Friday, March 4, 2011

Buy a patch of Land. Help Save a Pink Dolphin !

Since April 11, 2010 the Matsu's" Fish Conservation Union (MFCU) and other NGOs have been asking members of the public to pledge money to collectively buy 200 hectares of land along the Changhua County coast, where Kuo Kuang Petrochemical Technology Corp. hopes to 'reclaim' over 4000 hectares of important wetlands on which to build oil refineries. (See Taipei Times article and film overview containing images of the proposed reclamation.)

This area is just north of the Jhuoshuei River in the largest wetland in western Taiwan. It is home to many diverse species of marine animals and oysters beds that have been farmed by local residents for generations. And just off the coast in shallow waters live the unique Taiwan pink dolphins. The Taiwan pink dolphins now number fewer than 100 and are listed as Critically Endangered. According Tsai Chia-yang (蔡嘉陽) director of Taiwan Environmental Protection Union Changhua Division, the National Property Administration has put the current value of the land in the area at only NT$100 [US$3] per square meter. “So why don’t we put our money together to purchase 200 hectares of the most sensitive land?” Tsai said. Since April 2010, more than 50,000 people have pledged to do just that. You, too, can help with this effort to create a Land Trust. Show the Taiwan government that you don’t want to have a petrochemical plant built in the wetland, in the home of the pink dolphin.

Help Save the Pink Dolphin by pledging your support today!
Click here to download the pledge form in English.
Click here to download the pledge form in Chinese.

For more information, contact: Miss Wu of the Taiwan Environmental Information Center Email: landcrab0105@gmail.com
Phone: 02-23021122

*NGOs participating in the land trust campaign: Changhua Coast Conservation Action, Changhua County Environmental Protection Union, Matsu's Fish Conservation Union, Society of Wilderness, Taiwan Environmental Protection Union, Taiwan Environmental Information Center, Wild at Heart Legal Defense Association.

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