Turtle Island total control gains support from Patrick Star
[This article continues the series: (1) The Turtle Departs, Come Back, SamajiThe Ban on Gillnets Brings Life]
In recent years, visitor numbers on Xiaoliuqiu have surged, and what draws them is the sea turtles that tourists accidentally photograph while snorkeling. Having observed green sea turtles for several years, A-Tian says that these days, when you come to Xiaoliuqiu, "seeing a sea turtle isn't luck; not seeing one is luck."
In the beginning, the sea turtles were not so close to people, but over time, under the guidance of a shared consensus among the island's snorkeling instructors, the turtles learned that the visitors entering the water posed no threat, and they gradually grew accustomed to interacting with people. A scene often seen is people floating on the surface while turtles graze on seaweed below, and with two or three meters between them, the snorkelers and the turtles each keep to their own space.
The extensive shallow coral reef flats extending along the Xiaoliuqiu coast make an excellent foraging ground for sea turtles. When the waves are a little bigger, you can see turtles drifting with the swell in the near-shore area; even as they tumble about, they still keep trying to eat the seaweed, seemingly not affected at all, and one cannot help but admire these born amphibious experts.
The appeal of getting close to sea turtles brings visitors flocking in, generating business opportunities while also bringing environmental change.
A-Tian rode a scooter to take us around Xiaoliuqiu's coastline, pointing out that those places are all farmland or protected forest land where homestays cannot be built, yet homestays have been built there or are under construction. His own homestay was built on a plot chosen away from the coast. "I want to tell the guests who come to stay that the seaside is left for the ocean. If you want to get close to the ocean, we should walk over to approach it, not just build a house right there." But operators on the island who share A-Tian's concept are still a minority.
The First Conservation Police
From the ban on fishing nets to intertidal zone control measures and the promotion of eco-friendly businesses, Xiaoliuqiu has advanced step by step toward sustainable tourism, the result of local forces and government agencies working together.
On July 28, 2010, then Pingtung County Magistrate Tsao Chi-hung, together with the Penghu National Scenic Area Administration of the Tourism Bureau and the county police bureau, and led by Professor Lo Liu-chih of National Kaohsiung Normal University, ecological interpreter Wang Tian-zheng, and conservation volunteer Zeng Jian-wei, surveyed possible egg-laying sites for green sea turtles. After discovering that trash on the beach and disturbance by visitors could pose a serious threat to turtles coming ashore to nest, Magistrate Tsao instructed on the spot that a conservation police force be established, with the county police bureau assigning 6 frontline officers with relevant backgrounds to Xiaoliuqiu's intertidal zone to carry out management and green sea turtle conservation work.
At the time, it was quite remarkable for a county or city government to take the initiative in cooperating with conservation work. Yang Zong-cheng, a now-retired conservation police officer, says that what is precious about Xiaoliuqiu is its ecological resources; if the goal is to develop the usual kind of tourism where people "sleep on the bus and pee when they get off," you might as well just take visitors to run around a playground. Therefore, during his time as a conservation police officer, in addition to implementing total visitor control in the intertidal zone, he also worked with the fishermen's association patrol team to patrol for the use of illegal fishing gear.
He also says that because the conservation police team was a temporary task force, colleagues later left one after another due to illness, death, transfers, and other reasons, and after he retired, the conservation police team effectively disbanded. At present, intertidal zone control work is handled by the Ecotourism Development Alliance.
The Future of the Island of Turtles
Sea turtles are a precious gift the ocean has given Xiaoliuqiu, and Xiaoliuqiu has also provided a suitable habitat for sea turtles. Watching people and sea turtles interact warmly in the waters of Xiaoliuqiu, with ecology bringing tourism and offering one possibility for a new way forward for Taiwan's fishing villages, everyone is watching to see how Xiaoliuqiu will proceed and whether it will be a sustainable direction.
The habit of Taiwanese people rushing in all at once has subjected Xiaoliuqiu to the risk of a surge in visitors over the past two years. Beyond the ecological impacts of trash, sewage, and trampling in the intertidal zone, this inevitably affects the daily lives of local residents, and all of these are ongoing challenges; because in the 3 years since fishing gear was banned, fishery resources appear to be showing signs of recovery, and recently it was even reported that some local elected representatives intend to persuade the county government to reopen the use of gillnets...
From a major fishing island to a declining fishing village to a tourist destination, Xiaoliuqiu's tough and passionate genes and its hardworking character were left behind by generations of sea-faring people; yet the shift from bluefin tuna to fried dough twists continues, and how to balance development and daily life, and how to turn tourism revenue into a public resource for environmental sustainability, may make the establishment of a community conservation fund a direction worth considering.
I hope the sea turtles can always roam freely in the waters of Xiaoliuqiu.
[This series of articles was sponsored for reporting costs by 100mountain Mountaineering NetworkOcean King Love the Earth Association