Although tensions often arise between environmentalists and developers, the Taiwan Area National Freeway Bureau has come up with a creative method to try to please both camps.
The bureau announced yesterday that it would create a 10m long ultraviolet-lit passage under an overpass of the Formosa Freeway (National Freeway No. 3), between kilometer marker 251.7 and 252.3, to accomodate the seasonal migration of milkweed butterflies (
A protection net 20m long and 2.5m tall will also be placed next to the northbound lanes of the highway to force the migrating butterflies to fly higher, which will prevent them from being run over.
The measures are scheduled to be completed tomorrow.
The bureau may also close the northbound lanes on the far right during peak days of migration, which is expected to occur from April 3 to April 5, when the nation observes Tomb-Sweeping Day. The bureau will observe the numbers of butterflies and close the lanes if necessary.
The construction will cost the bureau NT$1 million (US$31,250).
Lee Tai-ming (李泰明), the bureau's director-general, said that milkweed butterflies normally migrate from the south to the north of the country in the spring and their migration route usually crosses the freeway's Linnei section.
Lee said the Butterfly Conservation Society of Taiwan had found through field research last year that more than 1 million butterflies could cross the section every day during the Tomb-Sweeping Day holidays.
Research conducted by I-Shou University has indicated that traffic on the freeway threatens the existence of the unique, endemic subspecies.
Lee said that researchers had forecast that the migration this year could begin next Monday and last until April 6, with a majority of the butterflies moving across the freeway between 9am and 12pm.
"This is the first time the bureau has taken proactive measures to protect a rare species in Taiwan," he said.
Lin Tieshyong (林鐵雄), an associate professor in the university's civil engineering department, said the protection measures were "emergency measures," since the migration was set to begin very soon.
Lin said the conservation of milkweed butterflies was urgent. In 2005 more than 1 million per day could be observed during the migration, but the number dropped to 100,000 a day last year.
‘TAIWAN-FRIENDLY’: The last time the Web site fact sheet removed the lines on the US not supporting Taiwanese independence was during the Biden administration in 2022 The US Department of State has removed a statement on its Web site that it does not support Taiwanese independence, among changes that the Taiwanese government praised yesterday as supporting Taiwan. The Taiwan-US relations fact sheet, produced by the department’s Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, previously stated that the US opposes “any unilateral changes to the status quo from either side; we do not support Taiwan independence; and we expect cross-strait differences to be resolved by peaceful means.” In the updated version published on Thursday, the line stating that the US does not support Taiwanese independence had been removed. The updated
‘CORRECT IDENTIFICATION’: Beginning in May, Taiwanese married to Japanese can register their home country as Taiwan in their spouse’s family record, ‘Nikkei Asia’ said The government yesterday thanked Japan for revising rules that would allow Taiwanese nationals married to Japanese citizens to list their home country as “Taiwan” in the official family record database. At present, Taiwanese have to select “China.” Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said the new rule, set to be implemented in May, would now “correctly” identify Taiwanese in Japan and help protect their rights, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. The statement was released after Nikkei Asia reported the new policy earlier yesterday. The name and nationality of a non-Japanese person marrying a Japanese national is added to the
AT RISK: The council reiterated that people should seriously consider the necessity of visiting China, after Beijing passed 22 guidelines to punish ‘die-hard’ separatists The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has since Jan. 1 last year received 65 petitions regarding Taiwanese who were interrogated or detained in China, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. Fifty-two either went missing or had their personal freedoms restricted, with some put in criminal detention, while 13 were interrogated and temporarily detained, he said in a radio interview. On June 21 last year, China announced 22 guidelines to punish “die-hard Taiwanese independence separatists,” allowing Chinese courts to try people in absentia. The guidelines are uncivilized and inhumane, allowing Beijing to seize assets and issue the death penalty, with no regard for potential
‘UNITED FRONT’ FRONTS: Barring contact with Huaqiao and Jinan universities is needed to stop China targeting Taiwanese students, the education minister said Taiwan has blacklisted two Chinese universities from conducting academic exchange programs in the nation after reports that the institutes are arms of Beijing’s United Front Work Department, Minister of Education Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀) said in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper) published yesterday. China’s Huaqiao University in Xiamen and Quanzhou, as well as Jinan University in Guangzhou, which have 600 and 1,500 Taiwanese on their rolls respectively, are under direct control of the Chinese government’s political warfare branch, Cheng said, citing reports by national security officials. A comprehensive ban on Taiwanese institutions collaborating or
RSS