Safeguarding Taiwan’s Biodiversity

Biodiversity targets

“Biodiversity” refers to the variety and variability of the Earth’s living organisms. While variability may be assessed through three primary aspects—DNA, species, and ecosystems—in reality biodiversity is far more complex. Like an intricate web, the concept embraces everything from elemental forces to animals and plants, with ecosystems and biological organisms varying according to numerous factors such as climate and geography.

In 2019 the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services reported that around 1 million of the world’s animal and plant species were threatened with extinction. The situation does not seem to have improved since then.

In light of this, the Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) drawn up in December 2022 clearly defines 23 action-oriented targets, requiring that at least 30% of the world’s lands, seas, and inland waters should be protected by 2023.

Shih Chih-chin, a section chief in the Conservation Management Division of the Ministry of Agriculture’s Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency (FANCA), says that under the Cultural Heritage Preservation Act, the Forestry Act, and other laws, 35% of Taiwan’s land surface is already under protection. So in addition to monitoring existing protected areas and national forests, the government seeks to promote biodiversity by conserving low-elevation mountainous regions, which have been relatively overlooked in the past.

Apart from the land area, Taiwan’s marine biodiversity is among the world’s top 5%. Huang Hsiang-wen, director-­general of the Ocean Affairs Council’s Ocean Conservation Administration, says that in order to achieve the 30% target, the administration is working with the government and non-governmental organizations to survey the populations of marine species and define conservation areas.

The winners of the inaugural Taiwan Biodiversity Awards come from a wide range of industries. (courtesy of Taiwan Corporate Sustainability Awards)

In recent years, the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency has put low-elevation mountain areas under protection.  (MOFA file photo)

Biodiversity and businesses

Alongside governments, the GBF mentions the role of businesses.

In 2022 the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures published a report that cited research findings released by the World Economic Forum in 2020: around half of the world’s economic value generation was dependent on nature and its services. Their data suggests that economics has long been inextricably linked to biodiversity.

Soon after COP 15 in December 2022, the Taiwan Institute for Sustainable Energy announced that the first Taiwan Biodiversity Awards (TWBA) would be held in May 2023. By inaugurating these awards, the organizers aimed to foster a shared commitment to biodiversity among Taiwanese businesses and institutions.

Lin Tsung Hsien, convener of the TWBA judging panel, explains that they evaluated organizations’ actual contributions to Taiwan’s biodiversity by adopting selection criteria based on established international standards, and taking into account the natural resources consumed by individual companies as well as data verified by third parties.

The first TWBA awardees come from a wide range of industries.

Lin states that the purpose of the awards is to encourage businesses to continue supporting biodiversity, while also drawing public attention to the non-profit-motivated activities of Taiwanese enterprises. Greater awareness of biodiversity among both consumers and businesses helps create a virtuous circle.

Huang Hsiang-wen, director-general of the Ocean Conservation Administration, believes the Taiwan Biodiversity Awards will encourage more Taiwanese businesses to commit themselves to environmental protection. (photo by Kent Chuang)

Shih Chih-chin, a section chief in the Conservation Management Division at FANCA, tells us that the Taiwan Ecological Network, established earlier this year, provides a knowledge bank that will help businesses join the national effort to safeguard biodiversity.

Food products

For Taiwan’s Chuan Lian Enterprise Company, the operator of the PX Mart and RT-Mart supermarket and hypermarket chains, it is precisely this virtuous circle that has led it to create a series of eco-friendly products.

Through avian ecologists at National Pingtung University of Science and Technology (NPUST), Chuan Lian’s fresh food and procurement teams learned that some adzuki bean farmers were using defoliants to shorten the time to harvest. These chemicals entered the food chain and could indirectly cause the deaths of birds of prey.

However, Chuan Lian knew that farmers would charge twice as much for beans produced without harmful chemicals, and customers would probably be put off by the higher retail price. Moreover, as most people buy adzuki beans just to make sweet soups, the economic value of unprocessed beans is actually rather limited. Considering these factors, Chuan Lian decided to develop processed adzuki bean products and package them in innovative ways. Making use of the media, Chuan Lian has effectively conveyed the story of their Eagle Red Bean products to consumers.

“Actually we were quite worried at first,” says Amy Luan, Chuan Lian’s public relations and media manager. Despite all, however, their first small batch of adzuki bean confections sold unexpectedly well and gave them a lot of encouragement.

It wasn’t until they took part in the TWBA this year that Chuan Lian realized how much they had achieved in environmental conservation. Luan says that winning a gold award was a big surprise for everyone in the company.

Chuan Lian Enterprise has developed various adzuki bean products, drawing public attention to stories of environmental protection.

Every adzuki bean reminds us of our collective effort to protect biodiversity. (courtesy of Chuan Lian Enterprise Co.)

The success of Chuan Lian’s Eagle Red Bean product range prompted the company to engage in the protection and restoration of other birds of prey. This photo shows a raptor catching a rodent on a pesticide-free pineapple farm. It is part of Chuan Lian’s Owl Pineapples project. (courtesy of NPUST Bird Ecology Lab)

Outdoor lighting

Leotek, a company specializing in outdoor lighting systems, is devoted to developing human-­centered, eco-friendly LED street lamps and traffic lights. In recent years it has also introduced artificial intelligence to optical technology, aiming to create greener, smarter urban lighting systems.

Though LEDs are better for the environment than traditional lights, they have generated many problems related to “blue light.” In 2014 Florida’s Fish and Wildlife Research Institute recommended that the state government should regulate coastal lighting by replacing blue outdoor light sources with orange and red lights in order to prevent sea turtle hatchlings from being lured away from the sea.

Ethan Peng, senior manager in Leotek’s product management department, says that Florida’s draft legislation prompted his company to investigate the production of eco-friendly lights that could both satisfy road safety needs and contribute to environmental conservation. Since then, Leotek has successfully developed its Ecological Conservation Smart Lighting System. The technology was patented in Taiwan in 2019.

This new lighting system relies on Leotek’s “optical filter front masks.” They enable the wavelengths of outdoor lighting, which used to be either white or yellow, to be adjusted to the characteristics of local wildlife and ecosystems. The filtered light serves to guide or drive away wildlife without compromising the brightness required by road users.

Leotek reveals that it will continue to develop its smart lighting technology in response to ­FANCA’s Taiwan Ecological Network program, catering specifically for areas that are experiencing serious biodiversity loss. Furthermore, it will continue to collaborate with academia, helping to broaden the scope of research projects that explore the effects of light on biological organisms.

Research on sea turtles and light pollution inspired Leotek to develop its Ecological Conservation Smart Lighting System.

Kaohsiung’s Liugui District has adopted Leotek’s Ecological Conservation Smart Lighting System, which has helped alleviate the problem of flying ants while still meeting residents’ lighting needs. (courtesy of Leotek)