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The Plight of the Spoonbill
When Industry and Ecology Collide
by Jeff Hou, SAVE International


Rich in wildlife and natural wonders, Chiku's coastline is attracting considerable attention these days aside from tourism.  Tidal mudflats, mangrove forests, and tropical lagoons add scenic views to the landscape, but the region is most famous for harboring the critically endangered black-faced spoonbill (Platalea minor). Over 60% of the world's recorded population winter here, endowing Chiku with an enormous responsibility. In addition to its ecological importance, Chiku also supports families with deep roots in the area through aquaculture and fishing.  Currently, over 16,000 local residents and several hundred rare spoonbill depend on Chiku Lagoon, one of the last remaining natural lagoons in Taiwan.

The Binnan Industrial Project, first proposed in the early 1990's, stands to interrupt the status quo.  Original development plans included reclamation of the entire Chiku Lagoon to house the complex, a 2,000-hectare site with a naphtha cracker facility and steel mill.  Backed by the Tuntex and Yieh-Loong Groups, two of Taiwan's most powerful corporate conglomerates, Binnan was deemed the island's largest industrial venture.  Developers and government agencies saw Binnan as an important step in keeping Taiwan's industries ashore, but residents feared loosing their job base with no alternatives in sight.  Environmentalists were concerned for the devastating consequences to land and wildlife.

Many factors put these groups at odds.  Environmentalists argue that industrial and urban developments would fragment essential roosting and foraging wildlife habitats of the black-faced spoonbill, and that wastewater discharge and air pollution would present a serious threat. (NOTE: when fully operational, Binnan would produce the equivalent of 25-31% of Taiwan's total CO2 emission at 1990s levels, making it virtually impossible to meet the standard of CO2 emission as set by international agreement). Shoreline erosion, sure to accompany construction of the industrial harbor, would further impact the area.  And then there's the question of water.  Operational demands would require massive water transfer from southern Taiwan via dams yet to be constructed.  Competition for water resources as well as increased production cost as result of air pollution also stands to  undermine development of the Tainan Science-based Industrial Park. 

The Binnan Industrial Complex is the largest project ever subjected to a formal review by Taiwan's Environmental Protection Administration (EPA).  It passed the first stage of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) process in 1996 with the condition that no more than 30% of Chiku Lagoon be involved.  Struggling to deal with the complexity of the project and under the scrutiny of environmental groups, the EPA selected 10 major issues for review including alternative sites, coastal erosion, water supply, CO2 emission, impact on the Tainan Science-based Industrial Park and protection of the endangered black-faced spoonbill.  Approval was repeatedly delayed beginning in 1998 however, in December 1999 and three months prior to the Presidential Election, the EPA suddenly granted conditional acceptance although many questions were left unanswered.  Environmentalists, alarmed by this sudden approval, charged that the decision was politically motivated to gain support from pro-development factions. The suggestion of a flawed EIA process prompted the Control Yuan to issue a redress, and the legality of transfer of coastal land to private developers.
 

 The victory of the Democratic Progressive Party offered renewed hope to environmentalists.  In September 2000, as the Central Government was preparing a new energy and industrial policy that would eventually halt Nuclear Power Plant
No. 4, Economic Affairs Minister Lin Hsin-Yi choose to examine the development of Binnan in light of water resources and CO2 emissions.  In the meantime, the state-owned China Steel, which took over Yieh-Loong's position as developer of
Binnan's steel complex, announced a joint venture with 7 other countries to develop a major steel-manufacturing complex in Malaysia, a move widely seen as an alternative to Binnan.  In addition, there were reports concerning the renovation of the existing petrochemical facilities in Kaohsiung as another option.

While Binnan developers appear to stand firm, the project's EIA is still pending. In addition, further reviews are required for the associated industrial harbor and desalination plant.  Issues such as CO2 emission and water supply remain.  In November 2000, the EIA committee reconvened but stopped short of giving final verification to the project, citing insufficient ecological analysis and inconsistency with the earlier conclusions.  Just as the future of Binnan is uncertain, the plight of the black-faced spoonbill and coastal ecosystems also hang in the balance of big business.  Many eyes are focused on Chiku.  An equitable solution is necessary.  One that will not cloud the vision of wildlife, landscape or humanity.
 
 

For as long as people can remember, black faced spoonbills began to make their appearance in Taiwan after the "White Dew" (around September 8th).  Japanese ornithologist Tetsukichi Kazano, who worked at the Tainan Museum under the Japanese occupation, described sightings of 50 or more spoonbills every year from 1925 to 1938 on the beach near Anping harbor. Today, several hundred dance along the tidal flats of the Tsengwen River with the Caspian tern, Chinese merganser, and varieties of ducks, plover, gulls, owls and storks.

THE BLACK FACED SPOON BILL

Profile: large migratory waterbird inhabiting coastal areas of East Asia. Presently, approximately 400 birds are in existence. 
Description: A long black bill with an expanded spoon tip is distinctive. (Immature birds have a dark reddish orange bill)  In summer, body feathers are mostly white except for yellow ornamental plumes behind the head and across the chest.  In winter, the entire body is white.  Habits: Forages alone or in flocks along coasts, in estuaries and on shallow sand flats. 
Food: small fish, shrimp and conch. 
Breeding: Known breeding sites are on small islands off the west coast of North Korea. Wintering: at Deep Bay (between Hong Kong & China), the Red River Estuary (Vietnam), a
nature reserve (Hainan Island, China) and Tsengwen River Estuary (Chigu, Tainan), which is recognized for sheltering the largest congregation of the species anywhere in the world. 

"New Views" thanks SAVE International, the Black-faced Spoonbill Conservation Assoc., Tainan County R.O.C., and the Wild Bird Society, Japan for permission to reprint photos and map

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