The bird flu outbreak has not affected black-faced spoonbills wintering in Tainan County's Chiku Lagoon, county government officials said yesterday.
Environmental agencies at the lagoon have stepped up monitoring measures in an effort to keep the disease, which is threatening poultry stocks throughout Asia, away from the endangered spoonbills.
According to head of Tainan's environmental bureau Lee Mun-she (李穆生), a realtime water-quality monitoring system has been established to transfer data to the local environmental bureau. The system was established after 73 black-faced spoonbills in Chiku died after being infected with C. botulinum toxin in December 2002.
"If we found anything unusual after reading the data and analyzing samples we collect from habitats, a warning would be sent to both on-site conservationists and agriculture officials to take preventive measures," Lee told the Taipei Times.
Lee said that water experts from Tainan's National Cheng Kung University were also involved in the task of preventing the spread of animal diseases.
According to Lin Ben-chu (
Wang Jeng-jyi (
Wang said that the 2,300-hectare habitat was divided into 14 divisions, with different groups taking care of each division.
Tainan County Commissioner Su Huan-chih (
Su said more resources were needed for the promotion of environmentally friendly technologies, which suit ecotourism.
"For example, we hope bamboo rafts or entertainment boats here can be powered by solar energy and create no noise pollution," Su said.
Lin Ming-teh (林明德), a Chiku native running entertainment boats to show tourists mangroves near the estuary of the Tseng River, said well-designed regulations on ecotourism were needed.
"I don't know about others, but I myself have joined five local conservation groups to improve my knowledge about ecotourism which a good tour guide should have," Lin said.
Chang Juu-en (
At Lungshan Village, which has a population of only 2,230, hundreds of elderly people take advantage of the area's natural resources, such as its oyster shells and seashells, and use them to pave pedestrian walkways and redecorate abandoned pig farms to attract tourists.
Cheng Mu-shuen (
"I feel happy when I see trees we planted grow well in our hometown," Cheng said.
The National Immigration Agency (NIA) said yesterday that it will revoke the dependent-based residence permit of a Chinese social media influencer who reportedly “openly advocated for [China’s] unification through military force” with Taiwan. The Chinese national, identified by her surname Liu (劉), will have her residence permit revoked in accordance with Article 14 of the “Measures for the permission of family- based residence, long-term residence and settlement of people from the Mainland Area in the Taiwan Area,” the NIA said in a news release. The agency explained it received reports that Liu made “unifying Taiwan through military force” statements on her online
A magnitude 5.7 earthquake struck off Taitung County at 1:09pm today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 53km northeast of Taitung County Hall at a depth of 12.5km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Taitung County and Hualien County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Nantou County, Chiayi County, Yunlin County, Kaohsiung and Tainan, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage following the quake.
Tung Tzu-hsien (童子賢), a Taiwanese businessman and deputy convener of the nation’s National Climate Change Committee, said yesterday that “electrical power is national power” and nuclear energy is “very important to Taiwan.” Tung made the remarks, suggesting that his views do not align with the country’s current official policy of phasing out nuclear energy, at a forum organized by the Taiwan People’s Party titled “Challenges and Prospects of Taiwan’s AI Industry and Energy Policy.” “Taiwan is currently pursuing industries with high added- value and is developing vigorously, and this all requires electricity,” said the chairman
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) is to begin his one-year alternative military service tomorrow amid ongoing legal issues, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. Wang, who last month was released on bail of NT$150,000 (US$4,561) as he faces charges of allegedly attempting to evade military service and forging documents, has been ordered to report to Taipei Railway Station at 9am tomorrow, the Alternative Military Service Training and Management Center said. The 33-year-old would join about 1,300 other conscripts in the 263rd cohort of general alternative service for training at the Chenggong Ling camp in Taichung, a center official told reporters. Wang would first
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