Taiwan Today

The Eco Echo Award promoting biodiversity in Taiwan is a shining example of corporate social responsibility.

This past September Lin You-cen (林宥岑) was busily relocating Taiwan white minnows from Taineukeng Creek in the township of Puli in central Taiwan’s Nantou County to a nearby pond that will act as a temporary shelter for the fish. Expediency was essential, as an engineering project was about to be carried out upriver, threatening the species endemic to Taiwan, said Lin, who is chairperson of Yi Hsin Community Development Association (YHCDA) in Puli. “We’re striving to ensure the species can continue to prosper in Nantou’s streams, where it’s most commonly found,” she said, adding that the fish was officially declared endangered in 2009.

Lin founded YHCDA 10 years ago to protect the local ecological environment while promoting organic farming and developing ecotourism in Puli, her hometown. In 2013 the organization began working to preserve the white minnow after learning of its change in conservation status. Lin and her family are deeply dedicated to the endeavor, with her father pitching in by digging relocation ponds on his own farmland.

Their efforts garnered the attention of leading semiconductor foundry United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC), which launched its Eco Echo Award in 2016 to encourage ecological conservation. YHCDA was one of four organizations recognized at the inaugural ceremony. “Winning this honor has greatly boosted the morale of the association,” Lin said. “The prize money has been of great help in enabling us to buy a top-of-the-line water quality detector, too.”

The award is part of the company’s larger environmental protection strategy, according to Lai Hwai-ren (賴懷仁), director of UMC’s Division of Group Risk Management & Environment Safety Health. Initiating steps to systematically reduce greenhouse gas emissions in 1999, the enterprise based in northern Taiwan is a global pioneer in combating climate change. In 2014 UMC and Dragon Steel Corporation in central Taiwan completed the country’s first government-accredited carbon credit trading deal, under which the latter purchased the right to generate 2 million tons of carbon dioxide that the former had reduced from its own operations over the years. UMC used the NT$30 million (US$1.07 million) brought in by the deal to establish the Eco Echo Award.

To date the award has honored 24 projects by nongovernmental organizations. Starting in 2019 teams of high school students and university freshmen also became eligible to enter the competition, with six selected as winners so far. According to Lai, all judges invited to review submissions are senior experts in conservation and base decisions on criteria including the uniqueness of targeted species, the urgency of protecting the species and the project’s effectiveness in raising public awareness of ecological protection. The total prize money per year has increased threefold to reach NT$3 million (US$107,000) in the 2021 edition.

Thanks to the hard work of YHCDA, recognition by UMC and guidance from the Cabinet-level Council of Agriculture, Taiwan white minnows are coming back from the brink in Nantou. Equally important, the protected species whose restoration is closely tied to the rise of local ecotourism is more highly prized by people in the community than ever, Lin said.

Youth Engagement

The farmland tree frog, another endangered endemic species in Taiwan, is likewise receiving increased notice from the public, partly due to a student team led by Joshua Huang (黃乙恩). The group was one of four 2020 Eco Echo Award winners in the adolescent category. “I’ve learned so much about doing field research and presenting results to the public,” said the 16-year-old from Xikou Township of southern Taiwan’s Chiayi County, where one of the frog’s main habitats is located. “But what matters most is that people are becoming more cognizant of the species’ plight, especially since we won the award.”

Under the guidance of his father, biology teacher Bruce Huang (黃孝文), Joshua started conducting field surveys of the frogs along with several classmates at the age of 13. The team helps track changes in the size of frog populations in multiple locations across Xikou during spring and summer when the animals are most active. The results are then sent for analysis to the Society for Taiwan Amphibian Conservation (STAC), an organization whose membership primarily comprises volunteers dedicated to frog conservation like the father-and-son duo. The 12-member Xikou team also took part in a large-scale survey conducted by the STAC’s preparatory office in June 2019 across Chiayi City and County as well as western Taiwan’s Yunlin County. A total of nearly 4,100 tree frogs were found on the mission.

“Field work can be quite tough at times as we always do it at night when frogs and mosquitoes emerge. It’s also not uncommon for conditions to be very muddy because the frogs are most active after rainfall,” Joshua said. “But it’s all worth it if we can save this species from disappearing.”

The students are additionally working to create new refuges for the animal by digging ditches in fields as well as organizing fun educational activities for children. According to the elder Huang, agricultural workers often end up destroying the frog’s habitat because it tends to live on farmland, hence the species’ common name. A better understanding of its conservation status can halt such behavior, he added.

Underwater Rescue

Raising public awareness of threatened flora and fauna is also a key aspect of the Eco Echo-winning mission carried out by the Foundation of Pescadores Citizens (FPC) in Penghu County, an archipelago in the Taiwan Strait. Having won the award for three consecutive years for efforts to protect local marine ecology, the organization has garnered particular acclaim for coral reef restoration.

“Coral reefs are often thought of as the rain forests of the ocean because they support a high level of biodiversity and are under threat from hazards like marine debris and improper treatment of waste water,” said Chen Yi-jun (陳宜君), a project specialist with FPC. Knowing how critical such ecosystems are to marine health, the organization launched a plan to recover a coral reef in the northern part of the sea encircled by Penghu’s three largest islets, for which it won its first Eco Echo Award in 2018.

Over the years FPC has planted more than 3,000 coral fragments. Though not all of them successfully take, Chen and his team continually improve the technique to raise the survival rate. Meanwhile, the organization is promoting water activities with low impact on the aquatic environment such as kayaking, snorkeling and standup paddleboarding. “People develop an affinity for the ocean through these activities and become more concerned for its well-being,” Chen said. Foundation members also frequently visit elementary and high schools across Penghu to educate the next generation about the risks associated with overusing plastics and consuming coral reef fish. Teachers and students at Her Herng Primary School have even started their own restoration project at a site near campus with the organization’s assistance.

Under FPC’s tireless reef rehabilitation, the recovery area is extending southward to Daiso Island at the center of Penghu’s inner sea. The tiny islet is a hotspot of activity for one of the organization’s latest projects. According to Chen, the initiative, which won a 2020 Eco Echo Award, entails a comprehensive survey of sea life in Daiso’s intertidal zone and a documentary featuring interviews with the island’s residents.

UMC’s work to recognize outstanding ecological projects has been instrumental in drawing much needed attention to the threats facing Penghu’s coral reefs, Nantou’s Taiwan white minnows, and Chiayi and Yunlin’s farmland tree frogs. “This is a prime example of how an environmentally minded enterprise can fulfill its corporate social responsibility,” Chen said. “Organizations behind such efforts have limits to their human and financial resources, and the publicity brought by the award helps those resources go much further, thus enhancing the impact of their missions.”