The Ministry of Transportation and Communications is promoting a tour to Tainan’s Jacana Ecological Education Park in recognition of the efforts to restore the propagation of pheasant-tailed jacanas in the past 20 years.
The ministry began contributing to the efforts to restore the shorebird’s population when it was planning the construction of the nation’s high-speed rail system, it said.
The number of pheasant-tailed jacanas at the time had dwindled to fewer than 50 nationwide, but a field research last year found that their population had recovered to 1,741, which shows that the efforts to conserve the species have produced significant results, it said.
Photo courtesy of Jacana Ecological Education Park
To illustrate the conservation efforts of the past two decades, the ministry has published a picture book, titled Floating Leaves of Pheasant-Tailed Jacanas (水雉的浮葉), which is available for purchase at bookstores, the ministry said.
The story in the picture book shows the relationship between jacanas and water chestnuts, and how eco-friendly farming methods help preserve the species and their natural habitats, it said.
The conservation efforts also led to the establishment of the Jacana Ecological Education Park in 2007, which is now a tourist attraction, the ministry said.
Minister of Transportation and Communications Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) yesterday visited an eco-friendly farm in Tainan and tried his hand at harvesting water chestnuts there.
He later visited the park and examined the conservation efforts there.
“The park was established to reduce the impact of the high-speed rail system on the habitats of jacanas, and it tells the story of a successful coexistence of economic development, transportation projects and the ecosystem,” Lin said.
Consumers should purchase water chestnuts with an eco-friendly label, he said.
The ministry is also planning to publish picture books on how it has helped protect leopard cats, milkweed butterflies and green sea turtles, he added.
The tour to the park is one of the best examples of high-quality domestic tours, which the Tourism Bureau is currently promoting, Lin said.
It not only allows tourists to harvest water chestnuts, an interesting and meaningful activity, but it also helps boost the local economy and bring job opportunities, he said.
Taiwan’s success in protecting jacanas has been recognized by the Jane Goodall Institute, the ministry said, adding that it is working with the institute and the park to host storytelling sessions with the picture book before Christmas, featuring Lin and Jane Goodall as storytellers.
Goodall would tell the story in English through a recorded video, the ministry said.
The first of 10 new high-capacity trains purchased from South Korea’s Hyundai Rotem arrived at the Port of Taipei yesterday to meet the demands of an expanding metro network, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said yesterday. The train completed a three-day, 1,200km voyage from the Port of Masan in South Korea, the company said. Costing NT$590 million (US$18.79 million) each, the new six-carriage trains feature a redesigned interior based on "human-centric" transportation concepts, TRTC said. The design utilizes continuous longitudinal seating to widen the aisles and optimize passenger flow, while also upgrading passenger information displays and driving control systems for a more comfortable
Taiwan's first indigenous defense submarine, the SS-711 Hai Kun (海鯤, or Narwhal), departed for its 13th sea trial at 7am today, marking its seventh submerged test, with delivery to the navy scheduled for July. The outing also marked its first sea deployment since President William Lai (賴清德) boarded the submarine for an inspection on March 19, drawing a crowd of military enthusiasts who gathered to show support. The submarine this morning departed port accompanied by CSBC Corp’s Endeavor Manta (奮進魔鬼魚號) uncrewed surface vessel and a navy M109 assault boat. Amid public interest in key milestones such as torpedo-launching operations and overnight submerged trials,
Quarantine awareness posters at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport have gone viral for their use of wordplay. Issued by the airport branch of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency, the posters feature sniffer dogs making a range of facial expressions, paired with advisory messages built around homophones. “We update the messages for holidays and campaign needs, periodically refreshing materials to attract people’s attention,” quarantine officials said. “The aim is to use the dogs’ appeal to draw focus to quarantine regulations.” A Japanese traveler visiting Taiwan has posted a photo on X of a poster showing a quarantine dog with a
Taiwan’s coffee community has launched a “one-person-one-e-mail” campaign, calling for people to send a protest-e-mail to the World Coffee Championships (WCC) urging it to redesignate Taiwanese competitors as from “Taiwan,” rather than “Chinese Taipei.” The call followed sudden action last week after the WCC changed all references to Taiwanese competitors from “Taiwan” to “Chinese Taipei,” including recent World Latte Art champion Bala (林紹興), who won the World Latte Art Championship in San Diego earlier this month. When Bala received the trophy, he was referred to as representing Taiwan, as well as in the announcement on the WCC’s Web site, until it
RSS