The Siangshan Wetlands (香山濕地) in Hsinchu have over the past decade experienced a flush of biodiversity, with the number of black-faced spoonbills and Taiwanese fiddler crabs increasing by about 10 times, the city government said on Friday last week.
The city government has thinned mangrove trees on more than 100 hectares of the approximately 1,700 hectare wetland in a bid to restore habitats, Hsinchu Mayor Lin Chih-chien (林智堅) said.
The city government had commissioned National Tsing Hua University to survey conditions in the wetland.
Photo: Wang Chun-chieh, Taipei Times
The number of black-faced spoonbills has increased from 26 in 2011 to 216 this year, while the number of Taiwanese fiddler crabs has risen from 13,000 in 2006 to more than 120,000 this year, showing that their habitats have been successfully restored, Lin said.
The survey shows that the number of species significantly increased after the city government cut down overgrown trees, Hsinchu Department of Economic Development Director Wu Chia-tien (吳甲天) said.
Thinning the trees helped transform mud into sand, which has a higher concentration of oxygen and allows microorganisms to decompose organic substances more efficiently, Wu said, adding that creatures such as nereis and gammarids also benefit from the improved environment.
These creatures are a staple food for water birds, which capture the small creatures in ditches in the wetland, he said, adding that black-faced spoonbills also use the area to rest while migrating.
With overgrown trees removed, the wetlands have become broader and stabler, and the abundant surroundings attract many migratory birds searching for food in winter, said university Department of Biomedical Engineering and Environmental Sciences professor Yang Shu-sen (楊樹森), who led the one-year survey.
The habitat of Taiwanese fiddler crabs has expanded as well, and their number has grown to a record high in 10 years, Yang said, adding that he expects the population to keep growing.
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Monday called for greater cooperation between Taiwan, Lithuania and the EU to counter threats to information security, including attacks on undersea cables and other critical infrastructure. In a speech at Vilnius University in the Lithuanian capital, Tsai highlighted recent incidents in which vital undersea cables — essential for cross-border data transmission — were severed in the Taiwan Strait and the Baltic Sea over the past year. Taiwanese authorities suspect Chinese sabotage in the incidents near Taiwan’s waters, while EU leaders have said Russia is the likely culprit behind similar breaches in the Baltic. “Taiwan and our European
The Taipei District Court sentenced babysitters Liu Tsai-hsuan (劉彩萱) and Liu Jou-lin (劉若琳) to life and 18 years in prison respectively today for causing the death of a one-year-old boy in December 2023. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said that Liu Tsai-hsuan was entrusted with the care of a one-year-old boy, nicknamed Kai Kai (剴剴), in August 2023 by the Child Welfare League Foundation. From Sept. 1 to Dec. 23 that year, she and her sister Liu Jou-lin allegedly committed acts of abuse against the boy, who was rushed to the hospital with severe injuries on Dec. 24, 2023, but did not
LIKE-MINDED COUNTRIES: Despite the threats from outside, Taiwan and Lithuania thrived and developed their economies, former president Tsai Ing-wen said Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Saturday thanked Lithuania for its support of Taiwan, saying that both countries are united as partners in defending democracy. Speaking at a reception organized by the Lithuania-Taiwan Parliamentary Friendship Group welcoming her on her first visit to the Baltic state, Tsai said that while she was president from 2016 to last year, many Lithuanian “friends” visited Taiwan. “And I told myself I have to be here. I am very happy that I am here, a wonderful country and wonderful people,” Tsai said. Taiwan and Lithuania are in similar situations as both are neighbors to authoritarian countries, she
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) is to visit the UK during her ongoing European trip, which originally included only Lithuania and Denmark, her office said today. Tsai departed Taiwan for Europe on Friday night, with planned stops in Lithuania and Denmark, marking her second visit to the continent since her two-term presidency ended in May last year. Her office issued a statement today saying that Tsai would also visit the UK "for a few days," during which she is to meet with UK politicians and Taiwanese professionals, and visit academic and research institutions. Following Tsai's stop in Denmark, she is to visit the