Large-scale development should be banned in the Hualien-Taitung Coastal Protection Area, giving the East Coast a chance to breathe

The Construction and Planning Agency of the Ministry of the Interior is expected to hold public hearings on the nationwide regional plan amendment for the northern, central, southern and eastern regions one after another starting December 4, beginning on December 4, and the Citizens of the Earth Foundation, Academia Sinica Biodiversity Center researcher Chen Chao-lun, the Environmental Information Association and the Pisilian tribal youth association are jointly calling on the Construction and Planning Agency and the Hualien and Taitung county governments to list control details more clearly for the coastal protection zone in the drafting of the regional plan;

At the same time, they request the Environmental Protection Administration to establish a review mechanism for the old, long-listed development projects on the East Coast, so as to make up for gaps in the current environmental impact assessment system; the Ministry of Transportation and Communications should also cooperate with the revision of the regional plan and actively promote measures such as total tourist volume control, and they call on the Legislative Yuan to pass the Coastal Act as soon as possible, so as to ensure the integrity of resources and move toward sustainable development.

Frequent illegal incidents in the protection zone

Citizens of the Earth used an aerial photo of the entire Hualien-Taitung coastal protection zone (Figure 1) to explain the locations and disputes of large-scale development projects and environmentally sensitive areas. The entire East Coast tourism area is located within the "Hualien-Taitung Coastal Protection Zone," yet this protection zone has not been effectively institutionalized in law. More than a dozen large-scale projects, including the Palm Beach Resort, the Mandifu Recreation Area and the Far Glory Ocean Park expansion, are still queued up waiting for development, raising concerns about impacts on natural resources and also affecting the traditional culture and living space of indigenous peoples. Apart from the famous "Beautiful Bay Resort," other cases are also riddled with illegalities, such as the Mandifu Recreation Area and the Palm Beach Resort (see the appendix at the end of the article), exposing the government's serious negligence in managing East Coast land.

The Environmental Impact Assessment Act stipulates that certain development activities must undergo an "environmental baseline impact assessment" to prevent and mitigate adverse impacts of development activities on the environment. According to Article 16-1 of the Environmental Impact Assessment Act, if construction has not begun within three years after approval, the operator must submit an "environmental difference analysis report" in accordance with the law to reconfirm the current environmental conditions.