The 2014 Highest Enforcement Records of Slopeland Conservation Goes to Taipei City and Miaoli County - Agency of Rural Development and Soil and Water Conservation, MOA

The Council of Agriculture (COA) indicated that in order to conduct inspection enforcement, utilization and management in regard to slopeland conservation, it has recently finished assessing the 2013 slopeland conservation, utilization and management efforts of lacol governments. The competition under this assessment was intense. Finally, Taipei City and Miaoli County won the first prizes of special and quasi-special municipalities group and counties/cities group, respectively, with a prize of TWD1.8 million. This attests to their efforts in soil and water conservation. Chen Bao-ji, the Minister of COA, noted that the most important work to protect slopeland involves the ideal utilization of lands to reduce disasters. However, while pursuing economic development, industries and people tend to exploit, more or less, the slopeland resources. In addition, the disasters resulting from global climate change highlight the importance of slopeland management. Since the inspection and clamping down of illegal acts in slopeland exploitation have always been exhausting endeavors, those who have devoted themselves to slopeland conservation but have never received our admiration should be praised and recognized in public through this awards ceremony.

Promote Slopeland Management/Strengthen Land Sustainability

Huang Ming-yao, the director-general of the Soil and Water Conservation Bureau (SWCB), suggested that soil and water conservation for homeland security has been a crucial mission for SWCB. Slopeland in each city and county differs in nature and is influenced by the local environment to different degrees, so local governments may adopt different ways to protect slopeland. Considering the overall development and conservation of homeland, the SWCB and its branches will fully cooperate with every city and county government in promoting slopeland management, in jointly striving for achieving the goals of land sustainability and water conservation.

Besides Taipei City and Miaoli County, the first rankings, respectively, in the special/quasi-special municipalities group and counties and cities group, second places went to: Taoyuan County (special and quasi-special municipalities group) and Yilan County (counties and cities group), each with a prize of TWD 1.3 million. The third to fifth places in the counties and cities group were Chiayi County (TWD 1 million), Pingtung County (TWD 700,000) and Chiayi City (TWD 300,000). The six cities/counties making the most progress were granted TWD 200,000 each (without being ranked); they were: Taichung City, Kaohsiung City, Nantou City, Yunlin County, Chiayi City and Taitung County. Several individuals also received medals as an encouragement for the grassroots-level contributions to slopeland conservation, including three from private soil and water conservation service teams, six from township offices and three from police departments.

In addition, the achievements of the awarded cities/counties governments were displayed on the prize-giving day. The exhibition included their innovative actions, stories about slopeland conservation execution, and visions for the future, whereby participants of the awards ceremony could appreciate the feats of slopeland conservation and exchange their experiences for a synergized effect in promoting water and soil conservation on slopeland.