Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Many species of river fish are also making a good comeback, though sports fishermen
are sadly too quick to catch (and not release) fry.
Taiwan has many relic species that survived the last ice age. One of the more intriguing
is the Formosan landlocked salmon, which never leaves the mountain streams in which
it was born.
Conservation
Today, conservation projects all over Taiwan are restoring mangroves and wetlands, re-
planting forests and protecting the most vulnerable species. A 10-year moratorium on
river fishing has succeeded in restocking streams, while a 2013 ban on the destructive
practice of gill-net fishing in Little Liuchiu should protect the corals and the 200 en-
dangered green sea turtles inhabiting the coasts.
Furthermore, hundreds of small community projects are bringing back balance to urb-
an neighbourhoods; even in Taipei the sound of song birds and the flittering of butterfly
wings is now common stuff. There are also vast areas now inaccessible to the public be-
cause of the closing of old forestry roads (a deliberate policy). In 2012 Pingtung County
Government declared the section of coastline along Alangyi Old Trail to be a nature re-
serve, and the construction of a controversial highway was halted - a victory for the
wildlife and ecosystem of the coast (there are 49 protected species, including the en-
dangered sea turtles).
However, it's not all good news. The oceans and rivers are still treated as dumping
grounds by industry and overdevelopment is rampant (constrained in many cases only by
the extreme terrain). At press time, the Miramar Resort Village construction project on
Taitung County's Shanyuan Beach is set to go ahead even though it's been ruled invalid
more than once by the Supreme Administrative Court. Campaigners worry that the case
would open the door to other development projects along the eastern coastline and cause
further long-term damage to the environment.
ON WINGS OF GOSSAMER
Butterfly migration is fairly common the world over, but Taiwan's purple crow mi-
gration can hold its own. Each year in the autumn, as the weather cools, bands of
shimmering purples (four species of Euploea, also known as milkweed butterflies)
leave their mountain homes in north and central Taiwan and begin to gather in lar-
ger and larger bands as they fly south. By November they have travelled several
