202411/04
The Chiayi Branch of the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency (FANCA), together with the Pingtung Branch and 38 other units, organized the 2024 Australasian Grass-Owl Conservation Alliance Exchange Platform Meeting at National Chiayi University today (November 4). A total of 85 partner units from agriculture, transportation, water resources, national parks, universities, and NGOs involved in Australasian grass-owl conservation were invited to join the event. Academic teams and engineering units shared success stories of enterprises and engineering projects that have introduced Australasian grass-owl-friendly actions, as well as the effectiveness of the local government’s investment in the implementation of payments for ecosystem services. This demonstrates that the concept of Australasian grass-owl conservation has already been internalized in the operations of each unit through the establishment of the alliance and the regular exchanges.
Australasian Grass-Owl Conservation Alliance Delivers Fruitful Results: Water Resources Engineering, Science Park Planning, and Corporate ESG All Incorporate Australasian Grass-Owl-Friendly Actions
In the morning, the FANCA kicked off the conference by describing the overall Australasian grass-owl conservation action plan, while Assistant Professor Tsai Jo-Shih, a researcher on the Australasian grass-owl, shared the history of the discovery of the Australasian grass-owl in Taiwan, unveiling the species’ mysteries. Next, National Chiayi University, the Sixth River Management Branch and the Southern Region Water Resources Branch, Water Resources Agency, and the Southern Taiwan Science Park Administration were invited to share cases of inter-organizational and cross-domain cooperation. These included the introduction of corporate ESG participation, Australasian grass-owl-friendly water resources engineering, and habitat creation for Australasian grass-owl in the Science Park. Through exchanges and discussions, the participants were able to gain a better understanding of practical experience in Australasian grass-owl conservation. In the afternoon, the Tainan City, Kaohsiung City, and Pingtung County Governments shared the outcomes of the Australasian grass-owl payments for ecosystem services in promoting friendly farmland. Chang Tai, Branch Director of the Chiayi Branch of the FANCA, said that the FANCA has launched many Australasian grass-owl conservation policies in recent years, such as ecosystem services payments and the publication of the Endangered Species Conservation Action Plan. The FANCA has also communicated with relevant units through the Taiwan Ecological Network platform. With the participation of various organizations, we are working together to build a sustainable environment where people and the Australasian grass-owl can coexist in harmony, allowing the owls to soar freely in the southwestern plains of Taiwan.
Cross-Unit Alliance Across the Southwestern Plains of Taiwan Communicates Regularly in Anticipation of Preserving and Expanding Australasian Grass-Owl Habitat
According to the Chiayi Branch, it is estimated that Taiwan has a population of only around 500 of the critically endangered Australasian grass-owls. It is the only one of the 12 resident owl species in Taiwan that breeds and roosts in grasslands. Agricultural and pasture land, fallow fields, grazing land, and rivers with frequent succession are all important habitats for the Australasian grass-owl. The main threats to the Australasian grass-owl are habitat loss and degradation. Grassland habitats are not easy to maintain, as they may be gradually replaced by trees and turned into forests or cultivated by humans, making them a highly unstable habitat type. In addition, rodenticide poisoning, unintentional hunting, lack of basic information, and insufficient conservation awareness in society all pose difficulties for the Australasian grass-owl’s survival. Therefore, it is necessary to integrate all walks of life to participate in the conservation of the Australasian grass-owl, and to conduct more surveys and researches to provide more detailed information on grass-owl conservation.
The Chiayi Branch explained that from 2021 onwards, FANCA’s Chiayi Branch and Pingtung Branch decided to take turns to host an annual exchange meeting on Australasian grass-owl conservation. In 2022, when the meeting was held at the National Chiayi University, 24 partner units, including those from government agencies, academic institutions, private companies, and organizations involved in Australasian grass-owl conservation in the Chiayi/Tainan/Kaohsiung/Pingtung regions were invited to form an Australasian grass-owl conservation alliance. By signing the Declaration of Cooperation of the Australasian Grass-Owl Conservation Alliance, it was announced that the members of the alliance would add Australasian grass-owl-friendly planning in their respective roles and promote grass-owl conservation through inter-organizational cooperation. At present, Australasian grass-owl habitats mainly span the foothills and plains of Chiayi, Tainan, Kaohsiung, and Pingtung, as well as Zhoshui River in Yunlin, which boasts a stable population in recent years. These are all critical habitats of the Australasian grass-owl and correspond to the jurisdictions of the FANCA’s Nantou, Chiayi, and Pingtung Branches, respectively. Therefore, the Nantou Branch and the Fourth River Management Branch of the Water Resources Agency have been invited to join this year, while the number of units invited has even increased to 38. It is hoped that the existing Australasian grass-owl populations and habitats can be preserved in a more in-depth and comprehensive manner, and their distribution can be expanded through habitat creation, so as to achieve the conservation objectives for the species.