Farmers in southern Taiwan have been key to efforts to conserve Taiwan's population of pheasant-tailed jacana. The bird is famous for walking and laying eggs on the surface of floating plants.
Category
đź—ž
NewsTranscript
00:00Here, in the lotus ponds of Kaohsiung's Meinong District in southern Taiwan,
00:05vegetable farmers live alongside the pheasant-tailed jacana.
00:08The bird is famous for its habit of walking on top of the floating plants.
00:13They not only search for food on the surface of the plants,
00:15but they also lay and hatch their eggs.
00:18Locals say the birds can draw a crowd.
00:21You can tell just by looking at it.
00:23How many big ones are there?
00:24There's one here.
00:26Look, it's running.
00:28It's running.
00:29That's a small one.
00:31Yes, the yellow one is a small one.
00:33A lot of birdwatchers come to my lotus pond every day.
00:36I even move the chairs for them.
00:38There are a lot of them every day.
00:40It's a success story for the species.
00:42Farmers used to consider the birds a nuisance.
00:45At one point, there were only about 50 left in Taiwan.
00:49But about 20 years ago,
00:50farmers here began conservation efforts to protect the birds,
00:54and they now number more than 3,000.
00:56Efforts have included using labeling
00:58to show customers that their farms help support the birds.
01:02I always wrap it in a lemon bag.
01:07If you don't wrap it for people to see,
01:10they won't know.
01:11We hope that the farmers' fields
01:14can become a habitat for the birds.
01:16If the farmers suffer any loss because of this,
01:19we can use it as a resource.
01:23With labeling and use of 24-hour habitat live streams,
01:27the pheasant-tailed jacana has become a national favorite,
01:31showing that with a little creativity,
01:33farmers and conservationists can find a sustainable balance.
01:37John Hsu and Chris Gorin for Taiwan Plus.