How are the birds in Taiwan? Taiwan publishes the National Bird report for the first time, revealing all 8.2 million pieces of information.

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Taiwan's first National Bird report is about to be completed! Countries that pay attention to conservation in the world publish national bird reports on a regular basis, and the National Bird report 2020 was officially released today by the National Special Health Center and the Wild Bird Society of the Republic of China, which gathered more than 8.2 million pieces of data from 1972 to 2019. It is of great significance and attracts international attention.

The report shows that at present, there are 674 species of wild birds accurately recorded in China, of which 52 species are threatened, and 29 species of breeding birds (mainly resident birds) and 15 species of winter waterbirds are on the decline, highlighting the warning of the deterioration of Taiwan's natural environment.

Yang Chia-tung, director of the Special Health Center, says that the completion of this report is the result of long-term accumulation and digitization, and depends on the joint efforts of people who care about birds in Taiwan. "this is not only a national event, but also a historic moment for the bird community." The 2020 Taiwan National Bird report will be released electronically on the Internet in two weeks at the earliest, including a summary in both Chinese and English, as well as a detailed report for free download.

Photo provides / Committee of Agriculture non-governmental and official collection of information, citizen participation to mainstream conservation

Birds are important indicators of habitat environment. Many countries that attach importance to environmental integrity and bird conservation, including the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, India, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand, regularly collate bird survey records and publish the National Bird report, which is not only an important basic information on the state of the environment, but also an early warning mechanism for environmental deterioration.

Yang Chia-tung, director of the Special Health Center, said that bird data are the most complete in the current ecosystem data, and he hopes that other biological groups, such as plants and fish, will also have national reports in the future. In this way, the challenges faced by organisms can be fully presented. "Conservation does not depend on the government, but requires the joint efforts of the whole people and citizen participation in order to mainstream conservation."

Fang Weihong, chairman of the Wild Bird Society of the Republic of China, says that in recent years, the Wild Bird Society has worked closely with the Special Health Center, especially after the culture in the interface of citizen science eBird, the number of bird watching records in Taiwan has increased by leaps and bounds. As an amateur bird lover, he feels that it is of great significance to be able to provide energy to the academic and conservation circles and contribute to society.