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Can the beautiful scenery of Shuanglianpi, a paradise for aquatic plants, ever emerge again?
Shuanglianpi, located in Yuanshan Township, Yilan County, has a rich biodiversity, and as many as 112 species of aquatic plants in the lake have been recorded, accounting for more than one-third of Taiwan’s native aquatic plant species, and it is known as a “paradise for aquatic plants”. However, in the 1990s, the landowner converted Shuanglianpi into a fish farm, and used excavators to clear the land, removed the aquatic plants, and released foreign fish species, causing a great impact on the ecosystem, and the aquatic plants in the lake no longer existed.
In the face of this situation, the Society of Wilderness established an environmental education and habitat conservation base at Shuanglianpi to carry out habitat creation, aquatic plant restoration, and the removal of exotic species. In addition, habitat working holidays and environmental education activities are also organized in the hope of restoring the past glory of Shuanglianpi. At the same time, they also extended their attention to the surrounding farmlands, and cooperate with the local elders and young farmers who returned to their hometowns through contract farming. They will accompany the farmers in their transition journey to environmentally friendly farming, as to create a healthier environment.
According to Huang Hung-Yi, head of the Research and Investigation Section, Habitat Conservation Department, Society of Wilderness, through internal organization (including family groups and volunteers), the Society recruited friends who are interested in contract farming to become shareholders, and also helped to support farmers to use environmentally friendly farming practices through the power of enterprises. In addition to supporting farmers financially through environmentally friendly contract farming, the Society of Wilderness also organizes many farmland activities, where people and businesses that support contract farming are invited to go into the fields in person, learn about the conditions of the fields and crops, and participate in the farming work.
At present, the area under environmentally friendly contract farming at Shuanglianpi is around 0.97 hectares. Huang Hung-Yi said that this area is not large, the focus is to support more young farmers so that they can learn to engage in environmentally friendly farming practices through contract farming and survive through the most difficult period of transition in the first two or three years. Once the young farmers have found their feet and the harvest becomes stable, they can end the contract farming so that others who are interested can also join in. In addition, it is wonderful to see that many old farmers have fully changed their attitude from being skeptical of the feasibility of environmentally friendly farming to being willing to recognize the value of friendly farming.
To find more crops suitable for planting in Shuanglianpi, in the spirit of experimentation, several farmers working with the Society of Wilderness are using organic materials such as soybean pulp residue, chaff, and straw to improve the soil quality. Young farmer Tsai Wei-Che said that soil improvement is estimated to take another three to four years, and once the pest and fungus problems have been overcome and the harvest is stable, it can be promoted to the public.
Let us visit the paradise Shuanglianpi, and let Huang Hung-Yi and Tsai Wei-Che tell you about the Society of Wilderness’s efforts to promote environmentally friendly farming here.
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