Environmental groups ask for government assistance to clear foreign mangrove species
Many people believe mangrove forests are rich ecosystems that can protect the coastline. But researchers have observed that artificial cultivation of foreign mangrove tree species can actually harm estuaries and pose a threat to human safety. They can even destroy creatures that depend on these mudflats. In the beginning of December, the Hsinchu City government began clearing a large area of mangroves in the Siangshan Wetland. So are mangroves ultimately beneficial or harmful? Let’s find out. Many believe that mangroves are part of a precious natural landscape providing a home for fiddler crabs, mudskippers, and other creatures in a wetland estuary. In fact, mangroves may actually be harming the ecological environment.Chang Deng-kai Hsinchu Society of Wilderness Two years ago, the mangrove forest along this river was quite dense, reaching one to two stories in height and blocking the mouth of the river. Two or three years ago, this 60-meter-wide river was covered with mangrove forests, leading the river to shrink to just 5 meters in width. With the mangrove forest blocking the river’s flow, residents faced the threat of the river flooding.Chang Deng-kai Hsinchu Society of Wilderness At the time of these plantings, we did not know what kind of impact this would have on the local ecology. We simply thought that planting trees would be a good thing and as these mangroves began to grow, we witnessed many negative effects. For example if there was heavy rain and a high tide, the mangroves would stop the water and prevent it from flowing.The mangrove wetland also created another headache for nearby residents, becoming a breeding ground for biting midgesChang Deng-kai Hsinchu Society of Wilderness This coastline has a lot of areas where freshwater drains into the ocean, but these drainage areas can easily be covered with moss. This leads them to be breeding grounds for biting midges. And when our staff cleared this area, they together with visitors came away with lots of bites. According to a survey by Hsinchu’s Society of Wilderness, the Siangshan Wetland had been planted with a type of local mangrove – Kandelia obovata – though it was only in 1997 when another type of mangrove tree, Avicennia marina, was planted on a large scale that the situation truly got out of hand. Chang Deng-kai Hsinchu Society of WildernessKandelia have branches grow straight up and don’t have such a thick trunk layer so air and sun can shine on the beach. This allows for an abundance of a form of algae called diatoms, making the mangrove forest a suitable habitat for striped fiddler crabs. As for Avicennia marina mangroves, their roots are more dense and are not suitable for crabs because they have no way to dig naturally. They have no choice but to leave the environment.The wetland habitat of this crab has been destroyed by this mangrove planting. This led Hsinchu’s Society of Wilderness in 2013 to eradicate these mangroves.Chang Deng-kai Hsinchu Society of WildernessAt that time, the most important consideration for us was that our Siangshan Wetlands most valuable species was the Taiwan fiddler crab. The mangrove spread very quickly and took over the intertidal crab habitat. If we did not try to think the mangrove, then this fiddler crab may disappear from northern Taiwan.While cutting down trees seems to run counter to the Society of Wilderness’s image, its members were comforted by the fact that the mangroves in the Siangshan Wetlands were in fact a non-native species.Chang Deng-kai Hsinchu Society of WildernessEvery natural thing must have its function to exist. If this mangrove forest is planted in the wrong place, it won’t bring beneficial environmental benefits.In fact, only Keelung Bay and the Kaohsiung Bay had native mangrove species. However, the construction of Keelung Port and Kaohsiung Port led to their disappearance, and all mangroves in Taiwan are actually non-native planted species.Shih Hsi-te National Chung Hsing UniversityAccording to research by Chung Hsing University Professor Chen Ming-yi , freshwater mangrove estuaries were in fact planted after Taiwan Retrocession. This indicates it was probably done to prevent flooding and the advance of seawater on the embankment. There’s also the theory that the mangroves were to be cut down as firewood and used as fuel.In 2015, the Hsinchu municipal government budgeted NT$15 million for the large-scale clearing of the mangroves from the wetlands. Unfortunately, these mangroves are not just located in Hsinchu.Here is Changhua’s Fangyuan Erlin River estuary. It contains more than 20 hectares of mangroves. Local governments have planned to make it a nature reserve, but mangroves are spreading almost out of control.Tsai Chia-yangChanghua Environmental Protection UnionThirty years ago, this small area of planting occupied less than a hectare, and now you can see it has spread to 2...
{嘉義協輪車業}201911新竹香山濕地(Hsinchu Xiangshan Wetland)
香山潮間帶，已於1996年國際拉姆薩公約組織會議中被正式列為「東亞水鳥保護網棲息地」的一環，更是國際鳥盟指名重要的野鳥保育棲地。本區原本規劃填土造地，歷經保育界長期抗爭反對而取消；2001年，公告為香山濕地野生動物重要棲息環境、新竹市濱海野生動物保護區1600公頃。
香山濕地由頭前溪、牛浦河及鹽水溪河水沖刷而成，由北往南依序有客雅溪河口濕地、三姓公溪及大莊溪口草澤濕地、香山泥灘濕地、海山罟紅樹林濕地及南港沙灘。泥質潮間帶長約2公里，所累積的有機物質是碎屑食物網基礎的能量來源，孕育大量蝦、蟹、螺、貝，吸引大批水鳥覓食棲息。
The Xiangshan Intertidal Zone was officially listed as a East Asian Waterbird Protection Net Habitat at the 1996 International Ramsar Convention Organization Meeting, and it is also an important wild bird conservation habitat designated by the International Bird League. The originally planned land filling and land preparation for this area was cancelled after a long period of opposition in the conservation community. In 2001, it was announced as an important habitat of the Xiangshan Wetland Wildlife, and 1,600 hectares of the coastal wildlife reserve in Hsinchu City.
The Xiangshan Wetland was scoured by the water from Tauqian Creek, Niupu River, and Yanxian Creek. From north to south, there are Kayaxi Estuary Wetlands, Sanxing Gongxi and Dazhuang Xikou Caoze Wetlands, Xiangshan Mudflat Wetlands , Haishanyu mangrove wetland and Nangang beach. The muddy intertidal zone is about 2 kilometers long. The accumulated organic matter is the energy source of the clastic food web. It breeds a large number of shrimp, crabs, snails, and shellfish, and attracts a large number of waterbirds for food and habitat.