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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: 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. 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 2 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. 3 Other Marine Conservation Events 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. 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. 4