202305/22
Each year, May 22 is known to be the International Day for Biological Diversity. This year, the Forestry Bureau and Taiwan Institute for Sustainable Energy Research (TAISE) joined hands to hold 2023 Taiwan Biodiversity Forum, whereby Hao-Chen Lin, Deputy Director General of Forestry Bureau, and Julia Hsiang-Wen Huang, Director General of Ocean Conservation Administration, promulgated the land and ocean biodiversity development blue prints and visions for Taiwan respectively. To align with the international trend of calling for valuing biodiversity and commend efforts of corporations and government bodies, educational institutions in promoting biodiversity, TAISE held 2023 Taiwan Biodiversity Awards for the first time. E.SUN FHC, PX Mart, CPC Corporation and Taiwan Cement won the Gold Award for the corporation category, whereas, the Pingtung Forest District Offices and Hualien County Government for the non-corporation category. The awards were conferred in person by Mei-Ling Fan, Chief Secretary of the Council of Agriculture on May 22.
Fan said that following the Council of Agriculture being reorganized to form the Ministry of Agriculture, the Forestry Bureau will be adjusted to form the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency, where its focus lies on elevating the conservation capacity. The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework was adopted by the Fifteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP-15) to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in December 2022. Of which, it outlines Target 1 as “spatial planning.” In 2018, the Taiwan Ecological Network of the Forestry Bureau integrated cross-departmental, cross-spatial and cross-disciplinary information, and proposed a biodiversity spatial strategy blue print for foothills and plains. The blue print underpins the government’s promotion effort and serves as a guide for corporations in jointly retaining biodiversity. Ambassador Eugene Chien, chairperson of TAISE said that to answer the international call for developing biodiversity, he encourages various sectors to pay attention to biodiversity issues, and proactively participate in Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) and other global initiatives. This year, TAISE held the 2023 Taiwan Biodiversity Awards for the first time. Chien commended the winning corporations and organizations for responding to international issues on top of managing their businesses. Their proactive participation in various initiatives and efforts to exert social influence are truly exemplary. Chien hopes that the awards are able to give rise to positive benefits and raise the general awareness of biodiversity.
Chien also indicated that TAISE received 21 entries for the awards. After rounds of meticulous discussions, 12 entries were selected by a professional judge panel as outstanding contribution cases. In the future, TAISE will continue to promote these distinguished actions via various avenues, in the hope of encouraging more corporations, government bodies, and educational institutions to jointly pay attention to biodiversity issues, as well as taking concrete actions thereof.
Following the award ceremony, the Forestry Bureau and TAISE collaborated and held the 2023 Taiwan Biodiversity Forum. The forum was well received, garnering physical and online participation of over 1,000 people. The forum was kicked off by Hao-Chen Lin, Deputy Director General of Forestry Bureau, and Julia Hsiang-Wen Huang, Director General of Ocean Conservation Administration, where they promulgated the land and ocean biodiversity development blue prints and visions for Taiwan respectively. Of which, pertaining to the existing land protected areas and Other Effective Conservation Measures (OECMs), Lin proposed a concrete timeline and direction, i.e., the “30 x 30 Target,” where 30% of land areas shall become protected areas by 2030. Apart from proactively realizing the goals for land protected areas set by the international community, managing the operational efficiency of protected areas will also be set as the core task of the bureau.
Pertaining to the latest global trend of spatial planning blue print for biodiversity, Lin listed concrete implementation results in Taiwan. The Taiwan Ecological Network has identified hotspots and key areas of biodiversity at the national level, including 44 biodiversity priority areas and 45 conservation corridors. The information will be useful in actual conservation work, guiding restoration of habitats and spatial connection of landscapes in Taiwan. At the same time, it can provide corporations ecological knowledge of their production bases, thereby facilitating their investments in ESG and spatial planning. The forum continued with winning corporations sharing their respective contributions and journeys in biodiversity promotion. These processes showcased their strengths in the respective fields and the biodiversity conservation achievements in Taiwan. Via interactions between the public and private sectors, the forum aimed to facilitate their collaborations and continuous dialogs so as to search for ways in which the 23 million population in Taiwan can live harmoniously with nature.
That evening, based on the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, many domestic scholars of related fields led the discussion on key biodiversity and conversation issues in terms of habitats, species and communities. While the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework outlines numerous goals for corporations on biodiversity disclosure, the forum also took the opportunity to highlight relevant standards governing the international community and biodiversity so as to facilitate the understanding of corporations and the public on global trends. Via the forum, government bodies, corporations and the public can work together better in the conservation of biodiversity.