Ecologists fear that invasive plants would crowd out native species on Taiwan’s high mountains if the government does not take concerted conservation efforts and harmful construction practices continue, advocates said on Wednesday.
New Power Party Legislator Chen Jiau-hua (陳椒華) called on authorities to draft a report within a month on the threat to native vegetation brought by tourism and construction on mountains higher than 3,000m.
The report should include a strategy to address the problem, she said, vowing to convene a committee to track progress on the proposals.
Photo: Yang Cheng-yu, Taipei Times
Chen made the remarks at a news conference at the legislature in Taipei that she jointly convened with National Taiwan University ecology professor Wang Chun-neng (王俊能) and other experts.
Taiwan has about 3,600 species of flowering plants, about 900 of which are native, Wang said, adding that half of the world’s flowering alpine plants are native to their habitat.
Already endangered by climate change, alpine plants are facing additional threats through human activity, he said.
Invasive species can spread into conservation zones from gardens or by construction crews reinforcing slopes along roadways, he said.
Over five years, some invasive species can increase the area they cover 20-fold, posing a grave threat to endemic species, he added.
Invasive plants brought by construction crews threaten the survival of native alpine plants, Taiwan Academy of Ecology director Yang Kuoh-cheng (楊國禎) said.
Seeking to meet conservation rules and quickly beautifying the site, workers often plant hardy foreign species like tall fescue and perennial ryegrass after construction is completed, he said.
For example, after completing a slope fortification project near the 32km marker on Provincial Highway 14, the crew planted ryegrass and a type of lily that is not native to the area, Yang said.
Other places, such as a parking lot at Siaofengkou (小風口) on Hehuanshan (合歡山), have been completely overrun by non-native plants, he added.
Construction crews are instructed to plant native vegetation before leaving the site, said Huang Tzu-chuan (黃子娟), director of the national parks division at the Ministry of the Interior’s Construction and Planning Agency.
If an invasive species is identified in a national park, the division would communicate with the unit responsible and survey the site, she said.
In addition to the report, Chen also suggested that contracts for construction projects include a clause that prohibits dispersing foreign seeds.
NATIONAL SECURITY: Authorities are working to confirm the identities of the military personnel involved and investigating possible illegal conduct and regulatory violations Authorities are probing possible national security implications after Kinmen police and immigration officers on Sunday found a Chinese woman allegedly posing as a tourist while engaging in prostitution involving more than 10 military personnel. The woman, surnamed Chen (陳), has since been deported, authorities said, adding that investigators are still working to confirm the identities of those implicated, as the records only listed code names and aliases. The case stemmed from a report received by the Kinmen District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday last week from the Jinhu Precinct of the Kinmen County Police Bureau. On Sunday, police, along with the National Immigration
GLOBALGIVING: ‘ Caving to external pressure is not acceptable for an organization that has cultivated justice reform and human rights for 30 years,’ one NGO said A slew of non-government organizations (NGOs) have withdrawn from the GlobalGiving fundraising platform after it announced it would use “Chinese Taipei” instead of “Taiwan” from next month. The Taiwan Good Rice Association wrote on Facebook on Friday that it was informed on April 28 via a teleconference call of the change, which was made because the platform wanted to operate in China. Taiwan Good Rice is to terminate all cooperative relationships with GlobalGiving in response to the platform’s “unilateral and non-negotiable” decision to remove references to Taiwan, the NGO said. “Taiwan is in the official name of Taiwan Good Rice Association and the
HEAVY WEATHER: Typhoon Jangmi is due to crash straight into the Ryukyus as airlines look to shift flights to larger aircraft or cancel flights to Okinawa entirely Taiwan’s international air carriers announced flight adjustments over the weekend as Typhoon Jangmi is forecast to hit the Ryukyu Islands today and tomorrow. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) upgraded Jangmi from a tropical storm to a typhoon at 8am yesterday, with the eye located 580km south of Naha city. It was moving north at 19kph. Today, China Airlines’ CI-120, CI-121, CI-122 and CI-123 flights between Taoyuan and Naha, Okinawa, have been canceled as well as CI-132 and CI-133 between Kaohsiung and Naha. EVA Air’s BR-112, BR-113, BR-186 and BR-185 flights between Taoyuan and Naha are also canceled. Low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan canceled IT-230,
MULTIPRONGED APPROACH: China has sought to pressure Palau across a number of fronts, but the island nation has staunchly resisted overtures to ditch Taiwan Palau has been firm in backing Taiwan despite Chinese pressure that uses tourism economics, cyberattacks and criminal infiltration as tools to threaten the Pacific ally into renouncing its recognition of Taiwan as a sovereign state. The Presidential Office yesterday announced that Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) would visit Palau from Saturday to Wednesday next week at the invitation of Palauan President Surangel Whipps Jr. Whipps in April said in an interview that China had outspokenly asked Palau to “denounce Taiwan.” “And we have said: ‘We have no enemies, but nobody tells us who our friends are,’” he said. Whipps has told reporters multiple times
RSS