Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) yesterday unveiled the Hsinta Power Plant Yongan Wetlands Environmental Education Site in Kaohsiung’s Yongan District (永安), touting efforts to protect wild bird populations near the coal-fired power plant.
Taipower has been investing in the wetland conservation area for more than 10 years, using scientific management and water level regulation technology to transform it into a safe haven for aquatic and migratory birds, the company said, adding that more than 160 species had been spotted so far.
The number of birds visiting has continued to increase, with the number of black-faced spoonbills having increased fourfold in the past decade, it said.
Photo: Lin Jing-hua, Taipei Times
Sightings of black-winged stilts, northern shovelers and Eurasian wigeons are also on the rise, it added.
Hsinta Power Plant is to offer environmental protection courses specific to wetland conservation, and in September last year was the first power plant in Taiwan to be awarded certification by the Ministry of Environment as an environmental education facility, Taipower said.
The site opened for reservations from yesterday, with schools and organizations encouraged to contact Taipower for bookings, it said.
Taipower chairman Tseng Wen-sheng (曾文生) said he hopes that one day Hsinta Power Plant would be known as the “wild bird power station.”
Taipower polluted the environment for many years to provide a stable power supply, but in recent years it has worked tirelessly to enact change, he said.
The company hopes that it can change the public perception of Taipower by investing effort and resources in ecological conservation.
Taipower in 2010 established an ecological research team, conducted conservation research and collected more than 500,000 records of aquatic bird and water depth observations, it said.
During the Japanese colonial era, Yongan Wetland was developed into salt fields until it became the site of the power plant in 1984, although the former office of Wushulin Salt Manufacturing Co has been preserved along with two-thirds of the land conserved as a protected area, it said.
Taipower has strived to minimize the development area and protect bird hotspots, it added.
The site has 41.25 hectares of wetland reserve, a 15-hectare ecological buffer zone, a green belt and a conservation area, Taipower said.
Migratory birds have become residents of the area, with the Kentish plover and black-winged stilt having begun breeding, it said.
Taipower has also worked with award-winning director Hsu Hung-lung (許鴻龍) on an ecological documentary, Taiwan’s Wild Bird Power Station, to document the conservation efforts.
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