SAVE the Spoonbill
by Marcia McNally
SAVE International

TAIWAN - One of the rarest birds in the world, the black-faced spoonbill (Platalea minor) winters in the coastal wetlands of Chi-gu Lagoon at the mouth of the Tsengwen River. Although more than half the world's remaining 550 black-faced spoonbills migrate to this area, the Taiwan government is poised to approve plans to build a petrochemical complex in these wetlands. If the pant is built, it will destroy one-third of the spoonbill's habitat - nudging this unique bird along the path to extinction.

Chi-gu Lagoon is the most critical habitat in the world for the spoonbill's survival. Were it not for this habitat, the black-faced spoonbill would probably already be extinct.

Petrochemical Complex Number 7 (also known as the Bin-nan Project) would fill a 6.7 square mile site in the north end of the lagoon. Owned by the Tuntex and Yeilung Consortium, the petrochemical complex would include a naptha cracker (used in the processing of petrochemicals) and an oil refinery. An adjacent site would contain a steel mill and an additional 3.6 square miles would provide a port to be used exclusively for materials and products transport.

Government approval of the consortium's Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is expected in early June. Approval would violate the biodiversity protection principle of Agenda 21, the Rio Earth Summit's blueprint for sustainable development, to which Taiwan has committed. If the Bin-nan project is approved, construction could begin as early as August.

Queen's University biologist Vicki Friesen anticipates that the spoonbill will become extinct if the Bin-nan complex is built. Friesen states that "none of potential effects are hypothetical - all have been observed in other areas - and few are included in environmental impact assessments." Dr. Malcolm Coulter, co-chair of IUCN Specialist Group on Storks, Ibises and Spoonbills, concludes that a coastal and wetland reserve should be established to protect spoonbill roosting and feeding areas in the Tsengwen Estuary and Chi-gu Lagoon. After mapping important habitat areas, he concluded that a 42 mile (70km) wide area is needed to support the spoonbill. The Bin-nan complex, to be located within this area, would disrupt habitat necessary to the bird's survival.

Hydrologist Mathias Kondolf of the University of California Berkeley has estimated that the Bin-nan complex's daily water demand would equal 88 million gallons - enough to meet the domestic water needs of 1.33 million people -- and would require building costly dams and water diversion projects. These water diversions would reduce groundwater-recharge vital to nearby cities and farms.

Aboriginal people would lose access to their sacred land and two of their villages would be flooded by the waters of the proposed Machia Dam. None of these impacts were considered in the EIA.

The Bin-nan project would also make it difficult for Taiwan to attain internationally agreed-upon CO2 emissions reductions. According to John Byrne of the University of Delaware, Bin-nan is expected to generate 27.8 million tons of CO2 annually, equivalent to 25 percent of the country's 1990 emissions. Taiwan is the world's 16th largest CO2 producer.

Bin-nan's expected pollution output, including that from the new port, will contaminate fisheries -- seriously effecting the local economy and way of life. The local fishery currently employs 16,000 people and generates annual revenues of $3.2 billion NT ($122 million US). These jobs are the lifeblood of small towns and villages in Chi-gu, Chiang- Chun and Pei-men townships. The Chi-gu fishermen have strongly opposed the Bin-nan project proposal.

Chen Jian Wong speaks for his group, "We know how to fish; we don't know how to work in a factory; we can support ourselves without this oil plant." The fishermen resent the media depiction of the area as poor fishing villages in desperate need of jobs. Another fisherman, Liu Sing-Tsia, counters that they don't need jobs as much as they need clean air and water. Says Uncle Au-Long, "we prefer this life; it is not about prosperity."

The Bin-nan plant would also endanger the country's bid for high-tech development. Advanced technology industries are reluctant to locate in the new Tainan Science Park, citing concerns about the lack of water and the "cancer alley" reputation that would accompany the proposed petrochemical development.

Charting Another Path
SAVE International (Spoonbill Action Voluntary Echo) has proposed an alternative economic development plan based on green industry and ecotourism. Working with the Chi-gu fishermen and Dr. Deborah Savage of the Tellus Institute, SAVE has prepared a plan for Chia-li, Chiang-Chun and Hsue-Chia townships that would protect natural resources, sustain a robust economy and create jobs to keep youth from migrating to the cities. The alternative plan calls for the expansion of value-added aquaculture products, health foods, and health-related industries. SAVE anticipates creating 30,000 jobs and more than $15 billion NT ($4.4 billion US) gross revenues per year, equaling or surpassing revenue projections for the petrochemical complex.

The plan is has been so popular that local entrepreneurs have already begun small tour companies and restaurants. During this year's winter migration, thousands of Taiwanese tourists visited the area to view the controversial birds.

SAVE was formed in August, 1997. Its membership includes scientists, university professors, engineers, high-tech professionals, students and concerned citizens from around the world. SAVE, a project of the Earth Island Institute, is co-chaired by Nobel Laureate Y.T. Lee and renowned conservationist David Brower.

Last October, SAVE and students at the University of California at Berkeley staged the "Last Great Spoonbill Migration," an environmental art show where more than 100 handmade spoonbills were displayed on the campus lawn. These birds were then shipped to the National Taiwan University in Taipei where they were greeted by students, scientists, schoolchildren and a flock of reporters. The Taiwan students were also able to convince a local rock star to produce a compact disc featuring a tune called "Song of the Spoonbill."

SAVE has gathered the endorsements of more than 40 Taiwanese and 100 international organizations. In March, a seven-member international scientific delegation flew to deliver these endorsements to Taiwan's legislature and to present SAVE's alternative plan.

Over the course of seven days, this delegation made 20 presentations to audiences as diverse as the Chi-gu fishermen, the Tainan County Magistrate, a consortium of national environmental organizations, the heads of all four Taiwanese political parties, the Environmental Protection Administration and Council of Agriculture, and Taiwan's national legislature.

The impact of SAVE's work has been tremendous. Premiere Vincent Siew made headlines on April 2 when he publicly criticized his staff for not apprising him of the issues raised by SAVE. Four days later, the government rejected the first two sections of the Bin-nan EIA and ordered the Tuntex Corporation to provide new information. Twenty-five legislators have demanded that the project be halted and Economic Affairs Minister Chih-kang Wang now says that the government is waiting to hear the opinions of a wide range of interest groups before making a decision on the project.

What You Can Do: For more information, contact SAVE coordinator Matthew Smeltzer, c/o Department of Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning, 202 Wurster Hall, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, (510) 528-8283, fax: 549- 9431, web: www4.ced.berkeley.edu:8004/student_org/save .