The Ministry of Environment collaborated with local governments to control fugitive dust along the Jhuoshuei River (濁水溪), reducing incidents by 78 percent over the past seven years.
The dust control program was implemented in 2018 under instructions from then-premier William Lai (賴清德). It has integrated interagency resources to improve controls through hydraulic engineering, riverbank tree planting, and disaster prevention and response.
Deputy Minister of Environment Shen Chih-hsiu (沈志修) yesterday told a news conference that the vegetated area along the river has increased by 991 hectares from 2017 to 2023.
Photo: Wu Po-hsuan, Taipei Times
The number of fugitive dust incidents declined to five from 59 over the same period, Shen said.
Although dust control facilities were damaged by three typhoons last year, they were all fully restored by February, attesting to Taiwan’s climate resilience, he said.
Department of Atmospheric Environment Director Huang Wei-ming (黃偉鳴) said the river is prone to fugitive dust in northeasterly monsoon winds due to farming methods in the region.
Siltation and flooding that washes away control facilities also exacerbated the problem, Huang said, adding that about 2,000 hectares of the 6,553 hectares along the segment of river being managed were prone to fugitive dust.
Hydraulic engineering and afforestation approaches were applied, decreasing the area of exposed land by 77 percent, he said.
The goals are to have dust controls on 91 percent of the land by next year, reduce fugitive dust incidents to two to four days per year and ensure acceptable air quality across the region, he said.
The efforts to restore fugitive dust controls after last year’s typhoons have boosted the resilience of the river area, Huang said.
There was 849 hectares of land exposed by the typhoons last year, down about 50 percent from 1,730 hectares in 2017, he said, adding that the time to restore the land was cut by 80 percent to seven months from 36 months over the period.
The wind speed threshold to generate fugitive dust is up to 10.2 meters per second (mps) this year from 4.9mps in 2017, he added.
Lee Yu-ping (李友平), director of the Water Resources Agency’s Fourth River Management Branch, said that PM10 — an indicator of airborne particles measuring 10 micrometers or less — in the region had decreased by about 50 percent from 2017 to last year.
The improved environment has led to a recovery of local ecosystems, attracting birds such as oriental white storks and black-faced spoonbills, Lee said.
Mailiao Cultural Association president Wu Ming-yi (吳明宜) said the restoration of the river’s wetland has benefited local residents.
The central government should continue to support the local government to protect the river’s environment, Wu added.
“China is preparing to invade Taiwan,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an exclusive interview with British media channel Sky News for a special report titled, “Is Taiwan ready for a Chinese invasion?” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today in a statement. The 25-minute-long special report by Helen Ann-Smith released yesterday saw Sky News travel to Penghu, Taoyuan and Taipei to discuss the possibility of a Chinese invasion and how Taiwan is preparing for an attack. The film observed emergency response drills, interviewed baseball fans at the Taipei Dome on their views of US President
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a "tsunami watch" alert after a magnitude 8.7 earthquake struck off the Kamchatka Peninsula in northeastern Russia earlier in the morning. The quake struck off the east coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula at 7:25am (Taiwan time) at a depth of about 19km, the CWA said, citing figures from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center. The CWA's Seismological Center said preliminary assessments indicate that a tsunami could reach Taiwan's coastal areas by 1:18pm today. The CWA urged residents along the coast to stay alert and take necessary precautions as waves as high as 1m could hit the southeastern
The National Museum of Taiwan Literature is next month to hold an exhibition in Osaka, Japan, showcasing the rich and unique history of Taiwanese folklore and literature. The exhibition, which is to run from Aug. 10 to Aug. 20 at the city’s Central Public Hall, is part of the “We Taiwan” at Expo 2025 series, highlighting Taiwan’s cultural ties with the international community, National Museum of Taiwan Literature director Chen Ying-fang (陳瑩芳) said. Folklore and literature, among Taiwan’s richest cultural heritages, naturally deserve a central place in the global dialogue, Chen said. Taiwan’s folklore would be immediately apparent at the entrance of the
ECONOMIC BENEFITS: The imports from Belize would replace those from Honduras, whose shrimp exports have dropped 67 percent since cutting ties in 2023 Maintaining ties with Taiwan has economic benefits, Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials said yesterday, citing the approval of frozen whiteleg shrimp imports from Belize by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as an example. The FDA on Wednesday approved the tariff-free imports from Belize after the whiteleg shrimp passed the Systematic Inspection of Imported Food, which would continue to boost mutual trade, the ministry said. Taiwan’s annual consumption of whiteleg shrimps stands at 30,000 tonnes, far exceeding domestic production, the ministry said. Taiwan used to fill the gap by importing shrimps from Honduras, but purchases slumped after Tegucigalpa severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan
RSS