opened to ecotourism

  • Staff Writer, with CNA
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  After functioning as one of Taiwan’s most important military outposts since the 1950s, the Dongsha Islands (東沙群島, known as the Pratas Islands in English) are now being opened for a more amiable purpose — ecotourism.

  In a trial run, the government initiated a summer camp last month that invited 46 university students to take a 16-hour voyage across the South China Sea for a glimpse of the islands’ unique biodiversity.

  Before this unprecedented nature excursion, with the exception of the military and a handful of academics, nobody had set foot on the atolls.

  

  A beach in the Dongsha Islands is shown yesterday. The group of islands, Taiwan’s first marine national park, is gradually being opened to ecotourism.

  Photo: CNA

  Located 450km southwest of Kaohsiung, the Dongsha Islands have been claimed and occupied by Taiwan since 1946.

  However, the islands have never been open to the public for reasons of national security.

  The island group includes Dongsha Island, which is 2.8km long and 865m wide, the Dongsha Atoll, and two underwater banks. The atoll, which includes the coral beneath the sea, is round in shape, with a diameter of 25km.

  “Dongsha is important to Taiwan in terms of military strategy and operational tactics,” said -Chiang Huang-chih (姜皇池), a professor specializing in international maritime law at National Taiwan University’s College of Law.

  Every ship that sails south from Taiwan must pass the island, so it is necessary for the government to maintain a clear sea channel and prevent blockades in times of war or emergency, Chiang said.

  Despite the islands’ military importance, Taiwan has chosen to tone down its armed presence in recent years and promote peaceful development with Southeast Asian countries over disputed South China Sea territories.

  For instance, its military presence at Dongsha was replaced by the Coast Guard Administration in 2000.

  Although occasionally the coast guard deters fishermen from other countries from entering its territorial waters, it also works hand-in-hand with officials from the Marine National Park to conserve the islands’ biodiversity.

  According to park official Chen Hui-ju, Dongsha’s location in the tropics has blessed it with 200 species of plants, birds and insects, as well as 300 coral reefs.

  Park officials and the coast guard not only protect the wildlife from pollution, but have also initiated projects to conserve the coral, restore indigenous species and rebuild hatching grounds for green sea turtles, she said.

  Some initial results have been encouraging.

  The coverage of live coral on the outskirts of Dongsha Atoll, which was almost destroyed by warm waters resulting from an El Nino weather pattern in 1998, has reached more than 80 percent, according to information from the park administration office.

  On Aug. 23, a green sea turtle weighing more than 100kg trudged ashore and laid her eggs, the first recorded instance of this in years.

  With more recovery efforts under way, a senior park official said they were now focusing on transforming Dongsha into a “green” island, which includes using solar power for electricity.

  “I read about Dongsha in textbooks, but had never seen it with my own eyes. It’s such a mysterious place,” said Chao Lo-yu (趙珞榆), a student from Taipei College of Maritime Technology who went on the four-day government--sponsored tour.

  “However, the scenery here is beyond my imagination. I am totally overwhelmed,” she said. “The massive amount of sea grass along the shores and countless stars in the sky are things I had not expected from this remote military island.”

  Chao and three other students, who are studying tourism and hospitality, want the government to turn Dongsha into a tourist destination for both domestic and foreign tourists.

  “More people should be told of the beauty of nature and transformation here,” she said.

  However, Marine National Park official Chen Kuo-yung said it would take some time before the island could be opened to the public. Conservation and evaluation needs to happen first.

  “We would have to evaluate the damage that would be made by human intrusion, and the island’s sustainable tourist capacity,” Chen said.

  Chen said a five-year biodiversity restoration project would conclude next year. In it, scientists will make recommendations on what to do with the islands next.

  So for now, the summer camp remains the only channel for the public to get a glimpse of their territory in the South China Sea. This year, only 40 university students will breathe Dongsha’s salty air.

  Coast Guard Administration Deputy Minister Cheng Chang-Hsiung (鄭樟雄), who organized the island’s preview, said the camp represented the government’s strategy of combining hard power and soft power, which he dubs “smart power.”

  The government still needs to have a hard power presence in the form of the coast guard, but with feel-good projects like biodiversity conservation, authorities hope to convince the public to value its Dongsha territory.

  With that, he urged this first batch of students to help with PR by blogging about Dongsha and sharing their experiences with family and friends.
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