Download Marine Pollution Control

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2008/MRCWG/026
Agenda Item: 1
Economy Report – Chinese Taipei
Purpose: Information
Submitted by: Chinese Taipei
21st Marine Resource Conservation Working
Group Meeting
Piura, Peru
14–18 April 2008
Chinese Taipei’s Progress Report for Marine Resource Conservation Efforts
The 21st APEC Marine Resource Conservation Working Group Meeting
Pirua, Peru
April 14-18, 2008
Marine Pollution Control
1. Emergency incidents
From January 2007 to February, 2008, the marine pollution incidents reported amounted to 84
incidents. After the discretion of the response level needed for each incident, the Environmental
Protection Administration (EPA) either formed the Major Marine Pollution Emergency Response Team
or assisted the local governments and relevant agencies to cope with the incidents. All incidents were
resolved and no severe pollution occurred.
2. Marine Pollution Response Center
Chinese Taipei established a marine pollution response center in the south in 2006. A continual effort
to establish the marine pollution response centers for the north, east and central areas has been
made in 2007 and 2008. The purpose of the center is to integrate manpower and treatment capacity,
share resources, and reduce report and response time.
3. Hazardous Chemical Spills Incident Response
In response to the Protocol on Preparedness, Response and Cooperation on Pollution Incidents by
Hazardous and Noxious Substances, Chinese Taipei has commenced to develop an emergency
response system for the marine incidents caused by hazardous chemicals in 2007. The system would
include a standard response procedure, and a multi-year personnel training program.
4. Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI)
Based on characteristics of coastal areas, Chinese Taipei developed an Environmental Sensitivity
Index map as a reference for marine pollution emergencies. An ESI map for the mouth of the Danshui
River and Green Island were completed in 2007. Along with the ESI map, response strategies,
equipment and manpower required were also developed. In 2008, about 300 km of coastline will be
included in the ESI map.
5. Training Activities
11 training sessions on emergency response to oil and hazardous chemical spills were completed in
2007. Other training programs included:
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Marine Hazardous Substance Control and Management Training Level 2–Technician and Onscene Commander Training Program, Marine Hazardous Substance Control and Management
Training Level 3– Senior and Decision-making Officials Training Program were completed in
January and February, 2007.

Vessel Pollution Control and Enforcement Training sessions were completed in March, 2007.
291 trainees attended the training.

Marine Hazardous Chemical Spills Response Preliminary Training was completed in November,
2007. 80 participants completed the training.
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Marine Hazardous Chemical and Oil Spills Emergency Response System Training was held in
December, 2007. 16 trainees completed the training.
Summit on Marine Education
The first domestic “Summit on Marine Education” was held by the Ministry of Education on 25 January
2007 in Taipei. Some 200 participants from ocean-related educational institutions, industries, NGOs
and agencies were invited to attend this meeting. The status, issues and strategies on marine
education were discussed. The final outcome of the Summit was published in June 2007 as “A White
Paper on Marine Education” to serve as the top policy guidelines for promoting marine education in
Chinese Taipei (The White Paper in Chinese is available online at
http://163.20.67.193/sea/pdf/96112701.pdf)
Pratas Atoll Marine Park
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In response to the 2002 Yangmingshan Declaration of IUCN-WCPA-EA4 and the wide concerns
about the environmental degradation in Dongsha (Pratas) Atoll, the Ministry of the Interior passed the
“Management Plan of Dongsha Atoll” in January 2007. The Pratas Atoll Marine Park was delineated.
With an area of 350,000 hectares, the park is located 240 nautical miles southwest of Kaohsiung. It is
the first marine park designed to protect the coral ecology in Chinese Taipei. To restore corals back to
their original state and monitor and study corals, the park is divided into an ecological conservation
zone, a heritage protection zone, a special scenic zone, and a general control zone.
Pratas Atoll is the only large-scale atoll in Chinese Taipei waters. It offers the richest biological genetic resource in the South China Sea and the surrounding waters of Chinese Taipei with abundant
biodiversity. Given the atoll’s current condition, the priority tasks before eco-tourism and educational
activities can be conducted are: coral revitalization, biological study and monitoring, and the
establishment of revitalization-related indices.
Also, the seventh national park in Chinese Taipei, the “Marine National Park Administration” was
established on October 4, 2007 to better protect valuable marine resources including coral reefs,
fisheries, sea grass beds and underwater cultural heritage. (The introduction of this newly established
marine park was included in the “APEC Bulletin on Marine Resource Conservation and Fisheries” of
2007.)
2007 Conference on Parks and Green Network
The 2007 Conference on Parks and Green Network was held from 19-20 December, 2007, in Taipei.
The conference was organized by the Construction and Planning Administration (Ministry of the
Interior) and the Landscape Society of Chinese Taipei. Foreign experts from the USA, the
Netherlands, Hong Kong and Japan were invited to share their experience on parks and green
spaces. During this meeting, some 75 important wetlands of Chinese Taipei were designated and will
be actively protected. Among them, two sites are classified as “wetlands of international importance”
because they are important habitats for the rare species known as “black-faced spoonbills”. The
authority also announced 2008 as the “Year of Wetlands” in Chinese Taipei.
APEC projects
1. Satellite Application in Knowledge-based Economies (SAKE) Project
This project is to protect marine resources by using high resolution satellite images in the areas of
monitoring coastal development or changes, oil spills, grounding of ships, changes of land use,
mud slides, planning of coastal development, marine resources, health of coral communities, and
other applications. Chinese Taipei provides 2-meter resolution satellite images from Formosat-2
satellite, which was launched in 2003.
Workshop on Satellite Applications on Fishery and coastal Ecosystems (SAFE) was held on
November 5-8, 2007, in Jakarta, Indonesia. This workshop covered various aspects of satellite
applications on marine resource conservation. Topics included monitoring of coastal ecosystems,
mapping and mitigation of marine pollution, hyperspectral mapping of natural resources, field
verification of coastal ecosystem mapping, natural disasters, operational oceanography, fishery
and mariculture and ocean energy. Workshop speakers were invited from Indonesia, Japan,
Vietnam, the Philippines, and Chinese Taipei. French and German speakers also attended the
workshop.
2. The 8th APEC Roundtable Meeting on the Involvement of the Business/Private Sector in
Sustainability of the Marine Environment
The roundtable meeting was held on November 6-8, 2007 in Chinese Taipei. Participants from
Canada, Hong Kong, Korea, the Philippines, and Chinese Taipei attended this meeting. The
discussion of the meeting focused on the topics of climate change and coastal management,
marine protected areas, marine mammal protection, green or eco-harbors, marine pollution, and
wetlands. The meeting was organized by National Taiwan Ocean University and the Foundation
of Ocean Taiwan. An estimated 80 attendees participated in the meeting. Participants made the
following main suggestions to APEC: more collaborative research on climate change, and
enhanced education on responsible fishery and wetland protection. The conclusions of this
meeting were also included in the 2007 “APEC Bulletin on Marine Resource Conservation and
Fisheries” for the reference of APEC members.
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Other Marine Conservation Events
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In 2007, Chinese Taipei placed 3,500 artificial reefs (approximately 6300 cubic meters) in its
surrounding waters to provide a nursing environment for fish.

424 million fish larvae were released to increase the fish stock.

294 seed instructors in the area of marine conservation completed training.
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The Shark Conservation and Protection Action Plan was announced in 2006. The maximum
catch amount for whale sharks was lowered to 30 in 2007. From 2008, any catch, sale or
ownership of whale sharks is not permitted.
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