Wilderness protection and habitat conservation
Wilderness preservation is on the top of SOW's agenda. There are two measures that SOW adopts to preserve wild lands: wilderness protection and natural habitat conservation. As a grassroots and volunteer based organization, nearly all protection actions and conservation projects are carried out by trained volunteers, such as nature interpreters and the “nature watch” team.

SOW's primary goal, when involved in environmental protection issues, is to help people to live in harmony with nature in order to reach the ultimate goal of a sustainable environment. We believe that most people understand the importance of nature protection and conservation, but may not know how to do it. In order to help the decision makers to be better equipped with conservation knowledge and information, SOW assists the Ministry of Education, EPA, Council of Agriculture, local government construction agencies, and environmental protection agencies in training and awareness promotion.

As SOW acts to provide viewpoints and voices from the grassroots level with educational approaches, SOW is invited to give speeches and is commissioned to carry out nature education training for government agencies and officials. In 2002, SOW has been officially invited to be and listed as a committee member on the National Sustainable Development Committee of Executive Yuan, to take part in national nature education policies development.

Wilderness protection
Since August 1996, when the expansion of coastal freeway and the Nion-shan power plant project on the east coast of Hua-lien and Tai-tung counties drew SOW's attention, a volunteer team has being working earnestly to communicate with government agencies, officials, and the developers about the destructive measures taken by them. The team is led by Mr. Yong-si Huang, a manger of a shoe manufacturing company, and his wife Hue-Chin Liao, a pianist.

In the first 2 years of working to "save the beautiful east coast", fighting with the pro- development force, stumbling through mistakes and dealing with frustrations, the team learned that communication and well-presented data are the keys to success, and that making friends with the opponent to keep the communication channel open produces the greatest long-term effect. As a result, when it comes to issues of land destruction, SOW has insisted on no-aggressive-measure policy, and hence developed an action principle, that we are “soft but firm, zealous but rational”.

Issues involved:
‧East coast freeway expansion
What Happened
Freeway-11 is the most scenic coastal freeway of Taiwan. It lies along the edge of the coastline, which hosts an array of marine life, including a coral reef. The expansion of Freeway-11 began in 1995, which was based on false demand of tourism and local business. In addition to the unnecessary expansion, the construction measures taken by the construction company were destructive to the coastal habitat, since construction debris was dumped directly into the sea, and rip rap (wave resistant boulders) were placed along the shore for "protection from coastal erosion". As the result of the violent acts of the construction, not only did the once scenic coastal freeway and the coastline become an ugly site, but the coastal erosion persisted, and the shoreline habitats were also destroyed.

SOW's actions
SOW's volunteer team worked hard to find ways and opportunities to communicate and educate county and provincial agencies to terminate such destructive measures. Thousands of handwritten letters were sent to government officials of executive and policy-making level. Articles, photographs, fliers were printed to arouse public awareness on the subject. Public hearings were carried out. Slide shows and speeches were given to the government agencies related to the project. After more than 2 years of efforts, the government finally agreed to reassess the project and the procedures involved. While most of the damages are not reversible, SOW's work has prevented further destruction of the coastline.

‧Nion-shan thermal power plant on the east coast
What Happened
Nion-shan, literally "the cattle mountain," is a nature conservation area, located by the seashore of the south end of Hua-lien County. In 1996-1997, a private enterprise bought the private land within Nion-shan conservation area, intending to build a thermal power plant. The project will require the building of a private harbor to ship in the coal needed for the power plant. The pristine natural shoreline was about to become the source of pollution to the beautiful eastern coastline of Taiwan.

SOW's Actions
In order to save one of the last pristine shorelines remaining on the island, SOW allied with local aboriginal villagers, local environmental protection groups, and the press to protest and petition the Ministry of Economy and other related government agencies. SOW presented information about the abundant natural resources, and the fact that allowing such a project to proceed was truly the reversal of nature conservation policy. After many debates, investigations, and protests, the Ministry of Economy ordered additional environmental assessment. The assessment committee, later, rejected the additional EA; as a result, the plant failed to realize. Thus, the Nion-shan conservation area remains pristine for the general public to enjoy its bounty.

‧Wild stream management plan--concretizing "the wild stream"
What Happened
Taiwan is an island with high mountains and short and steep rivers and streams. Located in a subtropical region, Taiwan is also visited by typhoons every summer. And the rivers and streams have seen some of the most destructive floods in recent years. Hence, the government initiated a series of "wild stream management programs," in which the streambeds and banks were solidified by concrete from headwater to the down stream. Such measures not only caused a catastrophe in the river ecosystem and greatly reduced the ability of the soil to absorb and retain water, but also resulted in the most devastating debris floods the island has ever witnessed.

SOW's Actions
SOW has been working on raising public awareness of this issue by making the subject and the consequences of such measures known to the general public and local government agencies. Although many "wild streams" have been tamed by construction and become wilder then ever, ecologically sound river management has become available and is sometimes required in related construction projects.

‧Others: Bullfrog incident
What Happened
The bullfrog was first introduced to Taiwan as another source of meat in restaurants, and later became elementary school teachers' science project subject. After science projects were completed, many bullfrogs were "set free" to the natural environment by life-loving hearts. However, as an introduced species which is much larger in size than the native frog species, the bullfrog has devoured a great number of native frogs, resulting in population decline of some native species.

SOW's Actions
To prevent another ecological disaster from spreading, SOW's released an urgent notification to all of the elementary schools and the Ministry of Education, demanding that such action be prohibited. As the effect of this incident remains uncertain, SOW's nature observers and interpreters continue to monitor the status of the frogs.

‧Participated in lobbying for the establishment of Ma-gao (Chi-lan) National Park
What Happened
Chi-lan, located in the conjunction of I-lan, Tao-yuan and His-chu counties, hosts the only remaining Chamaecyparis obtuse var. formosana forest, a native juniper species to Taiwan, in any temperate rainforest zone worldwide. It is also a remnant ecosystem of the ice age. This rare and precious juniper forest was "managed" by the Bureau of Forestry, who has commissioned the veteran committee to "handle" the standing dead wood of the forest, which were, in fact, sold overseas, mostly to Japan, as the material for high quality furniture.

SOW's Actions
Many conservationists, ecology scholars, and environmental protection groups have formed an alliance, called "Chi-lan Juniper Forest National Park Advocacy Alliance", to lobby for the establishment of the national park. While SOW has insisted on non-aggressive protesting movement, we joined the alliance, and for the first time ever walked on to the street to protest for the ill management of Chi-lan juniper forest on Dec. 25, 2000.

After much debate among government officials, legislators, and conservationists, the National Park is announced to be established before the end of the year 2002 by the Executive Yuan in May. Once established, the "Ma-gao National Park" will be the first national park advocated by the non-government sector in Taiwan.

***Ma-gao is the aborigine's word for a pepper tree found in the forest. The term is used for the name of the national park instead of "Chi-lan".

Habitat conservation
Preservation and conservation of valuable habitats is one of SOW's goals. With supports from biologists, ecologists and local government agencies, SOW is able to utilize the force of volunteers to accomplish many of the preservation and conservation projects.

Yet, establishing conservation sites has been the most difficult work in preserving important natural sites. This involves legislation of land trust, funding, training of conservation staff, and resolving the counter force of the opponents, landowners and/or developers. SOW continues to apply measures, such as education, awareness promotion and training, to resolve the obstacles met.

Conservation Projects
‧The Twin Ponds
The Twin Ponds is located in the low mountain area of I-lan County. It started as manmade dikes for agricultural purposes in the early 20th century. The two adjacent dikes later became ponds filled with silt after their agricultural function ended. As a result, the Twin Ponds has become a wetland, hosting one third of aquatic plant species of Taiwan, that is, 80 families and more than 200 species of aquatic plants, including some rare species such as Salix kusanoi, Philydrum lanuginosum, Trapa bispinosa, Utricularia gibba, Limnophila stipitata, Brasenia schreberi. As important ecologically and biologically as it is, the Twin Ponds is a private property, and the landowner plans to develop the area into commercial use.
SOW has been trying to negotiate with the landowner without success. Thus, we begin to work with I-lan County and other related government agencies, hoping to alter the land use code of the wetland, while continuing to raise funds for the purchase of the wetland. Although the likelihood of success seems quite far away, SOW will continue to pursue the matter.

‧Taiwan nuphar (Nuphar shimadai)
SOW has adapted the Taiwan nuphar as the symbol of the organization. Taiwan nuphar is the only member of the 53-member nuphar species in the world that grows in subtropical areas, and the only one with a red stamen in the center of the golden corolla. However, the beautiful aquatic plant, once abundant in ponds all over the plains of the northern and middle regions of the island, is now on the brink of extinction in the wild. This is mainly because Taiwan nuphar’s natural habitats are frequently drained to become farmland and developed sites as the population increased in Taiwan.
Today, wild Taiwan nuphar can only be seen in a few ponds in Tao-yuan County. Since the establishment of Tao-yuan chapter in 2001, volunteers have been documenting this rare species, and monitoring the status of the plant, while talking to the landowners in hope that the ponds where Taiwan nuphars are found will remain in their current state.

‧Lien-hua-tzu wetland conservation site
Lien-hua-tzu wetland is located in northern Hsin-chu County. It can be said to be a national treasure as a wetland habitat because of the high density of rare aquatic wetland plant species found there. Many wetland plants species, especially carnivorous plants, were once abundant in this site. Since their native habitats were highly disturbed by human activities, many became extinct, and only four species, including Drosera indica L., Drosera burmanni Vahl, Drosera spathulata Lab., and Utricularia caerulea L., were found to still exist but on the brink of extinction. The former two had fewer than 50 individuals left.
SOW's Hsin-chu Chapter presented the county government with a conservation plan in 1998, and was commissioned to carry out the plan. Since then, the carnivorous plants species have made a come back, in which the number of Drosera indica L. has raised from 50 individuals to over 1,000.

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