Environment. ROC (Taiwan) Yearbook 2011 Ch11 enviromental protection

Formerly a salt farm area in Tainan, the Sicao Wetland within the Taijiang National Park now serves as an important shelter for endangered and protected bird species.

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At a Glance

In line with the Copenhagen Accord of December 2009, negoti-ated under the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change, the government of the Republic of China is implementing a broad range of measures aimed at conserving energy and re-

ducing carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions. These range from development of renewable energy resources and encourage-ment of greener business practices to promotion of green architecture and higher-efficiency, low-carbon-emitting modes of transportation.

As Taiwan is highly dependent on imports for its energy supplies, efforts dis-cussed in this chapter to develop renewable and low-carbon energy and to adopt energy-efficient lifestyles have the dual virtues of preserving the natu-ral environment while enhancing the nation’s energy security.

At the same time, the central government’s Environmental Protection Administration and other government agencies, in league with numer-ous civic organizations, continue working to protect the nation’s natural heritage across the board from degradation. Among their efforts, pro-grams for restoring polluted environments such as river remediation are showing concrete results.

• Commitmenttoreducinggreenhousegasemissions

• Encouragingthepursuitofgreenerlifestyles

• World-leadingachievementsinrecycling

11 Environmental Protection


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11Environmental Protection

Public Policies Go Green A unifying theme of public concern

withregardtoenvironmentalprotectionisclimatechange.Itiswidelybelievedthatglobal warming resulting from growinglevelsofhuman-producedcarbondioxide(CO2) and other greenhouse gas (GHG)emissions is responsible for the increas-ingseverityofdroughts,heatwavesandsuperstormsworldwide.

In August 2009, Typhoon Morakotdumped up to two meters of rain onTaiwan’ssouthernandcentralmountainousregions within a couple of days, causingthe most catastrophic flooding and land-slides in memory as well as hundreds ofdeaths. In October 2010, record-breakingtorrential rainsbroughtbyTyphoonMegiinundated large areas of northeasternTaiwan’sYilanCounty宜蘭縣.

Meanwhile, rising temperatures haveacceleratedthemeltingofpolaricecapsand glaciers, causing sea levels to rise.StudiesconductedbyTaiwan’sresearch-ers suggest that in the western PacificwaterssurroundingTaiwan,thesealevelhas risen by 2.5 to 5.9 millimeters peryear over the past several decades. Atthat rate, by the year 2100 the coast-line of the island’s densely populatedwestern region will have receded 250-290meters.

Hence, though excluded from theUnitedNationsand,therefore,notapar-tytotheU.N.FrameworkConventiononClimateChange(UNFCCC),theROCiscommitted to reducing GHG emissions.InMay2010,theExecutiveYuanCoun-cil (Cabinet) approved the Master PlanofEnergyConservationandCarbonMit-igation 國家節能減碳總計畫, which callsfor “nationally appropriate mitigationactions” that are measurable, reportableandverifiableinlinewiththeUNFCCCCopenhagen Accord. The Master Plansetsthefollowingtargets:

Improveenergyefficiencybymorethan•2 percent per annum over the period2008-2015;ReduceGHGemissions to2005levels•by2020andto2000levelsby2025.

The Master Plan comprises 10 strate-gies,summarizedinthetablebelow.ROCgovernmentpolicyaimstousherinalow-carbon economy and an environmentallyfriendly society dedicated to GHG emis-sionsreduction.ACabinet-leveltaskforcehas been established to coordinate andevaluate different government agencies’yearly action plans drafted in accordancewiththeMasterPlan.

Tointegrateplatformscreatedbygov-ernmentagenciesforreportingGHGemis-sions, the Cabinet-level EnvironmentalProtectionAdministration(EPA)行政院環境

保護署 in2007launchedtheTaiwanGHGEmissionsRegistry.Thedraftversionofaproposed Greenhouse Gas ReductionAct溫室氣體減量法 has been submitted to theLegislativeYuan(Legislature).Itisantici-pated that the bill will be enacted in thenearfuture.

On topof amarkedeffort to encour-age GHG emissions reduction, the ROCgovernment is reorganizing the EPA tobecometheMinistryofEnvironmentandNatural Resources 環境資源部 to moreeffectively carry out the mission of con-servingtheenvironment.

GHG Emissions ReductionRenewable and Low-carbon Power Generation

A key objective of the Master Planis reduction of the volume of carbonemissions resulting from electricity gen-eration. On the one hand, this involvesdeveloping renewable energy resources,primarilysolar,windandbiomassenergyand, secondarily, hydro and tidal energy.


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Establishaneffectiveregulatoryframework.• (EPA, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Economic Affairs)Build• low-carbonelectricpowergenerationsystems.(Ministry of Economic Affairs)Fosterlow-carbonmodelcommunities.• (EPA)Adoptgreenerbusinessandmanufacturingpractices.• (Ministry of Economic Affairs)Develop• greentransportationnetworks.(Ministry of Transportation and Communications)Promotegreenenvironmentsand• greenarchitecture. (Ministry of the Interior, Council of Agriculture)Strengthenenergy-savingtechnologicalcapacities.• (National Science Council)Reducepublicconstructionprojects’energyconsumptionandcarbonemissions.•(Public Construction Commission)Supplement• educationalcurricula.(Ministry of Education)Boostpublicawarenessandencouragecivicaction.• (Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Government Information Office)

Source:MinistryofEconomicAffairs

Master Plan of Energy Conservation and Carbon Mitigation:Ten Strategy Plans and Principal Promotional Agencies

On the other hand, it entails boostingthermalpowerplants’efficiency.

SuchactioniscrucialforcuttingGHGemissionsinviewofthenation’sdepend-enceonGHG-emitting fossil fuels as itsmajor energy sources. Taiwan’s energysupply increased from 52.9 million kilo-litersofoilequivalent(KLOE)in1989to145.6millionKLOEin2010.Inthatyear,fossil fuels—oil, coal and natural gas—constituted 91.3 percent of all energysupplies,whilenuclearpowercontributed8.3 percent, and power from renewableenergyaccountedforonly0.4percent.

Supporting Measures Prior to formulation of the Master

Plan,theLegislativeYuanhadpassedtheRenewable Energy Development Act 再

生能源發展條例 in June 2009, which callsfor boosting renewable energy power-generationcapacitytobetween6,500and10,000megawattswithin20years.

In August 2009, the Executive YuanCouncil approved the National ScienceandTechnologyProgram-Energy能源國家

型科技計畫, which is administered by theNationalScienceCouncil(NSC)行政院國

家科學委員會(seeChapter9,“ScienceandTechnology”). R&D projects under thisprogramfocusonlow-carbonandrenew-able energy resources. It is anticipatedthat over NT$30 billion (over US$1 bil-lion) in public funding will be allocatedto projects under the program during itsfirstfiveyears.

In fiscal year 2010, the central gov-ernment allocated US$230 million tothe development of green energy. Thisincludesincentivesformakersofphoto-voltaic (PV) products that are marketedboth domestically and internationally.Related measures adopted by the Min-istry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) in-clude subsidies for the construction orinstallation of renewable energy power-generation facilities and adjustment of


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state-runTaiwanPowerCo.’s(Taipower)臺灣電力公司 mandatory purchase pricesforrenewableenergy.

Meanwhile, to spur energy conser-vation by the public at large, Taipowerprovides discount rates for electricityto households that keep their consump-tion below certain levels. Between July2008 and May 2011, some 7 millionhouseholds reduced their combinedelectricity consumption by 11.5 billionkilowatt-hours, thereby cutting powerplants’CO2emissionsby7milliontonnes.

Solar PowerAccording to the PV Status Report

2010 released by the European Commis-sion,Taiwanwastheworld’ssecond-largest

producerofsolarcellsandotherPVequip-mentaftermainlandChina.

Thanks in part to government sub-sidies dating back to as early as 1986,Taiwanalsohasoneofthehighestinstalla-tionratesforsolarwaterheaters—rankingfifth in theworldin termsof theratioofheaters installed to land area. In Janu-ary 2009, the MOEA Bureau of Energy(BOE) 經濟部能源局 increased its subsidyfor installed water-heating solar panelsfrom NT$1,500 (US$45) to NT$2,250(US$68) per square meter. As of theend of December 2010, about 500,000households—over 6.5 percent of the na-tion’s total—had installed some 2 mil-lion square meters of solar water heaterpanels.Thistranslatesintoannualenergy


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savingsof159,000KLOEand reductionofCO2emissionsby438,000tonnes.

As of the end of December 2010,1,108 solar power systems with a com-bined capacity of 21.5 megawatts hadbeen installed on buildings in Taiwan.Among these is the stadium that hostedthe 2009 World Games in the southernmetropolisofKaohsiung高雄.

In December 2009, Asia’s largest,and the world’s second-largest, high-concentrationphotovoltaic(HCPV)dem-onstrationplant,withapowergenerationcapacityof1megawatt,cameintoserviceinLuzhuDistrict路竹區,KaohsiungCity.TheplantwasdesignedandisoperatedasapilotprojectbytheInstituteofNuclearEnergy Research 核能研究所 under theCabinet-levelAtomic Energy Council 行

政院原子能委員會 (seeChapter9,“Scienceand Technology”), which is one amongseveral organizations tasked with devel-opingrenewableenergy.

Another 4.6-megawatt solar powerplant built by Taipower in KaohsiungCity—which enjoys 300 sunny days peryear—cameon-gridinMay2011.

The MOEA aims to boost Taiwan’sinstalled solar power capacity to 70megawattsin2011.Inabidtoencouragesociety-wide participation, the ministry’spromotion of solar energy places impor-tanceoninstallationofrooftoppanelsrat-edbetween1kilowattand10kilowatts.

Wind Power As of the end of December 2010, a

total of 268 land-based wind turbinesalong Taiwan’s northern and southwest-ern coastsprovided an installed capacityof 518.7 megawatts, enough to meet theneeds of more than 314,000 households.This translated into savings of over300,000 KLOE and a corresponding re-duction of over 799,000 tonnes of CO2emissions per year. It is anticipated that

the capacity of installed wind turbineswillriseby100megawattsin2011.

Taiwanhasanestimatedonshorewindpower potential of at least 1,150 mega-watts, while its offshore wind power, asyet untapped, is estimated over 2,000megawatts. Total installed wind powerisprojected to reach2,500megawatts in2025,accountingforabout4.4percentoftotalenergy-generatingcapacity.Taipoweraims to complete the country’s first off-shore wind farm with a 15-megawatt ca-pacityin2015.

March 2010 saw the first domesticproductionofa2-megawattwindturbine,makingtheROCtheeighthcountryintheworldcapableofmanufacturingcommer-ciallyviablewindturbines.

Green Business Practices and Products

Amajorobjectiveof theMasterPlanis toprovideincentivesandtechnicalas-sistance to businesses to help them cutenergy consumption and boost energyefficiency. Since May 2010, technicalservice teams under the BOE have pro-videdguidanceonenergyconservationtoprivate- and public-sector organizations.A total of 3,141 organizations receivedsuch guidance in 2010. Acting on therecommendations of a BOE-sponsoredadvisory team, managers of Taiwan’slandmark Taipei 101 skyscraper imple-mented measures that, in 2010, re-duced the building’s electricity bill byUS$393,000 and prevented 3,500 tonnesofCO2emissionsfrombeinggenerated.

Inaddition,theEPAsignedmemoran-dums of understanding with the TaiwanTFT-LCDAssociation台灣薄膜電晶體液晶顯

示器產業協會 in2004andwith theTaiwanSemiconductorIndustryAssociation台灣半

導體產業協會in2005tocooperateonreduc-ingemissionsofperfluorocarbons(PFCs),which have a greenhouse effect 7,400 to


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Taiwan-based automaker, Yulon, unveiled its eco-friendly Luxgen electric multipurpose ve-hicles in 2010 that feature state-of-the-art information technology for locating nearest battery charge stations.

22,800 times more powerful than that ofCO2.Sincethen,asofJune2010,thetwoindustries together have slashed some 47milliontonnesofGHGemissions.

In September 2010, the EPA coordi-natedthesigningofacooperationmemo-randumbetweenTaipowerandtheTaiwanMagnesiumAssociation台灣鎂合金協會onthereductionofsulfurhexafluoride(SF6)emissions. Similar cooperation betweenthe EPA and automobile companies andauto importers resulted in the signing ofagreements in late 2010 on cutting CO2emissions.Taiwanese carmakers pledgedthat by 2015, they would reduce CO2emissions by 10 to 15 percent by intro-ducinglow-carbonvehicles.

StartinginJuly2010,hotelsandretailbusinessesbecame liable for leaks in airconditioning coolant systems and useof incandescent light bulbs. From thatsame time, manufacturers of air condi-tioners, refrigerators and motor vehicleshavebeen required todisplayenergyef-ficiency rating labels after undergoing acertification process. Since March 2011,

dehumidifiershavealsobeen required tohavesuchcertificationandlabeling.

The EPA launched the Green MarkProgram 環保標章計畫 in 1992 to encour-agemanufacturerstoproduce,andpeopleto purchase, products that are recyclableand have low environmental impact. Asof May 2011, 6,253 products had beencertifiedasqualifiedtodisplaytheGreenMarklogo.

In March 2010, Taiwan launched theTaiwanCarbonLabelsystem.Thecarbonfootprint-plus-heart logo displays a num-ber in the heart indicating the amount ofCO2 emissions generated throughout thelifecycleofaproduct,frommanufacturingandpackagingtodistributionanddisposal.As of May 2011, 77 products have beencertifiedtousethecarbonfootprintlabel.

Green TransportationThe year 2010 saw advances in

energy-saving public transportation.More than 470 buses were replaced bymore energy-efficient ones. Measures to


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connectrailways,roadsandbicyclepathswereenhancedtopromotegreentourismand reduce carbon emissions. The Min-istry of Transportation and Communica-tions (MOTC) has targeted the creationof amore efficient transportation systemineasternTaiwan.Electrificationoflight-rail systems in Hualien花蓮 andTaitung臺東 counties is underway, with comple-tionscheduled for2013. In thefirstninemonths of 2010, zero-carbon modes oftransportation and recreation were aug-mentedby the constructionof68.5kilo-meters of pedestrian walkways and 52.7kilometersofbicyclelanesfundedbytheMinistryoftheInterior(MOI).

Anumberofmeasuresarebeingtakento reduce air pollution caused by motorvehicles. These include routine exhaustinspectionsandspotchecksofmotorve-hicles’ emissions. Government agenciesalso offer incentives for the purchase ofvehicles with low-pollutant emissions.Commodity taxes on hybrid electric ve-hicles were reduced by half in February2009.Thepurchaseandconversionofliq-uefied petroleum gas (LPG) vehicles aresubsidized,ontopofaLPGfuelsubsidy.Asoftheendof2010,46LPGfillingsta-tionshadbeensetuparoundTaiwan,upfrom20in2007.

The EPA also offers a subsidy ofNT$3,000(US$102)pernewlypurchasedelectricbicycle through theendof2012.The central and local governments bothprovide subsidies to encourage citizensto purchase electric scooters. In consid-erationof the inconvenienceof chargingelectric scooters and the limited mileagepercharge,theEPAhasannouncedregu-lations for subsidizing the establishmentofabatteryexchangesystem.

Cleaner BiofuelsInrecentyears, theROCgovernment

has been promoting the use of biodieselandbioethanolfuelsassubstitutesfor,or

additives to, conventional diesel (petro-diesel) fuelandgasoline.Since2007,allof Kaohsiung City’s public buses havebeen fueled by a domestically producedB5blendconsistingof5percentbiodieseland95percentpetrodiesel.Kaohsiung isthesecondcityinAsiatohaveintroducedsuchameasure,afterKyoto.

In July 2008, the ROC became thefirst country inAsia to require all dieselvehicles to use B1—a 1-percent bio-diesel blend.According to the BOE, theuse of this fuel has reduced petrodieselconsumptionby3.85millionlitersayearandCO2emissionsby126,000tonnes.InJune2010,theBOEdoubledtherequiredpercentage of biodiesel additive, mak-ing B2 the standard fuel for all diesel-poweredvehicles.

With respect to the development ofbioethanolasanadditivetoorreplacementforgasoline,E3,a3-percentethanol-blendgasoline,hasbeenavailablein14gassta-tions in Taipei 臺北 and Kaohsiung citiessince 2009. It is estimated that expandeduseof this fuelwill lowerCO2 emissionsby210,000tonnesperyear.

Green BuildingThe energy-intensive construction

industry accounts for an estimated 29percent of Taiwan’s CO2 emissions. Topursue sustainable and environmentallyfriendlypractices,in1999theMOIinsti-tuted the EEWH green building evalua-tionsystemtohelpdevelopers,architectsand others involved in construction ofgreenbuildings and encouragepeople topurchaseandusesuchbuildings.

SinceJanuary1,2002,allnewpublicbuildings owned by the central govern-ment or forwhose construction thegov-ernment provides more than 50 percentof funds, and whose construction costsexceedNT$50million(US$1.45million),havebeenrequiredtomeetthestandards


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The Pavilion of Future exhibited at 2010 Taipei International Flora Expo displays innovative green designs, including a meadow rooftop installed with solar panels. After the Expo ended, the Pavilion was reopened to the public in August 2011.

laidoutintheGreenBuildingPromotionProgram 綠建築推動方案 enacted by theMOIin2001.

The current EEWH rat ing sys-tem comprises nine indicators in fourcategories—ecology, energy savings,waste reduction and health, hence thename. The nine indicators are greenery,soil water content, energy savings, CO2emissions reduction, construction wastereduction, water resources, sewage/gar-bagedisposalimprovements,biodiversityand indoor environments.Each indicatoris assigned a point value, with a maxi-mumtotalscoreof100.Abuildingmustscorewellonatleastfouroftheninein-dicators tobecertifiedas“green.”Thereare five levels of certification: diamond,gold, silver, bronze and qualified. TheROCis thefourthnation in theworld tohaveputinplaceascience-based,quanti-fiablegreenbuildingcertification systemafter the United Kingdom, the UnitedStatesandCanada.Moreover,theEEWHsystem is theonlyone in theworld spe-cifically developed for tropical and sub-tropical climates.As of the end of May2011,atotalof2,961buildingsinTaiwanhadreceivedEEWHcertification.

Amongthebuildingshavingearneda“diamond”ratingisNationalChengKungUniversity’s國立成功大學Y.S.SunGreenBuilding Research Center 孫運璿綠建築研

究大樓inTainanCity臺南市.DedicatedonJanuary12, 2011, the center is equippedwithinnovativeventilationsystems,aroofgarden with drought-resistant plants andnumerous other features that, dependingon the season, prevent or promote heatabsorption. Hence, the building’s 300-seat conference hall can operate withoutneed of air conditioning or heating foruptofourmonthsoftheyear.Theseandother energy-saving features enable it tooperateon65percentlesselectricitythanconventional buildings. Moreover, thestructure is equipped with solar panelsandwind turbines thatprovide5percentofitselectricalpoweraswellasarainwa-tercatchmentsystem.

Green Consciousness, Civic Involvement

The EPA carries out educational proj-ects in collaboration with schools at alllevels. It also works with the media topromoteenvironmentalprotectionthrough


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broadcasting programs and films, andpublishes a range of informative printedmaterials.Websites focusingonenviron-mentalclean-upandlow-carbonlifestyleshavealsobeenestablishedtoeducatethepublicandengageitinthemissionofen-vironmentalprotection.

Additionally, the Council of Agri-culture (COA) 行政院農業委員會 sponsorsinternationalsymposiaandpublicitycam-paigns, while the Ministry of Educationtrains teachers to educate children aboutwildlifeconservation.

On May 18, 2010, the LegislativeYuan passed the Environmental Educa-tionAct環境教育法.Bythisstatute, thosewhoworkinthepublicsector,aswellasfaculty and students at primary and sec-ondaryschools,arerequiredtoreceiveatleast four hours of instruction concern-ing environmental protection each year.Courses can take the form of lectures,symposia, online classes, outdoor activi-ties,fieldstudiesorexperiments.

Across the nation, environmentalvolunteers are among the most activesocialworkers.About365teamsorgan-ized by 9,248 local residents monitorrivers,patrolnaturepreserves,promotewater and energy conservation, andcleanupneighborhoods.

International Collaboration In2008,scientistsatNationalCentral

University (NCU) 國立中央大學 initiatedthe Pacific Greenhouse Gases Measure-ment (PGGM) project 太平洋溫室效應氣體

觀測計畫 to chart GHG concentrations atbothhighandlowaltitudesinthePacificand other regions where such measure-mentpreviouslyhadnotbeen systemati-callyperformed.

FundedbytheNSCandtheEPA,NCUis conducting the project in cooperationwithTaiwan’s ChinaAirlines 中華航空公司and Evergreen Marine Corp. 長榮海運公司

and in coordination with the EuropeanUnion’s IAGOS (In-Service Aircraft fora Global Observing System) program,whoseGHGmeasuringactivitieshavefo-cusedmainlyonEuropeandtheAtlantic.

Since Evergreen Marine ship-basedmeasurementsbeganinJune2009,instru-ments onboard nine of the company’scontainer vessels have routinely takenhigh-precision measurements of CO2 lev-elsthroughoutthecourseoftheirvoyagesintheNorthPacific,theIndianOceanandtheRedSeaaswellasintheNorthAtlan-ticandMediterraneanSea.Itisanticipatedthataircraft-basedmeasurementsunderthePGGM program will commence in early2012 once planes operated byChinaAir-lineshavebeenfittedwithinstrumentationtomeasureconcentrationsofCO2 aswellasothertypesofGHGs.

Participating scientists will analyzethe ship-based and aircraft-based data incombinationwiththatcollectedbyIAGOSaircraft and the FORMOSAT-3/COSMICconstellation of satellites, which monitorconditions relating to weather, climate,space weather and geodetic research (seeChapter9“ScienceandTechnology”).

Pollution Prevention Air Quality

TheAir Pollution ControlAct 空氣污

染防制法 empowersvariouslevelsofgov-ernment to set air quality standards andestablish monitoring stations. Currently,the EPA monitors Taiwan’s air qualitywith a network of 76 stationary and sixmobile monitoring stations that measureanumberofpollutants.Inaddition,eightphotochemical monitoring stations as-sessozoneprecursorsacrossthecountry,playingan important role inatmosphericresearch and health risk assessments.These facilities are backed up by theEPA’sair-quality-assurancelaboratory.


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According to EPA data, in 2010poor-air-qualitydays(when thepollutantstandardsindex,orPSI,recordedbymon-itoring stations exceeds the 100 mark)accountedfor1.4percentofalldays(studyexcludes effects of sandstorms originat-inginmainlandChina)—thelowestfiguresince 1994. Improvements in motor ve-hicle fuel efficiency are a major reasonfor this improvement.Currentairqualityandnext-dayforecastsareissueddailyontheEPA’swebsite.

TheEPA’sCleanAirZone空氣品質淨

化區programworkstogreenurbanspacessoastoimproveairqualityandsequestercarbon.Undertheprogram,from1996toMarch2010,treeswereplantedonnearly1,722hectaresofland,while293kilome-tersofbicyclepathswerelaiddown.Itisestimatedthatoverthisperiod,thenewlyplanted trees have annually removedfromtheatmosphereanaverageofnearly42,000 tonnes of CO2, 18,200 tonnes ofozone and over 900 tonnes of airborneparticulates. The EPA plans to continueexpanding green urban spaces, planting30hectaresoftreesannually.

Sinceitsimplementationin1995,theAirPollutionControl(APC)fee空氣污染

防制費systemhasresultedinmarkedim-provements inTaiwan’s air quality.TheEPA leviesAPC feesonboth stationarysources of pollution, such as factoriesand construction sites, as well as mo-torvehicles.Underthisscheme,afeeisleviedforthereleaseofavarietyofpol-lutants, including volatile organic com-pounds, nitrogen oxides, sulfur oxidesandparticulatematter.

Water Quality Withmaritimetrafficespeciallyheavy

around Taiwan, the Marine PollutionControlAct 海洋污染防治法 and the MajorMarineOilPollutionEmergencyResponsePlan重大海洋油污染緊急應變計畫providean

important framework for government ef-fortstopreventmarinepollution.

Industrial effluent and wastewaterfrom livestock farms account for a largepart of the pollutants inTaiwan’s rivers.Household wastewater is also a majorcontributor, particularly where propersewage collection and disposal systemsare lacking. One of the targets of thei-Taiwan12Projects愛臺十二建設istoex-pandsuchsystemsnationwide.

Meanwhile, progress continues tobe made in river revitalization.Within afew short years, for example, a programimplemented by the Kaohsiung Citygovernment transformed the once highlypolluted Love River 愛河 into a cleanandattractive leisurearea that featuresaplethoraofactivities, ranging fromboat-ingandbikingtodiningandshopping.

The EPA’s efforts to clean up rivershas helped with wildlife conservation.A biodiversity survey of the XindianRiver新店溪 released inSeptember2010indicated the presence of 38 differentfish species,up from27at the timeofasurveyconductedyearsearlier.

Today, Taiwan’s rivers, reservoirs,groundwater and surrounding seas aremonitored by a network of over 1,000sampling stations. In addition, the EPAhasencouragedcommunitiesandschoolstoorganizevolunteerriverpatrolstohelpuncover illegal effluent discharge. Theeffort to improve river water quality hasbeguntopayoff.By2010,riversegmentsconsidered seriously polluted had fallento5.5percentfrom15.8percentin2003.

Recycling and Waste Management

Taiwan has made a great deal ofprogress in reducing waste and expand-ing recycling programs. While in 1997theamountofgarbagepercapitaperday


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reachedahistorichighof1.14kilograms,by December 2010, that figure had beenslashedto0.48kilograms.

Moreover,Taiwan’s overall recyclingrate stood at 56 percent in 2010, higherthanthatoftheUnitedStates,theUnitedKingdom, France and other industrial-izednations.Householdsareresponsiblefor sorting recyclable materials into afew major categories. Later, trash col-lectors further separate waste into morethan30subcategories.

Taiwan’sprogress in recycling is fur-therillustratedbythefollowingfacts:

Its fluorescent lamp recycling rate is•80 percent in 2010.This is one of thehighest in the world, outpacing mostEUmemberstates,whoserateswere30to50percent.In2010,anaverageofabout225tonnes•of bulk waste was collected per day.Salvageable items, such as furnitureand bicycles, are reconditioned andauctioned or donated to low-incomehouseholds. Where reconditioning isnot possible, valuable materials arerecovered.Itemsmadeofwood,forex-ample, are ground into mulch that canbe used as ground cover or burned togenerateelectricity.Despite a sharp rise in the volume of•electronic waste in recent years, therecyclingrateofsuchproductsexceedsthe50-percentmark,whichisonaparwith most advanced countries. Muchof the cost of recycling is defrayedthrough the recovery and sale of pre-ciousmetals.

Topreventillegaldumpingofelectron-icandotherhazardouswastes,theEPAhasinitiatedaGPS(globalpositioningsystem)trackingsystemtokeep tabson trucks li-censedtotransportsuchwastes.

Further, EPA officials regularly takepart in technical conferences associ-ated with the Stockholm Convention on

Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs). Inconformancewiththeconvention,Taiwanhas enacted the Environmental AgentsControlAct環境用藥管理法 and theToxicChemical Substances Control Act 毒性

化學物質管理法. The former prohibits theuse of POPs, while the latter limits theproduction, sale, use, import and exportof271toxicchemicals.Companiesdeal-ing with such chemicals are required toobtainpermitsfromtheEPAandtokeeprecordsoftheamountstheyhavehandledanddisposedof.

Ecological ConservationForests and Forestation

The COA announced in May 2008that, over the next eight years, it wouldplanttreeson60,000hectaresofland.Un-derthisprogram—oneofthei-Taiwan12Projects—theCOAwillprovideasubsidyofUS$3,850peryearforeveryhectareoflowlandthatisafforested.Inanotherinitia-tiveunderthesameplan,itwillplanttreestocreatethreeforestparksinChiayi嘉義,HualienandPingtung屏東counties.

OverhalfofTaiwan—mostlymoun-tainous and hilly regions—is clothedin trees that are protected from com-mercialloggingbylaw.Protectedareasinclude nine special forest reservescomprising over 21,171 hectares, es-tablished with the aim of protectingTaiwan’suniqueheritageof indigenousplant species. The COA’s Forestry Bu-reau 行政院農業委員會林務局 conduc t sregularsurveysofthereservestomoni-torecosystemsandthepresenceofrareplantandanimalspecies.

Wildlife Protection Along with large forests, Taiwan’s

wide variety of climatic zones, whichrange from temperate to tropical, give


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l Environmental Protection Administration: http://www.epa.gov.tw l Bureau of Energy: http://www.moeaboe.gov.twl Council of Agriculture: http://www.coa.gov.twl Soil and Water Conservation Bureau: http://www.swcb.gov.twl Forestry Bureau: http://www.forest.gov.twl Forestry Bureau’s conservation site: http://conservation.forest.gov.tw

Related

Websites

it an extraordinary profusion of floraand fauna. In all,Taiwan ishome to ap-proximately 50,000 different species, ofwhicharound30percentareendemic(seeChapter1,“Geography”).Tohelpensurethatitsecosystemsremainintact,thecen-tral government has set aside about 20percentof thenation’s land fornationalparks, nature reserves, forest reserves,wildlife refuges and wildlife habitats.The protection of biodiversity has also

been promoted by the Wildlife Conser-vationAct野生動物保育法.

Athree-yearwildlifecrossingprograminitiated by the MOTC in 2008 enableswild animals to move over large rangesbyprovisionofspeciallyconstructedpas-sagewaysundereightofTaiwan’snationalhighways.Othermeasuresincludeclosingsections of Freeway No. 3 and reducingspeedlimitsduringtheAprilmigrationofpurplecrowbutterflies.


Environment. ROC (Taiwan) Yearbook 2011 Ch11 enviromental protection

Documents

national science

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