SAVE VITAL FAIRY PITTA HABITAT IN TAIWAN

PREVENT THE DESTRUCTION OF VITAL FAIRY PITTA HABITAT IN TAIWAN

Fairy Pitta: Wu Chong-han, Yunlin Wild Bird Association

The Hushan Dam in Taiwan

Husnan Dam Blog

The proposed construction of the Hushan Dam in Yunlin County, Taiwan, poses a major threat to the Fairy Pitta (Pitta nympha) and three other threatened bird species found in the Huben IBA the Taiwan Partridge (Arborophila crudigularis), Swinhoe's Pheasant (Lophura swinhoii) and the Maroon Oriole (Oriolus traillii ardens).

The Fairy Pitta, a beautiful, brilliantly coloured, sparkling little migratory songbird called the comes to the Huben area in Yunlin County every year to breed. The main threat to the Fairy Pitta is habitat destruction. Most of the Pitta's lower-elevation habitat has already been destroyed for human development and some 422 hectares of its remaining lush habitat is under threat of being inundated for the construction of the Hushan Dam, which will supply water primarily to highly polluting existing and planned industrial complexes on the west coast.

Known in Mandarin as the "Eight-coloured Bird", it arrives in late spring, and is seen hopping along the ground looking for earthworms, its multi-coloured feathers gleaming brilliantly when the catch the sunlight. Threatened by habitat destruction, only about 3,000-5,000 Fairy Pitta remain worldwide. It is listed as a vulnerable bird by Birdlife International and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), and regulated under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), and is listed as an endangered species in Taiwan, where Hushan provides the world's most densely populated Fairy Pitta habitat known to date.

On 26 April 2007 the Environmental Planning Agency (EPA) subcommittee ruled that work on the project was illegal and had to stop. This was indeed a victory but the appeal now goes to the EPA plenary committee. At this level governmental interference is feared an so it is far from certain that the sub-committee's verdict will be upheld. The EPA plenary committee hearing is scheduled for Thursday 24 May 2007.



We must therefore act quickly!

WHAT YOU CAN DO

Join local conservationists and BirdLife International in a protest to the President of Taiwan and the responsible decision-makers against the destruction of the Fairy Pitta habitat and the threat of the species' extinction (email link and text below):

MAIL TO THE PRESIDENT OF TAIWAN AND DECISION-MAKERS

To: oop62@mail.oop.gov.tw, abian@mail.oop.gov.tw

cc: eyemail@eyemail.gio.gov.tw, ylhga001@mail.yunlin.gov.tw,coa@mail.coa.gov.tw, service@forest.gov.tw, dois@moea.gov.tw, foreign@dpp.org.tw, epm@epa.gov.tw, comment@wildatheart.org.tw, keephushanwild@gmail.com, info@proact-campaigns.net

NOTE: You will receive an email in Chinese charcters from the premier's office which includes the text

"Premier's E-Mail Correspondence Group Confirmation Mail"

Try to find time to lick on the link in English below this text and you will be taken to a website where your mail is shown in full. Scroll to the very bottom and click the LEFT HAND BOX.

Another window will open with the text:

"Thank you for your confirmation."

To: The President of the Republic of China, President Chen Shui-bian

Cc:
Premier Chang Chun-hsiung, DPP-Frank Hsieh, Yunlin County Commissioner Su Chih-fen, Taiwan Solidarity Union Legislator Yin Ling-ying, Department of Investment Services, Council of Agriculture, Forestry Bureau, Environmental Protection Administration, Wild at Heart Legal Defense Association, Taiwan National Coalition Against the Hushan Dam.

Dear Sir,

The proposed dam project at Hushan Village, Yunlin County, Taiwan, is a worldwide cause of concern. I/we hereby appeal for the cancellation of the proposed dam.

If the dam is built and the valley flooded, 422 hectares of rich evergreen forest will be submerged, destroying the breeding grounds of countless species of fauna, including the Fairy Pitta Pitta Nympha, which is listed as a vulnerable bird species by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), regulated under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), and listed as an endangered species in Taiwan.

The arguments for the construction of the dam are exclusively economic. After a study of the background material I/we remain unconvinced that the dam will result in any marked improvement in the socio-economic situation of the ordinary people of Taiwan. On the contrary, it will probably lead to inequality in resource pricing and distribution, and local, regional and worldwide pollution through a vast increase in greenhouse gas emissions. In other words, a potentially irreversible environmental disaster is threatened, which would have implications for regions well outside the borders of Taiwan. Your accountability in this matter is therefore enormous and not restricted to your own country and population.

I/we respectfully request that the Government of Taiwan put an immediate stop to this project and thereby demonstrate their respect for national and international laws and principles of social and environmental justice.

In the conviction that you will act responsibly to ensure that this important natural habitat and wildlife resource is preserved for present and future generations, on Taiwan and elsewhere, I/we remain,

Yours sincerely,


(Name and address)

(Please add your country to the address or at least beneath your name. This is important to demonstrate international opinion and support!)