The Ocean Conservation Administration (OCA) held the "2022 Marine Conservation Seminar - Protection of Taiwan’s Marine Ecology" (2022海洋保育面面觀-臺灣海域生態守護研討會) at the International Convention Center of National Taiwan University Hospital today and tomorrow, and presented certificates to local governments in recognition of excellent performance in marine environment management and conservation in 2021. The certificates were presented by Ocean Affairs Council (OAC) Minister Lee Chung-Wei. Over 200 people attended the event, demonstrating the enthusiasm of the people of Taiwan to actively participate in marine conservation.
Minister Li pointed out that Taiwan is an island nation surrounded by the sea and blessed with rich marine resources. Therefore, how to make the sustainable use of resources through marine conservation measures has proven to be ever more urgent. In the past year, the OCA has promoted the Taiwan Marine Ecological and Environmental Protection Program, the Coastal Cleanup and Maintenance Program, and the Marine Pollution Monitoring and Response Plan, and launched various marine conservation policies with resource sustainability as the core spirit. The OCA is actively involved in various undertakings such as marine ecological rehabilitation initiatives and surveys, marine environmental management and maintenance, marine conservation rule of law and marine conservation education promotion, etc. The OCA is committed to playing a key role in promoting the nation’s net-zero carbon emission policies and seeking the sustainable development of marine resources.
According to the OCA, this seminar will focus on the four main axes of "sustainable resources," "healthy habitats," "clean ocean" and "protection of the near-shore" and invited 30 experts and scholars in the field of marine conservation from industry, government and academe to share various marine conservation issues. In addition to sharing the results of marine conservation-related surveys, the event seeks to collect opinions from all sectors as an important reference for strengthening marine conservation-related policies in the future.
In addition, in order to prevent marine pollution, protect the marine environment, maintain the marine ecology, ensure the health of the people and sustainable marine resources, the Marine Environmental Management Assessment Program was used as a basis to review the marine environmental management mechanisms and actions of local governments and encourage local governments to continuously improve the effectiveness of marine environmental protection to demonstrate the determination of the central and local governments to protect the marine environment. At the opening of the seminar, the counties and municipalities that performed well in the assessment were publicly recognized in the "2021 Annual Marine Environmental Management Assessment," namely Taoyuan City, Kaohsiung City, Tainan City (Group 1), Hsinchu City, Pingtung County, Yunlin County, Hsinchu County (Group 2), Hualien County, Kinmen County and Yilan County (Group 3). In addition, Taoyuan City and Chiayi County were awarded the Special Contribution Award for attracting the domestic market to increase the scale of recycling and reuse to build a complete recycling system, thus addressing the front-end waste treatment dilemma, and improving the overall recycling effectiveness. OAC Minister Lee Chung-Wei expressed his sincere congratulations to the winning counties and cities and also expressed his great respect to the local governments for their continuous support and efforts to improve the quality of marine environment.
Julia Huang Hsiang-Wen, Director-General of the OCA, noted that in addition to responding to the "Aichi Biodiversity Targets" established by the Convention on Biological Diversity and the "2030 Sustainable Development Goals" of the United Nations, the OCA has also adopted "Clean Ocean," "Healthy Habitat" and "Sustainable Resources" as its vision, echoing the theme of the event. It is hoped that through the seminars today and tomorrow, more people will learn about marine conservation, and through public-private partnerships and community participation, all parties shall work together to protect Taiwan's marine environment and ecology.
 
Responsible authority and spokesperson: Wu Long-Jing, OCA Deputy Director-General
Contact number: 07-3383203 or 0919-613-467
Issue Date: Aug 13, 2022