Guanyin Beach and Guanyin Cao ta Sand Dunes
Protect She who Nurtures Us
Save for Our Offspring a Clean World Under the Sea
Taiwan is an island surrounded by ocean, and we who reside on the island is the children nurtured by the ocean; maintaining a azure and clean ocean without pollutions is the pride of every single island resident.
The ocean is the cradle to countless creatures in the world, and the clear azure ocean surrounds Taiwan. However, as we dive into the ocean, we find the garbage deposited on the seabed increasing by millions of tons annually, causing sea turtles and fish to swallow by mistake straws, plastic bags, etc., and great harm to ocean organisms. These wastes are biological killers in the ocean, and will feed back to human beings through fishery resources.
Leading Students in the Joint Ocean Protection with Zeal
"I want to dive because I love ocean!" Huang Zhi-Cheng, Chairman of Graduate Institute of Hydrological and Oceanic Sciences, National Central University, is an experienced diver and a passionate "ocean scavenger" after having engaged in diving activities owing to coral reef research. Following appointment as professor at National Central University, he established the "NCU Blue Ocean Diving Team" with the students and joined the "Taoyuan City Environment Protection Diving Team" established by the Office of Coastal Administration Construction of Taoyuan, In addition conducting ocean cleaning activities with NCU students every year.
"At present, most of the ocean garbage is plastic bottles or lunch boxes. In our dives we clean up the garbage and put them together in mesh bags, but because the garbage are in great amount and heavy, we need to use buoyancy bags to make the garbage float before salvage with boat." Hard work as it might sound, one could feel Huang's enthusiasm through his words. "Some sea areas have a large amount of garbage, and sometimes the amount of garbage we salvage in one sea cleaning reaches 1 ton (1,000 kilograms). "
Making Our Homeland Better through Actions
After the ocean garbage is salvaged, it is handed over to the Department of Environmental Protection for sorting and recycling. The plastic bottles collected in the beach and sea cleaning are then made by the City Government in collaboration with manufacturers into "Xun Bao Yi (Plastic Bottle Hunt Shirts)" composed of up to 96% of marine wastes as a gift worn as team uniform to ocean cleaning volunteers, which not only increased the sense of honor of the team members, but also made the cleaning more valuable.
The non-recyclable waste will be incinerated or buried. Taoyuan's incineration plants can convert the "bottom slag" remains after the waste is burned into "recycled pellets" in compliance with engineering standards to be used in public works building premium public facilities. The Fuyuan Park in Taoyuan District and the parking lot of Xingnan Station of the Airport MRT are the examples of direct use of incineration pellets. In this way, recyclable plastic waste or general waste entering the incinerator are treated via Taoyuan's implementation and spirit of circular economy in its dedicated building of an environmentally friendly city centering "Zero Waste" and "Reuse".
Speaking of the Taoyuan waters, Huang Zhi-Cheng said, "in reality, there are few locations in the western waters where one can dive into the water and clean as the water is too turbid and the current is strong. At present, only the waters near Guanxin Algae Reefs in the Taoyuan allows us to dive and clean."
Huang Zhi-Cheng, who is personally engaged in ocean-related research, believes that through the ocean cleaning, he can understand the ecology and characteristics of the local ocean, and he may also communicate with local volunteers, which is very helpful for his research. This is the reason why coastal with ecology he intends to know is included in the locations for ocean cleaning. In addition, Huang Zhi-Cheng judges the tidal fluctuation, current direction, current speed, diffusion area or climate response based on his own research and experience in ocean cleaning, which allows him to offer advice for immediate countermeasures in his participation in the ocean oil spill emergency and relevant drills organized by the City Government.
"If you understand the characteristics of your hometown and love your hometown, you will cherish it." The environment, local culture and economic development have always been closely linked. According to Huang, in addition to ocean waste cleaning, he expects to share with the mass the beauty of his hometown in combination with domestic features. "We previously held the Stone Weirs International Seminar, whose intention is to broaden the local vision through international exchanges and to influence the international participants through local experiences. At that time, many locals participated! In fact, as long as we find the right people and make them willing to engage, there will be positive benefits. By letting the elderlies feel involved, they can help us pass on the land and culture, and we may see opportunities for community recovery."
Passing Down the Beautiful Things
The 46-kilometer-long coastline of Taoyuan contains natural and cultural resources, including Xucuogang Wetland-a Taiwan Important Wetland, Guanyin Caota Sand Dunes Geological Park, Guanxin Algal Reefs Ecosystem Wildlife Refuge, Xinwu Kejian Stone Weirs Cultural Scenery, Beach Seine Culture and more. Taoyuan City Government pioneered the establishment of the Taiwan's first "Office of Coast Administration Construction" and released the “Coastal Ecology Protection White Paper” for local government tiers in its committed promotions of various ocean conservation plans. The City Government has proactively drafted policies in relation to precautions incidents, emergency handling, and aftermath processing of ocean pollution.
The Office of Coast Administration Construction has also effected the "Plans for Construction of Environmental Education Corridors in Coastal Areas", with implementations such as ecological restoration, regular inspections, setup of garbage interception nets and automatic water quality monitoring stations. In addition, the old coastal buildings are also revitalized and incorporated into part of pavilions containing local characteristics and educational significance, which will enable the public to understand the preciousness of the coastal environment through environmental education, In addition allowing the agencies to develop eco-tourism with local characteristics.
"Human life will definitely generate wastes, which is not a bad thing. However, we need plans for utilizing things to prevent generating excessive wastes." The creation of sustainable environment relies on efforts you and I and all the efforts in reducing the volume of wastes generated in our daily lives.
Concerning future plans, Huang Zhi-Cheng hopes that both individuals and organizations may continue to clean the ocean every year. In the meantime, with the joint strength of the government, enterprises and the people, ocean cleaning activities can be proceeded at a larger scale and in an organized matter. Furthermore, Huang expects more youths with plans to join and discover local culture, narrate the anecdotes, and work together for a beautiful ocean. "Good things are worth passing on with our efforts."