Research Guides: Understanding Taiwan: Environmental

At A Glance

HUAN YING!

The following information have been carefully selected for your reference. Some resources may have bias perspectives. Please approach the SMU Libraries (library@smu.edu.sg ) should you have any doubts or need clarifications.

Taiwan has faced an air pollution crisis in recent days, with some urban areas in central and southern parts of the country being described as "gas chambers."

Taiwan is home to an expansive network of spectacular wetlands. Fifty-two artificial wetlands, including a large area along the Dahan River in Taipei, have also been created. These sites help purify wastewater in an environmentally-friendly manner. This video introduces Taiwan’s stunning wetlands, their diverse ecosystems, and the benefits they provide people.

Environmental

This section explores the environmental aspects in Taiwan.

International Agreements
Find out the various signed international agreements by Taiwan.
Forestry Bureau Nature Conservation
Taiwan established the Office of Forestry Administration, under the Department of Agriculture and Forestry, in order to bear responsibility for forestry affairs. Today, traditional forestry work must be balanced against the needs of nature conservation. In this time of public awareness of the need for ecological protection, the Bureau is again evolving and assuming new responsibilities.
Taiwan Central Weather Administration
The Central Weather Administration's (CWA's) mission is to promote modernized meteorological observations, develop more refined meteorological forecasts, and provide diversified channels of information dissemination, so as to improve the quality of its meteorological services and to better fulfill its role in disaster prevention and mitigation and economic development.

Many makers of facial soap, bath gel, and other cleansing products contain “microbeads.” ingredient. These microbeads are often less than 5 millimetres in diameter. Wastewater plants are unable to effectively filter them during treatment, and the beads end up directly in the ocean, where sea creatures eat them. That set the stage for an imminent ecological and health catastrophe, prompting the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to come out with a law to ban the sale of products containing microbeads starting in 2018.

This video explains how one environmental protection group is trying to start a “coffee dregs revolution” in Linkou District in New Taipei. Their core ideas are resource sharing and encouraging everyone to start thinking about how much waste materials in their daily lives can be given a new lease of life.

Videos

Environmentalism is life. Through this video, it explains why Taiwanese find a sustainable way of living in harmony with the environment, the knowledge of what Taiwanese can do to preserve the environment has grown with experience and it has become one of the central issues in how they live their lives.

Taiwan is going green in their transportation -- but will building more cycling lanes get people to swop cars for bicycles? Taiwan thinks so, but it means accepting compromises. In this video, Channel News Asia Insider breakdown the figures.

Bakeries, beverage shops and other retailers in seven major industries will be required to charge customers for plastic bags. Supermarkets in Greater Taipei will only be permitted to sell dual-use eco-friendly plastic bags which are also approved as trash bags. The Environmental Protection Administration estimates that the new regulations will save 1.5 billion plastic bags a year.