Dance with the Spoonbill

by Jeffrey Hou
Spoonbill Action Voluntary Echo (SAVE) International

Wearing masks of the faces of black-faced spoonbills (Platalea minor), Spoonbill Action Voluntary Echo (SAVE) members and graduate students of University of California at Berkeley performed the Spoonbill Dance in front of the Taipei Central Rail Station during their recent trip to Taiwan. Before an audience of television reporters and pedestrians, the performance marked the culmination of a SAVE International delegation's recent visit, including meetings with government officials, legislators, and local groups. SAVE International is entering its third year in a campaign to save the critically endangered black-faced spoonbill and its most important wintering habitat in the Tsengwen Estuary wetlands in southern Taiwan.

In the past year, as result of the efforts by SAVE International and groups in Taiwan, the environmental impact assessment for the proposed Binnan Industrial Complex has been under rigorous review by Taiwan's Environmental Protection Administration. The 5000-acre Binnan complex, consisting of a naphtha cracker and a steel mill, would require filling a third of the Chiku Lagoon and presents a major threat to the ecosystem of the area. Much of the document was found insufficient and sent back to the developers for further studies. Financial troubles faced by the Binnan developers, the Tuntex Group and Yieh-Loong Group, cast further uncertainty on the future of the project.

In contrast, ecotourism is now booming in Chiku, the township that encompasses the primary roosting and foraging habitats for the spoonbill. Through promotion by local organizations and constant media attention, the black-faced spoonbill is currently one of the most recognized birds in Taiwan. Busloads of tourists are coming to Chiku to see the bird and the coastal scenery during weekends and holidays. Over the last Lunar New Year holidays in January, over 100,000 people visited the site. Restaurants were set up that also served as eco-education centers. Souvenir and binocular vendors now crowd outside the bird-watching station.

The state-owned Taiwan Salt Company has also adapted its facilities to accommodate tourists who come to see the "Salt Mountains." Local fishers have organized boat tours to take tourists to see the Chiku Lagoon and its barrier islands. Community organizations have been training tour guides and conducting research of black-faced spoonbill habitats as well as studying behaviors of tourists and the impact of tourism. The graduate environmental planning studio at the University of California at Berkeley is also continuing its study on planning for conservation and alternative economic development in Chiku.

The number of wintering black-faced spoonbills in the Tsengwen Estuary wetlands has increased again this year, reaching 367 out of the estimated global population of 584 to 587. In response to a request by SAVE International and other environmental organizations, Taiwan's Vice Premier Liu Chao-Shuan recently announced that the National Sustainable Development Committee will formally consider the issue of habitat conservation for the black-faced spoonbill.

Despite this good news, conservation of the Tsengwen Estuary site continues to face numerous problems. First, the site is still not formally protected. The current proposed boundary for a Wildlife Protection Area fails to include the primary foraging habitat for the bird, and other related critical ecosystems. In addition to the lack of formal protection in Taiwan, the effort also suffers from lack of international recognition.

The Tsengwen Estuary site is well qualified for designation as a "Wetlands of International Importance" (a.k.a. "Ramsar Site") under the United Nations' Ramsar Convention on Wetlands. However, as Taiwan is not a member of the UN or any of its specialized agencies, it is not allowed to become a contracting party of the Ramsar Convention. Ramsar Sites have been established elsewhere in black-faced spoonbill habitat. Ironically, none of these sites supports a population comparable to the one at the Tsengwen. As a result of the exclusion from the Ramsar Convention and other international conventions, Taiwan is not allowed to take part in a regional effort to protect migratory species and their habitats. The international community also has no effective means to persuade the Taiwan government to protect the wintering site.

International incidents
To promote international awareness of the endangered black-faced spoonbill and recognition for the Tsengwen Estuary site, SAVE representatives recently attended the Ramsar Seventh Conference of Contracting Parties (COP7) and the 13th Session of the Global Biodiversity Forum in Costa Rica. In addition to presenting a paper at "GBF13" on NGO involvement in conservation and ecotourism in Chiku, SAVE also mounted an exhibit at Ramsar COP7. SAVE's display, as part of a larger exhibition of many environmental organizations and countries, drew wide attention from official delegates and NGO representatives at the conference. We collected more than 100 signatures on a petition asking the Taiwan government to formally protect the site and prevent threats of development. However, the display also drew strong protest from the delegation of the People's Republic of China, which opposed the display's reference to Taiwan. SAVE's posters outlined the qualification of the Tsengwen Estuary wetlands as "Wetlands of International Importance" under the Ramsar Convention and mentioned Taiwan's international situation that prevented it from joining the Ramsar Convention. In response to the PRC delegation's protest, the Ramsar Convention Bureau considered removal of SAVE's display by force. The incident was resolved with help from the US officials and Ramsar Bureau staff as well as support from many NGOs at the conferences. However, several sensitive paragraphs on the posters were covered up.

The Tsengwen Estuary site is multiply threatened. Tainan County wants to build a municipal incinerator near the spoonbill's primary foraging habitat. Its EIA fails to acknowledge the presence of the bird and fails to examine the impact of the incinerator and its secondary pollution on the spoonbill and its habitats. In addition, the proposed West Coast Highway would cut right through the primary foraging habitat, resulting in further habitat loss and fragmentation. The county government is also considering development proposals in an area known to be the most critical foraging habitat for the bird. Most recently, the National Legislature dominated, by the KMT party, has just passed the first-phase budget for the Meinung Dam. The dam will supply water to the proposed Binnan Industrial Complex. Construction of the dam may pave the way for eventual approval of the Binnan EIA.

A recent census by Ecosystems Ltd., Hong Kong shows continuing decline in the black-faced spoonbill population at a number of other sites. This signals possible deterioration of the habitat at those sites. The lack of information on the other sites reinforces the uncertainty for the future survival of the bird. In addition to protecting the wintering sites in Taiwan, SAVE International is also teaming up with conservation groups in other East Asian countries to exchange information on the spoonbill and provide mutual support among conservation groups in the region. The black-faced spoonbill increasingly symbolizes the grassroots movement to protect endangered species from threats of unsustainable developments.

Jeffrey Hou is a founder of SAVE International.

Contact SAVE International's coordinator Barbara Butler, c/o Department of Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning, 202 Wurster Hall, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94710, USA; e-mail: <spoonbill@uclink4.berkeley.edu>; web: <http://www.earthisland.org/save>.