Eat water chestnut to save the baby pheasant! The Water Pheasant Park joined hands to protect the ecology of agriculture and care.

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The friendly water chestnut that protects the water pheasant can be bought in Quanlian! Twenty years ago, there were less than 50 water pheasants left in Taiwan. after the vigorous rehabilitation of non-governmental organizations, forestry bureaus, and local governments, more than 1,000 water pheasants finally came to Taiwan. However, water pheasants love to live in water chestnut fields. To conserve water pheasants, it is necessary to revitalize the water chestnut industry at the same time.

The water pheasant faces many crises in the field, including accidentally injuring the nest eggs while working with rhombos, falling into the ditch and unable to climb out, or being sprinkled with lime on the eyes by rhombos, and so on. Li Wenzhen, director of the water pheasant ecological education park, said that the water pheasant is very regional and will compete with each other for territory, and more friendly water chestnut fields are needed to allow the water pheasant to continue to live comfortably. Quanlian supermarket said that this cooperation is not an one-off but a long-term cooperation, if the future friendly water chestnut increases, it will also shop in more stores.

Lingbo Xianzi water pheasant, with legs like Zhiling's sister, builds a nest and loves the water chestnut field only.

Following the launch of the environment-friendly "Eagle Red Bean," Quanlian supermarket launched the "Diamond Pheasant Ling" on September 9 this year, provided by the Water Pheasant Ecological Education Park and the Black Kite Princess Lin Huishan of the University of Science and Technology. There are 100 stores on the shelves in Taiwan. There are two non-toxic water chestnuts, which come from the friendly water chestnut fields in Guantian, Tainan, and appeal to everyone to "eat water chestnuts and save water pheasants."

The water pheasant, which has the good name of Lingbo fairy, takes the water chestnut field as its habitat and is a veritable "water chestnut bird" that nests, lays eggs, incubates and forages on the water chestnut leaves. Other floating plants, such as lotus and cloth bag lotus, are seldom used by water pheasants. Water pheasants are suitable for building nests because of their layered leaves, so water pheasants like to live in water chestnut fields most.

The name of the brand is "diamond pheasant", which means that the water pheasant and the water chestnut depend on each other. In addition, the Lingbo fairy water pheasant has slender legs like the Tainan female artist Lin Chi-ling and is very beautiful when walking on the water. However, more than 20 years ago, there were fewer than 50 beautiful water pheasants left in Taiwan because of the decrease in the number of water chestnut fields and the usual farming methods of farmers.

Water pheasant eggs and nestling (Photo / Wu Ming) the area of water pheasant field shrinks year after year, pesticide poisoning, water pheasant survival is in jeopardy.

When you come to Tainan, you can see the landmark of the water chestnut image at first sight when you walk out of Longtian Railway Station. However, due to the hard work of planting water chestnut, the area is constantly shrinking. According to the statistics of the Council of Agriculture, the planting area of water chestnut in Taiwan was 738.68 hectares in 1990, leaving only 480.46 hectares in the last year. 408.19 hectares are in Tainan, of which Guantian District is the largest producing area in Taiwan, with a planting area of 322.21 hectares and a yield of 3497 metric tons. It accounts for 68% of Taiwan's total output.

The most common water chestnuts in Guantian are Tetranychus and Dictyophora, whose growth time sequence is different. In terms of the three festivals in Taiwan, during the Lunar New year, Tetranychus sinensis began to be harvested during the Dragon Boat Festival and planted on the Dragon Boat Festival. During the Mid-Autumn Festival, Tetranychus was harvested and mined.

The shrinking of water chestnut field means that the habitat of water pheasant is reduced, and the poisoning of water pheasant is also heard from time to time. Lingnong mostly adopts the customary farming method, and some of them will soak the rice to make bait to prevent bird and rodent damage, and apply Forresone in the field, which has caused a large number of water pheasant poisoning. When the high-speed railway was built in 1998, the route cut the habitat of the water pheasant through Hulu Kui and Deyuan Kui, making the survival of the water pheasant even more precarious.

Water chestnut is a floating plant with layered leaves suitable for water pheasants to build nests (Photo / Lin Yijun) sprinkle lime and U-shaped ditches on the edge of the field. The water pheasant chicks are in danger as soon as they are born.

Because of the existence of water chestnut industry, Guantian has become the only refuge for water pheasants, but it is not easy for water pheasants to hatch and grow into adults.

At the turn of spring and summer, it is the courtship breeding season of water pheasant birds. Female water pheasants will lay eggs after mating and are hatched by male birds. Male birds will build nests in the water chestnut field. Because the water pheasants are extremely regional, they will compete with each other for territory. There are usually at most two nests in one nest, and the hatching rate is about 80%. After successful hatching, the survival of the field is also full of tests.

Approaching the Guantian Lingjiao field, you can see many white flowers in the fields, as if it had snowed, but these water chestnut leaves are not snow, but lime powder. Mr. Zhang, who has been growing water chestnut for more than 20 years, is wearing a waterproof suit and dragging a basin full of lime as he walks and sprinkles, "Lime powder is to help the water in the water chestnut field. The water is so dirty that it will not grow well." Before harvest, diamond farmers will sprinkle lime powder once every two weeks to clean up the water quality.

However, this lime is a major threat to the water pheasant, newly hatched water pheasant chicks are often affected by lime and lead to blindness and even death. In addition, the water chestnut field is surrounded by cement U-shaped ditches, and the wall of the ditch is steep and deep. If many creatures in the field, such as water pheasant chicks and spotted turtles, fall inadvertently, it is difficult to climb out. If the current is fast, some creatures can never go home after being washed away.

Rhombus farmers, who are used to farming, will use lime powder to clean the water chestnut fields and make the water clear. (photo / Lin Yijun)

Water pheasant chicks sprayed with lime to their eyes (photo / Wu Ming) chicks often fall into ditches and fail to get out, and park volunteers patrol and rescue every day

In 2000, the water pheasant ecological education park was established to conserve the water pheasant. Li Wenzhen, the current director of the park, said that the survival of the water pheasant field and the water pheasant are dependent on lips and teeth, and the water pheasant should be restored as long as the water pheasant field is left behind. The Tainan municipal government offered a bonus for the conservation of the water pheasant, and if the nesting eggs of the water pheasant in the water chestnut field hatched, it rewarded the rhombus farmers.

Wu Ming, a volunteer in the park, visits Lingjiaotian by bike every day to record the number and location of nesting eggs. Another major task is to save birds. As long as he sees the chicks falling in the U-shaped trench, he will write down the coordinates and wait for the companions in the park to come to save the birds. "it is not easy to save the birds. Some ditches are very high, and the chicks are not easy to find, and they are very afraid of people. They will always dodge when they see us." Wu Ming said that the rescue birds need to be besieged from both sides, and the birds will be marked after they are rescued. If it can be determined that the parent birds and the environment are safe, they will be released in the wild. If they are not sure, they will be brought back to the park to take care of them and released in the wild when they grow up. Sometimes they will see familiar water pheasants on patrol.

The ditch beside the field is a death trap for the nestling of the water pheasant (Photo / Wu Ming)

Chicks who can't climb out of falling gutters (Photo / Wu Ming)

Wu Ming has a good idea of the growth of nest eggs and water pheasants in each of the water chestnut fields. As soon as he reaches the edge of the water chestnut field, he can see what birds are in the field from afar without binoculars. He is also quite familiar with the habits of the water pheasant. "the water pheasant is graceful. Many people are close to it, and the father of the water pheasant will shout. In fact, it is a warning tone to tell the baby to hide."

When many diamond farmers find water pheasant nesting eggs, they will inform Wu Ming as soon as possible. Is it tiring to patrol against the sun every day? He said with a smile, "when I can see the beautiful water pheasant, I will feel better. I am very satisfied to save the water pheasant and watch them grow up and return to the water chestnut field to give birth to a baby."

Lvbaolingnong uses bacteria instead of lime to clear the fields, widen the ridges of the fields and leave grass to make the organisms more livable.

Li Wenzhen said that although the number of water pheasants in Taiwan has been restored to 1741, as of last year, there were only 12 hectares and 17 farmers in friendly water chestnut fields. The water chestnut on the shelves this time comes from farmer Lin Binghuo, who is 49 years old and has been growing water chestnut for 24 years. Nine years ago, he came into contact with the green conservation logo promoted by the Forestry Bureau and began to plant a friendly water chestnut.

Lin Pinghuo currently grows a friendly water chestnut field with a water chestnut. When he walks into his water chestnut field, he can see five or six water pheasants spreading their wings or walking on the water rhombus leaves at the same time. "I am very happy to see more and more water pheasants."

Lin Binghuo said: "there are bird pests on the water in water, rodents and insect pests under the water. The traditional view of Linong farmers is that these will affect profits. As long as the water chestnuts are left, other creatures that will affect the harvest will be killed." After adopting friendly planting, Lin Pinghuo's workload increased a lot. "No one knows how to grow friendly water chestnuts. I'm going to ask my teachers everywhere."

In order to take into account the ecology while planting water chestnut, Lin Binghuo made a lot of efforts.