It is said that it all started with a dike.

In 1987, in order to develop new land by the seaside, the Tainan County government built a horseshoe-shaped dike at the mouth of the river. This created an area of more than 600 hectares which, while at this point still inundated at high tide, comes above water level at low tide.

With the sea sweeping in and out and cleansing the area, rich nutrients are able to support countless forms of marsh life. Also, the drainage ditch between the dike and sandbank has become a moat keeping out human interference. Quite unintentionally for its human creators, the sandbank has become a favorite stop for migratory birds. Every year tens of thousands of birds of fifty different varieties come to this Shangri-la, making the already thriving situation at the mouth of the Tsengwen River even more exuberant.

A gift from nature: As early as two years before the construction of the dike, a young man from the countryside in south Taiwan, Kuo Chung-cheng, was unable to find an outlet for his youthful energy in noisy Tainan City. So this leisure youth picked up a telescope and a basic ornithology guide, and headed off to river mouths in southwestern Taiwan.

In the winter of 1985, he came to the mouth of the Tsengwen River. He set up his telescope in the bone-chilling breeze off the Pacific, and in his lens appeared more than 100 black-faced spoonbills-- of whom there had been no record of any flock in Taiwan for over sixty years and which bird lovers could see only in their books.

The black-faced spoonbill, like the famous Crested Ibis of mainland China, belongs to the Ibis family. Among 28 types of Ibis, in the past Taiwan has only seen the Crested Ibis, the Oriental Ibis, and the white spoonbill in anything more than single-digit numbers. The black-faced spoonbill is somewhat larger in size than the white spoonbill; its body is snow white, with some yellow feathers on the head, with the feet and the face being black. When it feeds, it sweeps its long, flat bill through the water scooping up fish and shrimp, making one of the more intriguing sights at the river mouth.

Kuo Chung-cheng only saw his experience as a great moment to savor in his bird-watching career. Even after several summers and winters of coming and going, these rare visitors were still known to only a limited number of bird lovers.

The Shangri-la Industrial Park: The bird watching public has grown rapidly, and one or two black-faced spoonbills have been spotted at the mouths of the Lanyang River and the Tadu River. But only in this naturally defended area at the mouth of the Tsengwen River does the black-faced spoonbill come regularly every year, and moreover in steadily increasing numbers.

Meanwhile, other things were quietly happening inside the dike.

Originally the reclaimed land area by the seaside would surface at low tide. The county government had already planned to set up an industrial park here, hoping that in the future they could raise local revenues with land sales and taxes from the park. Local people in Chiku, site of the industrial area, also hoped that--with farming and agriculture on the decline--industry would bring a tide of people and job opportunities, turning the small township of only 20,000 people into a boom town.

The Industrial Development Bureau of the Ministry of Economic Affairs has expressed hope that this piece of land might be given over to the land-starved business community. Thus encouraged, the county government then built the dike, undertook an environmental impact study, and step by step....

Amidst this dilemma, things really got sensitive after the receipt of a letter four years ago from Peter Kennerly, a senior member at the Hongkong Birdwatching Association.

Only 288 left in the world: In the 1970's, Hongkong set up the Mipu Natural Protected Area; in recent years every winter black-faced spoonbills come here to escape the cold. Kennerly hoped that Taiwan would provide observation records to better understand their distribution and movements.

There are more than 9,000 types of birds in the world. Although with the hard work of birdlovers and ornithologists, the picture is increasingly com plete, there is much we do not know about these creatures that have the whole sky to sail about in. The endangered black-faced spoonbill is precisely one of those who has fallen through the cracks.

According to past records, people only knew that the black-faced spoonbill flourished in northeast China and Korea. In the winter it would move its activities to wide open areas like south China, Taiwan, and Vietnam.

By comparing records of all the bird-watching associations in east Asia, it was discovered that there are only about 280 black-faced spoonbills left, making it even rarer than some species of birds defined as endangered by the Washington Conference Treaty, signed by more than 100 member nations. Historical records show that the black-faced spoonbill appeared on the southeast coast of China from time to time, but in a recent large-scale survey of wetlands in the mainland, the largest single group in which they appeared numbered only 15. The mouth of the Tsengwen, on the other hand, has more than 100, accounting for two-thirds the number, thus becoming a focus of concern for foreign bird-watching associations.

Disaster from out of the blue? More than 30 international organizations, including the International Council for Bird Preservation and the Asian Wetland Bureau, have sent letters to the Council on Agriculture--which is the governing body for wildlife--hoping the latter will protect the black-faced spoonbills and prevent their extinction.

The Wild Bird Society, which had originally simply hoped the birds could quietly pass the winter at the mouth of the Tsengwen River, began a one-man, one-letter campaign to save the "black-faced dancers." They hope to convince the Tainan County government to stop development of the industrial park. Already more than 20,000 people have sent letters in support.

With concern about whether the industrial park will affect the existence of the birds, the COA hopes that Tainan will adjust its plan for the zone. More-over, on July 1, it formally declared the black-faced spoonbill to be a protected species, with criminal punishments for hunting them or disturbing their living environment.

At this time, the leaders of Chiku Rural Township, who expected the industrial zone to bring prosperity to the area, were more than a little panicked by having more than half of all that remained of a rare species suddenly show up in their back yard: "Why is it that a few birds that appear out of thin air can affect the whole development of an industrial zone?"

Common asset for mankind: The survival of the black-faced spoonbill is obviously not an issue that just involves the pleasure birdwatchers derives from watching migratory birds. "The disappearance of a single variety is a question for the whole world," because it warns that there is a crisis in the environment in which mankind lives. The "Earth Summit" held in Brazil this June thus listed "biodiversity" as one of the main issues.

The disappearance of a species was originally a matter of nature, but there were only dramatic changes in nature if some cataclysm occurred; otherwise ecological change would be gradual. In terms of the rate at which bird varieties disappeared, on average, only one type disappeared every 500,000 years.

At the present, man's ability to transform nature, and the pace at which it is done, are startling. The number of endangered species has risen greatly, and the rate of extinction has accelerated. Moreover, the relations and mutual dependence of all types of animals in nature is complex. When only one type disappears, perhaps some other type can fulfill its function. But when species continuously are eradicated, this could create a vicious cycle so that they die off increasingly quickly... until there is a huge impact which can never be compensated for.

It is just as people cannot fully understand the relationship between themselves and deforestation --until there is no water in the dry season and constant flooding in the rainy season. Only then do they understand the logic of "planting 20 million trees to save the water sources." But by then it's impossible to restore the forests in a short time.

A series of protected areas abroad: From the point of view of gene preservation, the creation of any given type of animal has taken hundreds of millions of years of evolution through countless variations before it can appear. Even if we are just talking about a blade of grass by the roadside, no amount of higher technology can recreate its genes, so that every type of living thing is precious. "What people want is that successive generations can live forever on this planet, and not just this one generation stay here temporarily, so naturally no one hopes that precious creatures will die in our hands," says Chen Ming-fa, secretary-general of the Wild Bird Society of the ROC.

Take for example the Crested Ibis, which settles in mainland China and of which there only several tens left, in Shansi Province: Since the 1970's, with activities by preservationists, not only has a protected area been established, ecologists have gone in to investigate and care for the birds. One European conservation magazine even uses it as its name, constantly reminding people not to forget the crisis of existence of many living things.

Activities to protect the black-faced spoonbill are being actively pursued in other countries. Besides mainland China and Japan, where an extremely small number have appeared, Hongkong early on set up a protected area. There are about fifty in North Korea. Four small islands where the birds fly annually to reproduce and nurture their young have been declared forbidden areas. And the sixty or so black-faced spoonbill who winter in the Red River Delta in Vietnam have a safe place to rest because of the establishment of a 6,000 hectare protected forest at the mouth of the river.

They came 100 years ago: Besides communications from other present day allies, birdlovers have also gone through ornithological records and discovered the following: One hundred years ago, the British explorer Swinhoe recorded the activities of the black-faced spoonbill in Taiwan. Sixty years ago, a Japanese natural history scholar discovered about 50 in the Anping area of Tainan for fifteen consecutive years. Thereafter, because no records were maintained, the trail of the birds gets cut off "like the cutting of a kite string."

Sixty years on, today, the black-faced spoonbill has been "rediscovered," only to face the challenge of whether it can have another 60 years.

In May, the environmental impact study done by Chiku was not approved by the Environmental Protection Administration, with the black-faced spoonbill the bone of contention. The mayor of the township angrily declared that if the industrial park were not built, he would put poison in the river and "not have to think anymore about seeing those black-faced birds!"

With the conflict between development and conservation again at center stage, the COA believes that, although the preservation of species is for the future of all mankind, you can't ignore the urgent wishes of the locality to develop. But by not talking about the birds and simply assessing the development of the industrial park, will the locality really be able to get what it wants and achieve prosperity?

Do we need so many industrial parks? There are seven industrial zones in Tainan County. The Chiku Industrial Park is part of the Matou Living Area in the urban plan. According to estimates of the Construction and Planning Administration of the Ministry of the Interior, by the year 2001 Matou will require only 730 hectares of industrial-use land. The current plan already allows for more than 1200. With land and labor costs increasingly high, and industries moving abroad, will surplus industrial-use land really be profitable?

As for the environmental impact assessment, Liu Tsung-yung, head of the Office of Environmental Impact Assessment in the Bureau of Comprehensive Planning at the EPA, says that "even if there were no black-faced spoonbill, this assessment report would absolutely never pass."

The review committee, which includes several economists, raised more than 50 doubts about the impact the industrial zone might have on the local environment. For example, at present because of the large number of factories upstream and midstream of the Tsengwen River, the amount of waste water has been constantly increasing, already accounting for 52% of the pollution at the river mouth. If in the future the factories in the new zone also expel their waste water into the river mouth, this will affect coastal fisheries and breeding. Also, where will an industrial park near the sea get its water? There was nothing in the original study about air quality monitoring, about what special conditions would apply for bringing in industrial waste water, and so on.

To develop or not does not depend on a bird: Even if all 600 hectares could be sold off, the income of NT$600 million estimated by the county government would amount to no more than half the annual budget of Tainan County, "and for that you want to sell out our heritage?" wonders Mr. Li, a teacher and resident of Tainan County who grew up by the mouth of the Tsengwen River. Today the "industrial park" is still inundated at high side, so it is planned in the future to take rock and soil from the river to fill in, which might result in the collapse of the riverbed. If sea water flows back up the river, this will endanger the safety of the local residents, "and you wouldn't be able to solve that problem even with NT$600 million!"

But, in the eyes of the strongest advocates of development, these arguments are not more serious than the very real existence of the black-faced spoonbill. As they see it, the environmental impact report "is just a matter of compiling the data; if we do it a few more times it will pass," in the words of Chiku township assemblyman Chen Ming-lai.

In a meeting following an inspection by the EPA, Tainan County magistrate Li Ya-chiao stated frankly that the Chiku Industrial Park was the first one in Taiwan to be directly planned by the county government. The county government is relatively inexperienced, so he hoped that the central government and scholars would offer their suggestions.

He also stated that the hinterland of the Tsengwen River is very broad, and the best thing was to set aside the wind-blocking forest at the northeast of the sandbank as a preserve for the black-faced spoonbill.

But, judging from the situation of the black-faced spoonbill in various other countries, they do not live in wooded areas, and anyway "they need a broader undisturbed area than other Ibises, which is why they were attracted to the Chiku sandbank in the first place," says Ong Yi-tsung, a lecturer at Kun-shan Industrial College in Tainan County.

It's most economical to preserve the current land: What has been the biggest change in the Tsengwen river mouth area since the discovery of the black-faced spoonbill in 1985? "In a sentence, there's less and less sand," says Kuo Chung-cheng, who still goes bird-watching over 100 times a year. The western seacoast was originally rising land, but because each of the two tributaries to the upstream portion of the Tsengwen River had dams built on them, plus a great amount of illegal pisciculture on the western seacoast, today reclaimed land on the seacoast is declining, not increasing. It would be very difficult to find a similar sandbank for the birds.

Birds fly as they will, and no matter how carefully people manage, if the birds don't come then they don't come. What people might see as empty wasteland is for nature a place for life to flourish. Thus naturally protected areas are generally "protection of the existing area," because that is the most economical and most effective method of conservation.

"But it's not impossible to get the birds to 'move house," says Tseng Lung-yung, an anesthesiologist by trade and former president of the Kaohsiung Wild Bird Society. In the past people built a dike, and without thinking made the area inside the dike into something the black-faced spoonbill loves. One could try building another dike farther out to sea to produce a similar sandbank, in order to avoid human interference as much as possible. And who knows? The birds might move there. But this method would require a long-term trial, so people would have to have the patience to wait.

If the birds only have a place to go, and the environmental impact assessment for the industrial zone can be brought up to requirements and implemented, "no one would oppose the locality developing an industrial park," says one official at the COA who hopes the local government can enter into reasonable, calm dialogue. Since those closest to the black-faced spoonbill are the local residents, to protect it first requires getting local support.

A dilemma: As for whether or not to set up a protected area, the COA says that at present people don't understand enough about the black-faced spoonbill, about their feeding habits, about how large a feeding area they need... no one can give precise answers. The COA has already asked the Biology Department at National Taiwan Normal University to do the relevant research. They only hope that they can maintain the status quo in the sandbank until the results and suggestions come out.

"In fact, you can have your cake and eat it too --it's not hard to lay out a plan where development and preservation won't conflict," says one scholar who participated in the environmental impact assessment review.

If the industrial park can be successfully developed, nothing but workers will be attracted. From the development of the industrial parks currently in Taiwan, for many surrounding cities and towns, not only is there no prosperity, on the contrary there are endless environmental disputes and outmigration.

If there can be a sandbank where countless migratory birds can stay, which can be made into a natural park teeming with life, besides having long-term importance for environmental education, it could attract people to come for recreation. Thereafter industries run by local people, with local flavor, would develop in the neighborhood, producing things for tourist consumption. Local fishermen could develop recreational fishing, bringing the pisciculture industry back to life.

If there is a nature park in the vicinity of the industrial park, not only will the types of industry be limited (heavy polluting industries would not be permitted), the county government could even demand that operators pay fines or close factories if the birds fail to come back because of pollution. In this way, not only will operators not dare to violate environmental regulations, they will try to figure out new ways to protect the birds. Whether in terms of economic development or maintaining the quality of life, the greatest beneficiaries would be the local people.

Sustainable development is the best long-term solution: One COA official concludes: "If the costs and benefits can be analyzed and provided to the local people, I think that the people of Tainan County would choose a plan that provided for sustainable use of natural resources."

There are industrial parks everywhere, but the black-faced spoonbill is a resource unique to Tainan County. One day will people come to Tainan to see the black-faced spoonbill just like people go to Szechuan today to see the Panda? It's not impossible.

Distribution of the Black-Faced Spoonbill [Picture]

Estimated Number of Black-Faced Spoonbills in the World (Migratory Season)[Picture]

[Picture Caption]

Chiku Rural Township mayor Wang Lung-hsiung (left) says: "Life is hard for people in Chiku. We need to develop the industrial park to make this area prosper." (photo by Pu Hua-chih)

(Right) When the tide is in, the proposed area for the Chiku Industrial Park is inundated, making a handy fishing spot. (photo by Pu Hua-chih)

The Tainan Wild Bird Society hopes that all the migratory birds have a place to rest. (photo by Pu Hua-chih)

The Wild Bird Society of the ROC is having a "one person, one letter" campaign to save the "black-faced dancer." They have already received 20,000 letters. Sinorama has selected excerpts from a few written by small children to see how they think. What about the adults?

Yu Pei-chun: Is it possible that people are so hard-hearted that they wo n't let the black-faced spoonbill merely pass the winter, but would see it sleep forever amidst blackened rivers and cacophonous noise, to let it disappear forever from this world? Everyone says they want to protect animals, but no one does anything about it. In the past, just because of people's greed and lust for killing, many animals approached extinction, and only after were they called "national treasures."

A flat bill like the shape of a Chinese guitar (pi-pa) is the most distinguishing feature of the black-faced spoonbill.

Hsu Jen-kuo: Let me say something on behalf of the black-faced spoonbill. If our machines break, we can repair them using our intelligence, but can we br ing these birds back to life? Though technology makes life easier, nature is even more important.

Liu To-yi: I have thought that people can be free, so why can't birds? If in the end we are willing to watch them disappear from our own soil, then what kinds of things can be considered important?

Chuang Yeh-wei: I've always longed to live in a natural environment ever since I was small, running in the grass, listening to the birds. Today, this d ream has become a mirage that you can't see, do or hear. Soft grass has become hard asphalt, and the adorable, crisp and clear call of the birds has become the sound of cassette tapes. This is not what we wanted, is it? This year is the third anniversary of the Tienanmen Square incident. People want freedom, and birds also want freedom. Let everybody devote a little heart and a little effort to save them!

Hung Ying-chen: The black-faced spoonbill having no place to land is like a person having no home. Taiwan has half the world's black-faced spoonbills. We can't com pete with any country in the world in terms of the number of animals; on ly the black spoonbill brings any repute. Why do we not protect them, but produce in them a hatred and fear of mankind?

(letters courtesy of the China Times)

Chen Hung-chieh: I hope that people will not chase away the black-faced spoonbill, and can let them winter in the Tsengwen River. If I had a vast amount of money, I would build a huge open space and forest, to let endangered animals have a quiet place to live.

(photo by Pu Hua-chih)

"Flapping my wings--I'm outa here!" In spring the black-faced spoonbill goes north to reproduce. They will come around south again when autumn meets winter.

Chiku Rural Township mayor Wang Lung-hsiung （left） says: "Life is hard for people in Chiku. We need to develop the industrial park to make this area prosper." （photo by Pu Hua-chih）

（Right） When the tide is in, the proposed area for the Chiku Industrial Park is inundated, making a handy fishing spot. （photo by Pu Hua-chih）

The Tainan Wild Bird Society hopes that all the migratory birds have a place to rest. （photo by Pu Hua-chih）

The Wild Bird Society of the ROC is having a "one person, one letter" campaign to save the "black-faced dancer." They have already received 20,000 letters. Sinorama has selected excerpts from a few written by small children to see how they think. What about the adults?Yu Pei-chun: Is it possible that people are so hard-hearted that they wo n't let the black-faced spoonbill merely pass the winter, but would see it sleep forever amidst blackened rivers and cacophonous noise, to let it disappear forever from this world? Everyone says they want to protect animals, but no one does anything about it. In the past, just because of people's greed and lust for killing, many animals approached extinction, and only after were they called "national treasures."

A flat bill like the shape of a Chinese guitar （pi-pa） is the most distinguishing feature of the black-faced spoonbill.

Hsu Jen-kuo: Let me say something on behalf of the black-faced spoonbill. If our machines break, we can repair them using our intelligence, but can we br ing these birds back to life? Though technology makes life easier, nature is even more important.Liu To-yi: I have thought that people can be free, so why can't birds? If in the end we are willing to watch them disappear from our own soil, then what kinds of things can be considered important?Chuang Yeh-wei: I've always longed to live in a natural environment ever since I was small, running in the grass, listening to the birds. Today, this d ream has become a mirage that you can't see, do or hear. Soft grass has become hard asphalt, and the adorable, crisp and clear call of the birds has become the sound of cassette tapes. This is not what we wanted, is it? This year is the third anniversary of the Tienanmen Square incident. People want freedom, and birds also want freedom. Let everybody devote a little heart and a little effort to save them!

Hung Ying-chen: The black-faced spoonbill having no place to land is like a person having no home. Taiwan has half the world's black-faced spoonbills. We can't com pete with any country in the world in terms of the number of animals; on ly the black spoonbill brings any repute. Why do we not protect them, but produce in them a hatred and fear of mankind?Chen Hung-chieh: I hope that people will not chase away the black-faced spoonbill, and can let them winter in the Tsengwen River. If I had a vast amount of money, I would build a huge open space and forest, to let endangered animals have a quiet place to live.(photo by Pu Hua-chih)

"Flapping my wings--I'm outa here!" In spring the black-faced spoonbill goes north to reproduce. They will come around south again when autumn meets winter.