Taipei, June 22 (CNA) A group made of activists, celebrities and people concerned about environmental protection gathered in Taipei Wednesday to encourage more people to join efforts to save the country's only remained intact coastal ecosystem.
The group hoped to get 100,000 people to sign a petition for preserving the Alangyi Ancient Trail in the southern county of Pingtung by July 24, the date by which the historical trail will be turned into a part of Taiwan Provincial Highway No. 26.
An 8-kilometer hiking trail, the Alangyi was established in the 1870s and used primarily by indigenous tribes for travel along the coast. In recent years, it has gained popularity with nature lovers, especially because it follows the last stretch of Taiwanese coastline that is void of concrete wave breakers, dykes and blacktops.
The thousand-year-old trail not only preserves cultural heritage but also serves as an ecological corridor for scores of endangered flora and fauna species, said Hung Hui-hsiang, chairman of the Pingtung Environmental Protection Union, at a press conference.
"Those who have never been there yet cannot imagine how beautiful and touching it is," Hung said. "The nature there is well-preserved and the biodiversity is simply amazing. The significance of preserving this trail is to leave Taiwan an open lap for the ecosystem."
The press conference was also attended by essayist Chang Hsiao-feng and director Chen Wen-pin, both of whom wrote a poem to express their affection toward that area. Musician Matthew Lien, a Canadian expatriate who just visited the trail in early June, also showed up to give his support.
Using the head as a metaphor for the mountain and the heart as a metaphor for the sea, Lien said it is like "dragging a knife right across your throat," if the government paves a road through that region.
The group also invited three candidates that will run in the 2012 election to pay a visit to the area as an attempt to make them experience the beauty first and endorse their appeal.
In the meantime, the group organizing more people to actively participate and express their support. They hope their compiled signatures will convince the government to yield.
Ho Tsung-hsun, activist and the host of the press conference, said up until now, they have only invited some 600 groups and associations with more than 30,000 people signing the petition, which shows there is "still a long way to go."
"It is a heavy and critical moment. We need to draw more people's attention to this issue." (By James Lee)
原文引用：http://focustaiwan.tw/ShowNews/WebNews_Detail.aspx?Type=aALL&ID=201106220014#
沒有留言:
張貼留言